The Charm of the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up : Peter Pan and Canonicity
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| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | According to John Keith L. Scott, it is the readers who make works canonical, not any inherent quality within the works themselves. Nevertheless, there must be something in these works that makes them so appealing. The aim of this paper is to find out what constitutes this "something" in the story of Peter Pan. Apart from the obvious charm of a character that remains forever young and manages to avoid responsibilities connected with adulthood, the paper explores other reasons for the enduring appeal of Peter Pan, such as its ambiguous and hybrid character. Indeed, just like its protagonist, both the story and its narrator are a betwixt-and-between, disrupting the boundaries between the modes of drama and novel, between the audience/readership and the author, and between the literature for adults and for children. Another reason for the continuing popularity of Peter Pan is the fact that the story has become a modern myth. In fact, the mythologisation of Peter Pan may have been triggered by Barrie himself. He contributed to the process in two ways: first, by mystifying its authorship and, second, by his initial resistance to the idea of setting the story in print. The undying appeal of Peter Pan lies not only in the arguably universal topics the story deals with, but also in its shape-shifting and hybrid character that makes it truly original and strange. The proof of this appeal can be found not only among the readers, but also among other writers who have produced countless adaptations. |
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