false 4 3 false false Sat Aug 16 12:22:59 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 16 12:22:59 -0700 2008
There's a lot of stuff going on in this text that I ended up finding fascinating. For one thing, it led me to investigate some children's lit theory, which is something new for me. But it also employs these children and their garden in ways that allow for subtle critique and commentary on the construction of Englishness and the endless contradistinction between the rural and urban (or urbane in this case).

One of the things I've learnt (and yes, it may seem self-evident, but I never really thought of it before) by reading about kids lit is that most children's literature is non-experimental, both in its form and its ideas (most). In other words, if an idea/moral/value pops up in a children's book, then it is probably fairly mainstream. There are children's books that are written with an agenda or polemic that don't fall into this kind of category, but these books are usually all about whatever it is that they're trying to make a point about: blended families, diversity, changing definitions of family, identity politics (teens) etc. When an idea pops up in a children's book that isn't ostensibly about that idea, then you can be pretty sure it's mainstream.

For example, in this novel, there is a distinct connection made between the 'unhealthy' atmosphere of India, and the 'healthy' climate on the English countryside. It's a given. Also, (and slightly disturbing) is the emphasis on the novel on the boy, Colin, at the end. The novel begins with Mary's story, but once she has become healthy enough to find both the secret garden and Colin (and tell Colin about the garden), she fades into the background, her role is complete. Says a lot about patriarchal assumptions of mastery and place from what I can see.

But it's also a fun little book of kids being kids, playing around with each other and discovering life. And of course it has a strong 'useless adult' fantasy in which the kids constantly out think and out manouevre the adults in the book (who I suspect really aren't quite as dumb as they're made out to be).]]>