P. L. Travers

Description

xii, 140 p. ; 23 cm. ISBN: 0805770054 (alk. paper) LC classification: PR6039.R32 Z6 1991 LC Subjects: Travers, P. L. (Pamela Lyndon), 1899-1996--Criticism and interpretation. Children--Books and reading--Great Britain--History--20th century. Children's stories, English--History and criticism. Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-137) and index. Series: Twayne's English authors series ; TEAS 483 LCCN: 90046168 Dewey class no.: 823/.912 Geographic area code: e-uk--- Type of material: Book FEW CHARACTERS HAVE MADE AS INDELIBLE A mark on children’s literature as Mary Poppins. In ten books published over a period of more than fifty years, this magical and irrepressibly optimis­ tic nanny has charmed generations of children, earning her creator, P. L. Travers, a worldwide reputation as one of the premier writers of fantasy literature. In P. L. Travers Patricia Demers places the Mary Poppins books in the context of Travers’s career, demonstrating their connections to her other work as a poet, essayist, and theater critic to reveal the organic unity of her writing. Focusing on Travers’s use of myth and fairy tale in all her work, Demers examines Travers’s contention that “children’s literature” is in many ways a mis­ nomer: careful analysis of her complete works reveals that the very qualities that make the Mary Poppins books so appealing to children are those that enliven her works for an adult audience. Demers thus places Travers in a broader tradition and demonstrates that her works have equal ap­ peal to children and to the child in every adult. The most wide-ranging study to date of the subject, P. L. Travers provides an insightful portrait of the author’s life and work and a revalua­ tion of the genre of children’s literature. It will prove an invaluable reference tool for students of all levels and for scholars. Preface -5 Acknowledgments -2 Chronology -1 1. A Writer’s Life: Seeking and Finding 1 2. Apprenticeship as a Poet: “Too much fire for a time that has grown cold” 13 3. Reviewing in the New English Weekly: Seeing the Object as It Really Is 31 4. Wartime Evacuation: Fact as Fable 52 5. The Conundrum of Mary Poppins: Real Wherever She Happens to Be 68 6. The Mary Poppins Books: Everything Inside Something Else 84 7. The Continuing Relevance of Myth and Fairy Tale: Summoned, Not Invented 97 8. “Dear Fly!”: Toward a View of P. L. Travers 110 Appendix: A Review by P. L. Travers 115 Notes and References 121 Selected Bibliography 127 Index 138