Philip Pullman Master Storyteller, and: The Elements of His Dark Materials (review)

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-278
Author(s):  
Carole Scott
Keyword(s):  
Philip Pullman ◽  
His Dark Materials

From `Capping' to Intercision: Metaphors/Metonyms of Mind Control in the Young Adult Fiction of John Christopher and Philip Pullman

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Adult Readers ◽  
Philip Pullman ◽  
His Dark Materials ◽  
Mind Control ◽  
Open Address ◽  
Marked Tendency

This article undertakes a comparative analysis of two trilogies written for a young adult readership: the Tripods trilogy by John Christopher (1967-8) and the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (1995-2000). Both trilogies can be described as science fiction/fantasy Bildungsromans which centre on attempts by adults or surrogate adult figures to thwart the rite of passage from childhood to adulthood for their young protagonists. Contrary to what one might expect, the figurative language used in the texts which comprise the trilogies comes relatively high on Goatly's cline of 'metaphoricity' (Goatly, 1997: 11), partly because of the incorporation of an `open' address in Pullman's case and partly because of the wide-ranging intertextual allusions employed by both writers. In addition, I argue that in common with other dystopian architexts both trilogies exhibit a marked tendency to blur the boundaries between the metaphorical, the metonymic and the literal and, more specifically, that the `cognitive estrangement' intrinsic to the genre of sf leads readers to interpret metaphorically objects and processes that are literal in the world(s) of the text. Finally, I conclude with the view that both Christopher and Pullman offer empowering subject positions to their young protagonists and, by extension, to their young adult readers, with the clear aim of encouraging them to move beyond the circumscribed world of childhood inexperience.

scholarly journals Mirror-Images, or Love As Religion in Philip Pullman’s Trilogy, His Dark Materials

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 293-301
Author(s):  
Zsuzsanna Tóth
Keyword(s):  
Philip Pullman ◽  
His Dark Materials

Abstract Philip Pullman retells mankind’s archetypal memories of the Fall in his fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials. I aim to prove that the age-old religious desire for the oneness of the sacred and the profane, as well as of spirit and matter is manifested in Pullman’s fictional mythology in a way that religion and love also turn out to be one.

Representations of Eastern Europe in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, Jonathan Stroud's The Bartimaeus Trilogy, and J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Oziewicz
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Fuzzy Cluster ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Philip Pullman ◽  
Cultural Attitude ◽  
His Dark Materials ◽  
Cultural Maps ◽  
East West

This essay examines the cultural maps of Eastern European nations drawn by Philip Pullman in His Dark Materials trilogy, Jonathan Stroud in The Bartimaeus Trilogy and J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series. I argue that each of those authors, in subtle and unintentional ways, perpetuates Western politico-cultural superiority in regard to Eastern Europeans. One reason for this may be that Pullman, Stroud and Rowling share a specifically British cultural attitude of regarding the continent as alien and incomprehensible. This perspective is part of a fuzzy cluster of notions, seemingly widespread across Europe, which comprise what Lawrence J. Sharpe calls ‘an East-West continuum of cultural one-upmanship’ (309). As the most westerly people on this continuum, so the explanation goes, the British tend to look down on everyone else to the East. My focus in this article is on how these attitudes are communicated in some of the most internationally popular British fantasy series of the recent years.

scholarly journals Hobbits, Hogwarts, and the Heavens: The use of fantasy literature and film in astronomy outreach and education

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S260) ◽  
pp. 306-310
Author(s):  
Kristine Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Harry Potter ◽  
Fantasy Literature ◽  
Science Centers ◽  
Lord Of The Rings ◽  
Philip Pullman ◽  
His Dark Materials ◽  
Outreach Programs ◽  
Chronicles Of Narnia ◽  
Education And Outreach ◽  
Literature And Film

AbstractDue in part to recent (and ongoing) film adaptations, the fantasy series of C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia), J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter), Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials), and J.R.R. Tolkien (The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings) are being introduced to a new audience. Many astronomers and astronomy educators are unaware of the wide variety of astronomical references contained in each series, and the myriad possible uses of these works in astronomy education and outreach. This paper highlights activities which educators, planetariums, and science centers have already developed to utilise these works in their education and outreach programs.

scholarly journals The essential "Star Wars"Philip Pullman's baroque aesthetics

2020 ◽  
pp. 184-208
Author(s):  
Jean Perrot
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
John Milton ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
William Blake ◽  
Philip Pullman ◽  
His Dark Materials ◽  
Star Wars ◽  
The Past

This essay has a twofold purpose: to consider the issues of contemporary Young Adult literature addressed to “the children of the videosphere” within the context of globalized culture and to assess the importance of postmodern Baroque aesthetics in the “Star Wars” system of modern Letters and mass-media. Writers often resort to such aesthetics with the prospect of commercial hegemony, but some of them find their “distinction” (in Pierre Bourdieu’s delineation) through intertextuality – be it avowed or hidden – with the great masters of the past (William Blake and John Milton). We will investigate the secret workshop of Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy and some of his other works, as well as Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World and diverse literary productions. With their arresting butterflies as significant baroque emblems, these works provide a new and spellbounding vision of the Western hero and offer a new “reterritorialization” of Letters. More particularly, Philip Pullman’s literary gesture has been to extract the baroque message from the vulgarised versions of popular mass media and to give it a new distinction.Key words: Postmodern baroque, William Blake, picaresque, humour, parody, Philip Pullman, Jostein Gaarder.

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