Journal |
Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie occidentale
Journal issue | 49 | 2015
Research Article | Imagining the World through Alice’s Eyes
The Adventures of Lewis Carroll’s Alice as Bildungsroman
Abstract
In this paper, I would like to discuss how Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s adventures in Wonderland (1865) can be considered to be a Bildungsroman. I will also affirm my idea that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is actually the first novel of a trilogy which comprises also Through the Looking-Glass (1871) and Sylvie and Bruno (1889-1893). In this trilogy Wonderland represents the first fundamental stage of Alice’s formative journey. I will therefore analyse the world as seen through Alice’s eyes, observing her first journey as a constructive one which gives both Alice and the reader the opportunity to change and become more self-aware and responsible. Looking at the world through Alice’s eyes makes Wonderland appear absurd, with nonsense seeming to be its main characteristic: at the start of her journey Alice does not have the cognitive tools to understand this new world and so it appears nonsensical. Finally, I’ll look at the cognitive tools Carroll gives us to build a new perspective and possibly a new logic. These are: ‘relationalism’, ‘plural identities’ and finally, ‘conventionality’.
Published Sept. 1, 2015 | Language: en
Keywords Children and young adults literature • Through the Looking Glass • Alice’s adventures in Wonderland • Sylvie and Bruno
Copyright © 2015 Alessandra Avanzini. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/2499-1562/AnnOC-49-15-5
Literature, Culture, History
Linguistics
DC Field | Value |
---|---|
dc.identifier |
ECF_article_179 |
dc.title |
Imagining the World through Alice’s Eyes. The Adventures of Lewis Carroll’s Alice as Bildungsroman |
dc.contributor.author |
Avanzini Alessandra |
dc.publisher |
Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing |
dc.type |
Research Article |
dc.language.iso |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/annali-di-ca-foscari-serie-occidentale/2015/1/imagining-the-world-through-alices-eyes/ |
dc.description.abstract |
In this paper, I would like to discuss how Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s adventures in Wonderland (1865) can be considered to be a Bildungsroman. I will also affirm my idea that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is actually the first novel of a trilogy which comprises also Through the Looking-Glass (1871) and Sylvie and Bruno (1889-1893). In this trilogy Wonderland represents the first fundamental stage of Alice’s formative journey. I will therefore analyse the world as seen through Alice’s eyes, observing her first journey as a constructive one which gives both Alice and the reader the opportunity to change and become more self-aware and responsible. Looking at the world through Alice’s eyes makes Wonderland appear absurd, with nonsense seeming to be its main characteristic: at the start of her journey Alice does not have the cognitive tools to understand this new world and so it appears nonsensical. Finally, I’ll look at the cognitive tools Carroll gives us to build a new perspective and possibly a new logic. These are: ‘relationalism’, ‘plural identities’ and finally, ‘conventionality’. |
dc.relation.ispartof |
Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie occidentale |
dc.relation.ispartof |
Vol. 49 | September 2015 |
dc.issued |
2015-09-01 |
dc.identifier.issn |
|
dc.identifier.eissn |
2499-1562 |
dc.rights |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License |
dc.rights.uri |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
dc.identifier.doi |
10.14277/2499-1562/AnnOC-49-15-5 |
dc.peer-review |
yes |
dc.subject |
Alice’s adventures in Wonderland |
dc.subject |
Alice’s adventures in Wonderland |
dc.subject |
Children and young adults literature |
dc.subject |
Children and young adults literature |
dc.subject |
Sylvie and Bruno |
dc.subject |
Sylvie and Bruno |
dc.subject |
Through the Looking Glass |
dc.subject |
Through the Looking Glass |
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