Gender in Children's Literature Subtopic – analysis

when was Matilda published and who by?

1988 by Roald Dahl

when was Fantastic Mr Fox published and who by?

1970 by Roald Dahl

when was Stories for Little Princesses published?

2013

when was Diary for a Wimpy Kid published?

2007 by Jeff Kinney

When was Dork Diaries ‘Drama Queen’ published and who by?

2015 by Rachel Russel

When was Charlie and Lola published and who by?

2000 by Lauren Child

Matilda – Lexis and Semantics

• adjectives ‘fragile’ and ‘slim’ to describe miss honey

• adjectives ‘menace’ and ‘tyrannical’ to describe miss trunchbull

• simile ‘marched like a storm trooper’

Matilda Lexis and Semantics – analysis of ‘fragile’ and ‘slim’ vs ‘menace’ and ‘tyrannical’ & simile

• conforms to gender norms

  • suggests how women were valued at the time (conformity=submission)

• miss trunchbull subverts gender norms by having a ‘strong evil’ character

  • also conforms as it presents her as less desirable

• simile used to describe Miss Trunchbull

  • ‘marched’ has military and aggressive (representing her as masculine and links to Butler’s performativity)

Matilda Lexis and Semantics – soundbite links (2)

• ‘constructed as an object for the male gaze’ (Mulvey)

• ‘by marking a character as exceptionally non-normative it usually reconfirms the binarism’ (zanfabro)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Lexis and Semantics

• emphasis on trickery through nouns like ‘pranks’

• diminutive ‘Bubby’ (Manny’s nickname for Greg)

• pronoun choices ‘my’ and ‘i’

Diary of a Wimpy kid Lexis and Semantics – analysis of ‘pranks’, ‘bubby’ and pronoun choices

• trickery and mischief associated with masculinity

• ‘Bubby’ connotes affection and subverts gender norms by presenting non-masculine affection (link to Butler’s performativity and socialisation)

  • ‘none of my friends have found out yet’ – Greg knows this is seen as a weakness

• solidifies masculine independence and egoism (Tannen)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Lexis and Semantics – soundbite links (1)

• ‘it was unacceptable for males to display sensitive or caring behaviours’(le grange)

Fantastic Mr Fox – Lexis and Semantics

• plural vocative noun ‘darlings’ in ‘my darlings’

• adjective ‘weaker’ to describe female character

• diminutive ‘mummy’ in comparison to ‘dad’ from son

Fantastic Mr Fox Lexis and Semantics – analysis of ‘darlings’, ‘weaker’ and ‘mummy’

• represents affection from a male character

  • subverts Tannen’s independence v intimacy

• perpetuates female ‘fragility’ vs male strength

• suggests that the mother is the primary caregiver (traditional family)

Fantastic Mr Fox Lexis and Semantics – soundbite links (2)

• ‘the mother-children bond is constructed to be much tighter than the father-children one’ (Zhai et al)

• ‘strength…was a fundamental and respectable concept of masculinity’ (Jackson and Gee, Grant)

Dork Diaries – Lexis and Semantics

• adjective ‘nauseating’

• countable noun ‘humiliating’

• adjective ‘oblivious’

• simile ‘like i was something her spoilt poodle, Fifi, had left in the grass’

Dork Diaries – Lexis and Semantics analysis of ‘nauseating’, ‘humiliating’, ‘oblivious’ and simile

• complex language such as ‘oblivious’ links to female overt prestige (Labov)

• exaggerated lexis reconfirms stereotypes that women are overdramatic

• subverts the idea that ‘friendship was viewed as a key marker of femininity’

Dork Diaries – Lexis and Semantics soundbite links (1)

• ‘emotional expression was viewed as a key marker of femininity’ (Kehily et al)

Stories for Little Princesses – Lexis and Semantics

• adjective ‘brave’ to describe Daisy

• 2nd person pronoun ‘he’ and ‘tear’/’wobby voice’ to describe the dragon

• verbs ‘stomped’ and ‘trampled’

Stories for Little Princesses – Lexis and Semantics analysis of ‘brave’, description of the dragon and ‘stomped’/‘trampled’

• subverts stereotypes that girls are weak

  • diverges while still being a feminine character (e.g. noun ‘princess’)

• Dragon presented as masculine

  • diverges by showing emotion

• masculine actions have connotations of aggression

  • represents normative dynamics

Stories for Little Princesses – Lexis and Semantics soundbite links

• ‘bravery, strength and toughness was a fundamental and respected concept of masculinity’ (Jackson and Gee, Grant)

• ‘emotional expression was a key marker of femininity’ (Kehily et al)

Dork Diaries – syntax

• Nikki’s overuse of exclamatives ‘Big fat LIE! Sorry!’

