- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780853238430
- eISBN:
- 9781846313561
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780853238430.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter examines the role of the child in Michael Tournier's fiction. It suggests that Tournier writes to recapture the lost islands of our childish imaginings but the idea that he is deeply ...
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This chapter examines the role of the child in Michael Tournier's fiction. It suggests that Tournier writes to recapture the lost islands of our childish imaginings but the idea that he is deeply interested in the relationship of children to the society around them is less persuasive than it might at first appear. The chapter contends that his insistence on the importance of initiation is based on a solid anthropological foundation but his view that a child reader of literature is equal to an adult has proved enduringly controversial. It argues that Tournier's interest in the world of children and his long-held desire to engage the imagination of the child through his work may hold the key to his entire literary enterprise.Less
This chapter examines the role of the child in Michael Tournier's fiction. It suggests that Tournier writes to recapture the lost islands of our childish imaginings but the idea that he is deeply interested in the relationship of children to the society around them is less persuasive than it might at first appear. The chapter contends that his insistence on the importance of initiation is based on a solid anthropological foundation but his view that a child reader of literature is equal to an adult has proved enduringly controversial. It argues that Tournier's interest in the world of children and his long-held desire to engage the imagination of the child through his work may hold the key to his entire literary enterprise.
