Critical Perspectives on Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials stands as a landmark in fantasy literature. Comprised of the novels The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, the award-winning epic trilogy has been adapted for radio, stage, and film in both Britain and the United States, though it remains controversial for its negative depiction of religion. Herein, scholars from various literary, philosophical, and theatrical fields explore His Dark Materials, addressing numerous topics relevant to reading, studying and understanding the work, including its basis in Milton’s Paradise Lost; the influence of science fiction on the series; issues of social class, religion, sexuality, and gender; postcolonial perspectives; and recent stage productions.

Steven Barfield is joint editor of Critical Engagements, the journal of the UK Network for Modern Fiction Studies, and a member of the editorial board for the on-line journal, Literary London: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Representation of London.

Katharine Cox is a principal lecturer in English at UWIC (University of Wales Institute Cardiff) where she is head of the Department of Humanities.

Edited by Steven Barfield and Katharine Cox

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 288
Bibliographic Info: 4 photos, notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4030-6
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction
KATHARINE COX      1

I. ADVERSARIES AND INFLUENCES
1. Recasting John Milton’s Paradise Lost: Intertextuality, Storytelling and Music
RACHEL FALCONER      11
2. “When I Grow Up I Want to Be…”: Conceptualization of the Hero Within the Works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Philip Pullman
PHIL CARDEW      28
3. Constructions of the Child, Authority and Authorship: The Reception of C.S Lewis and Philip Pullman
ELISABETH ELDRIDGE      40
4. “Dark Materials to Create More Worlds”: Considering His Dark Materialsas Science Fiction
STEVEN BARFIELD      57

II. TRADITIONS AND LEGACIES
5. Revitalizing the Old Machines of a Neo-Victorian London: Reading the Cultural Transformations of Steampunk and Victoriana
STEVEN BARFIELD and MARTYN COLEBROOK      75
6. Revisiting the Colonial: Victorian Orphans and Postcolonial Perspectives
LAURA PETERS      93
7. Exploring and Challenging the Lapsarian World of Young Adult Literature: Femininity, Shame, the Gyptians, andSocial Class
NICOLA ALLEN      111
8. “Imagine Dust with a Capital Letter”: Interpreting the Social and Cultural Contexts for Philip Pullman’s Transformation of Dust
KATHARINE COX      126

III. RELIGION, SEXUALITY AND GENDER
9. The Man Who Walked with God: Phillip Pullman’s Metatron, the Biblical Enoch, and the Apocrypha
JOHN HAYDN BAKER      143
10. The Republic of Heaven: East, West and Eclecticism in Pullman’s Religious Vision
J’ANNINE JOBLING      154
11. “Walking into Mortal Sin”: Lyra, the Fall, and Sexuality
TOMMY HALSDORF      172
12. Becoming Human: Desire and the Gendered Subject
SARAH GAMBLE      187
13. After the Fall: Queer Heterotopias
SALLY R. MUNT      202

IV. DRAMATIZING HIS DARK MATERIALS
14. Staging the Impossible: Severance and Separation in the National Theatre’s Adaptation
PATRICK DUGGAN      219
15. Staging and Performing His Dark Materials: From the National Theatre Productions to Subsequent Productions
KARIAN SCHUITEMA      239

Bibliography      267
About the Contributors      273
Index      275

• “Certainly one of the most comprehensive collections of essays on my work…I’m most grateful.”  — Philip Pullman
• “Adds to the discussion with pieces like Cox’s essay on cultural aspects of dust and Dust, Jobling’s humble suggestions of unintentional Buddhist leanings, and Baker’s account of Apocryphal influence on the narrative.  This reviewer greatly enjoyed seeing discussions of physical staging in the book’s final section.” — Mythlore
• “Uniquely valuable contribution…adds something entirely new to the appreciation of dramatizing Pullman’s work…gives a British perspective on a contemporary masterpiece of British literature.”—Children’s Literature Association Quarterly