On The Subversion In Lewis Carroll’s Twoalice Books

In Victorian England in the17thand18thcenturies, didactic children‘s literature was allthe rage, which met the needs of the market and adults. By means of didactic children‘sliterature, adults express their will and requirements for children to mold them into their idealimages. However, the contemporary writer Lewis Carroll‘s Alice s Adventures in Wonderlandand Through the Looking-Glass stood out of the crowd, overthrowing the moralizing trendand subverting adult values of the day. They are representative of subversive children‘sliterature. Therefore, revolving around the subversion in Carroll‘s two Alice books, the thesisis going to unfold series of relevant issues, including reasons for subversion, objectives ofsubversion and ways to produce subversion. The thesis is divided into five parts.The introduction part makes a brief introduction to Lewis Carroll and his two Aliceworks. Then critical reviews of the two books both at home and abroad are provided andanalyzed. Next some related concepts are introduced, consisting of the definition of children‘sliterature and a historical overview of its development, and a comparison between subversivechildren‘s literature and didactic children‘s literature.Chapter One explores reasons for Carroll‘s subversive practices, including social,philosophical and personal causes. By and large, the Industrial Revolution, the RomanticMovement and Rousseau‘s philosophy contribute to Carroll‘s creation. Simultaneously, theinfluences of Carroll‘s personality and life experience on his writing are also discussed here.In Chapter Two, objectives of subversion in two Alice tales are expounded. Carrollsubverts Victorian adult images, adult-valued institutions and conventions with his boldliterary practices. He sides with children and utters their voices deep in heart by going againstthe prevailing adult values advocated in didactic children‘s books.Chapter Three is concerned with two ways to produce subversion: the genre of fantasyand parody. Fantasy is a literary genre combining the real with the unreal, providing the spacefor Carroll to conduct subversive writing. Meanwhile he mocks the moralistic poems byparodying them.The conclusion part points out that subversion in Carroll‘s Alice books demonstrates thatthey are genuine children‘s books, and meanwhile it explores the value and significance ofsubversion in the Alice books in children‘s literature.