The Coral Island, a Children’s Classic, as an Imperialist Text

Year 2007, Volume: 24 Issue: 1, 107 - 119, 15.06.2007

Nursel İçöz

Abstract

One of the preoccupations of children’s literature has always been to instruct children in the issues of right and wrong and to develop a sense of responsibility in them. In this article R. M. Ballantyne’s The Coral Island, which, although written in the 1850s, still appeals to the boys, will be analyzed to address the questions of what meaning the reader takes from the book and how the issues of right and wrong are handled. The story which recounts the struggle of three boys, aged 14 to 17, with savagery and violence is not innocent of imperialist meanings because the author regarded English missionary work as beneficial and colonialism as helping the commercial, social and cultural transformation of the life of the native
inhabitants; hence, his boy heroes act and speak in a manner that supports this ideology

Keywords

Children’s literature, missionary work, colonialism, right, wrong

The Coral Island, a children's classic, as an imperialist text

Abstract

Çocuk edebiyat›n›n amaçlar›ndan biri her zaman için çocuklar› do¤ru ve yanl›fl konular›nda e¤itmek ve onlarda bir sorumluluk duygusu gelifltirmek olmufltur. Bu makalede R. M.
Ballantyne’›n 1850lerde yaz›lmas›na ra¤men günümüzde bile çocuklar›n be¤enisine sahip The Coral Island adl› çocuk kitab›nda do¤ru ve yanl›fl sorunlar›n›n nas›l irdelendi¤i ve okuyucunun
kitaptan ne gibi anlamlar ç›karabilece¤i incelenecektir. Cennet kadar güzel bir ortamda 14-17 yafllar›ndaki üç çocu¤un tek bafllar›na vahflet ve kaba kuvvete karfl› mücadelelerinin anlat›ld›¤› öykü, emperyalist amaçlardan uzak de¤ildir. Yazar›n misyonerli¤in ve sömürgecili¤in ilkel yerlileri uygarlaflt›rmadaki yarar›na inanc› nedeniyle, çocuk kahramanlar›n bu ideolojiyi destekler biçimde davrand›klar›na ve konufltuklar›na tan›k oluruz.

Keywords

Çocuk edebiyat›, misyonerlik, sömürgecilik, do¤ru, yanl›fl

References

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