World War II, Children's Literature and Aspects of Novel 'We'll Meet Again': an exegesis

Abstract

The submission comprises an exegesis and a creative component. Part 1 of the exegesis is a research study of children’s literature set in World War II with an emphasis on Australian children’s novels. Comparisons are made with some United Kingdom and American children’s literature. Three themes are explored in these texts: World War II, Nationalism/Racism and Ethnocentrism, and Child Sexuality. The themes are further explored in Part 2 of the exegesis in relation to the creative component (my novel for pre-teens with a World War II setting). To my knowledge, my research has been more extensive than previous Australian studies and its coverage is relatively comprehensive of the Australian children’s literature available having World War II themes. A particular focus of my research is the differences in degree of attention paid to domestic aspects of World War II. Very few Australian and American novels make significant reference to the war or its domestic effects. As one would expect, some United Kingdom children’s novels contain graphic detail of the domestic effect of war on communities. However, many of the Australian and United Kingdom novels contain strong elements of the adventure story genre in which the effects of war are muted. The American novels contain more depth of characterisation and a strong vein of moralism not found in most of the Australian and United Kingdom books. In this respect, realism is more apparent in the American stories. In few of these novels for children is the tragedy of war fully expressed; but those which contain a deeper insight are successful in their emotive effect, particularly when realistic modes are employed. Several of these books (including a picture book) are addressed to very young readers, revealing a sensitivity and insight absent from the adventure story genre. Rarely in the researched books is nationalism overtly revealed; however, underlying more prominent themes of racism and ethnocentrism is a sense of nationalism arising from the circumstances of war, fuelling racist and ethnocentric attitudes and behaviour. Critical concepts of ‘Otherness’ and ‘Whiteness’ are discussed in this exegesis, referring to a variety of theorists, including Morton-Robinson and Stevens. In discussing child sexuality, authors of children’s literature, Marsden and Blume, are cited to indicate the degree of censorship inherent in children’s literature, and particularly in the novels researched. Child sexuality is explored most fully in Part 2 of the exegesis. The creative product, the novel We’ll Meet Again, is set in Sydney and a coastal town to the city’s north, during the years 1942-1945. It is a ‘coming of age’ story of a female character who ages from twelve to fifteen years during the course of the narrative. The conclusion of her ‘growing up’ journey ends with the end of World War II in the Pacific, and with her departure from school and her ‘idyllic’ seaside childhood to be reunited with her family. The child characters in the novel each has a personal journey which ends with the end of the war.