A Study Of The "monster" Image In Contemporary Chinese Children's Fantasy Novels

The western children's fantasy literature has made great achievements since the19 th century.Influenced by the western children's fantasy literature,Chinese children's literature writers began to have a clear sense to create children's fantasy novels at the end of the 20 th century.From then on,Chinese children's literature writers have been continuously exploring in the creation and theory of fantasy literature,and created many excellent works,among which the images of "monsters" are more and more abundant,but they have not attracted enough attention from the academics.Regarding the image of "monster" in Chinese contemporary children's fantasy novels as research object,this paper carries on from following several aspects:using the imagology theory to analyze the relationship between children and adults implied by the image,and the relationship between children and others in the process of constructing their own world;using mirror-image theory to analyze children's psychological conflicts with the world around them and how they achieve self-identification in the struggle with “monsters”;using comparative research methods to analyze the success and failure of “monsters” depiction in Chinese and Western children's fantasy novels;using the method of close reading to reveal the fascination that the image of "monster" brings into children's fantasy novels,and the profound cultural implication behind it,as well as the inheritance and development it does to the traditional Chinese humanistic spirit,and the expansion to children's game spirit.The introduction part defines the concept and research period of children's fantasy novel,defines the concept of "monster",summarizes the research situation of this image,demonstrates its unique research value,as well as elaborates its significance and value to Chinese contemporary children's fantasy novels.The first chapter classifies the "monsters" in children's fantasy novels into three categories based on their relationship with children: horror opposition,cute companionship,and gentle guidance.This chapter uses imagology and mirror theory to analyze the psychology of children and their relationship with adults from the feature of "monsters" and their relationship with children.The second chapter investigates the implication of the "monster" image from three aspects: family,education,and nature.It reveals the complexity in children's attachment to and escaping from their family,the relationship between the family andchildren's growth,the advocacy of the children standard education,and the reflection on the relationship between human and nature.The third chapter demonstrates the unique fantasy charm that the image of "monster" brings into Chinese children's fantasy novels and the expansion it does to the game spirit in children's literature from three aspects: the amazing effect brought by unfamiliarity,the miraculous changes brought by magic,and the creation and transcendence brought by games.The fourth chapter uses comparative research method to compare the "monster" image in Chinese and Western children's fantasy novels,and finds out the shortages of Chinese children's fantasy novels in depicting the "monster" image,which are mainly displayed in three aspects: the monotony of the image of "monsters",the lack of fantasy details,and the neglect of local fantasy resources.Then proposes to make full use of fantasy resources to expand the ideological profoundness and cultural connotation of the "monster" image to improve the "monster" image in contemporary Chinese children's fantasy novels.