• hyperboles – ‘mortal enemy’ and ‘hates my guts’

Dork Diaries – syntax analysis of exclamatives and hyperboles

• conforms to the idea that women are overdramatic and emotional

• links to female stereotypes of exaggeration

Dork Diaries – syntax soundbite links (2)

• ‘emotional expression was a key marker of femininity’ (Kehily et al)

• ‘gender inequality has shifted from underrepresentation of women to their positioning’ (Le Grange)

Matilda – syntax

• anaphora ‘Never argue with her. Never answer her back’

Matilda – syntax analysis of ‘Never argue with her. Never answer her back’

• ‘never’ has harsh connotations

  • contrasts womens typical language which lacks real authority (Lakoff)

  • asserts Trunchbull’s masculinity through authority and independence (Tannen)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – syntax

• sentence moods ‘Cookie is for me!’ (Manny’s exclamative) vs Greg’s use of declaratives

• simple sentences

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – syntax analysis of sentence moods and simple sentences

• Greg’s use of declaratives reinforces masculine identity

  • Manny’s use of exclamatives contrasts normative views

• simple sentences could represent age or represent how men are less expected to use formal standard english compared to women (Trudgill)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – syntax soundbite links

• ‘emotional expression was a key marker of femininity’ (Kehily et al)

• ‘what it means for girls to be girls and boys to be boys’ (Nodelman)

Charlie and Lola – syntax

• interrogative sentence mood

  • ‘do you want me to twist it?’

Charlie and Lola – syntax analysis of interrogative sentence mood

• conforms to normative ideas of men preferring advice over understanding (Tannen)

  • connotations of aggressiveness

Dork Diaries – pragmatics

• ‘gossiping’ and ‘rumour’

• ‘cute, cool, popular’ tricolon

Dork Diaries – pragmatics analysis of ‘gossiping’/’rumour’ and ‘cute, cool, popular’

• stereotypical ‘bitchy’ representation of women

• consolidates the stereotype that women are shallow by shifting stereotypes to how female characters are positioned

Dork Diaries – pragmatics soundbite links (3)

• ‘gender inequality has shifted from underrepresentation of women to their positioning’ (le grange)

• ‘gender stereotypes have retreated from the foreground to the background’ (Zhai et al)

• ‘female authors include representations that oppressed women’ (le grange)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – pragmatics

• power imbalance between Greg and his little brother

  • ‘after I make Manny his breakfast’

• female stereotypes

  • ‘mom is always getting on at me’

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – pragmatics analysis of power imbalance and female stereotypes

• caring roles are typically forced onto women, Greg doing this threatens his negative face (Brown and Levinson)

  • subverts norms as he does participate

• stereotype of women being overbearing

  • mothers tend to face more resentment from children as they are more present

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – pragmatics soundbite links (1)

• ‘the mother-children bond is constructed to be much tighter than the father-children one’ (Zhai et al)

Fantastic Mr Fox – pragmatics (analysis included)

• stereotypical gender norms

  • father is provider (hunter)

  • mother is the homemaker (cook)

• represents traditional family

Matilda – pragmatics

• ‘gigantic’ and ‘snoring’ (miss trunchbull)

• ‘mild and quiet’ and ‘curious warmth’ (miss honey)

Matilda – pragmatics analysis

• represents a powerful women as undesirable

  • portrays a non-normative idea as bad and thus exclusionary

• constructed for the male gaze through normativity

Matilda – pragmatics soundbite links (2)

• ‘‘constructed as an object for the male gaze’ (Mulvey)

• ‘marking a characters behaviour as exceptionally non-normative usually reconfirms the binarism’ (Zanfabro)

Stories for Little Princesses – pragmatics

• ‘they loved to play knights and dragons’ vs ‘princess daisy could read as many books as she wanted’

• Princess Daisy subverts norms through her acts of bravery

Stories for Little Princesses – pragmatics analysis

• emphasises the difference between masculinity and femininity

Stories for Little Princesses – pragmatics soundbite links

• ‘emphasised the differences between masculinity and femininity’ (le grange)

Charlie and Lola – pragmatics

• ‘very funny’ to describe Lola and her friend

Charlie and Lola – pragmatics analysis of ‘very funny’

• non-normative

• subverts stereotypes of girls not having a sense of humour (Lakoff)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – discourse structure

• the form as a diary

Diary of a wimpy kid – discourse structure analysis of diary form

• subverts masculine norms as usually used to talk about feelings

• does not start with ‘dear diary’, an attempt to promote a masculine identity

• clear egoism and focus on himself

  • male independence theory (Tannen)

Dork Diaries – Discourse structure

• the form as a diary

• capitalisation to emphasise words

Dork Diaries – Discourse structure analysis of diary form and capitalisation

• stereotypical female writing method but doesn’t use ‘dear diary’

• informal form contrasts Trudgill’s theory that women use standard english

• capitalisation seen as a girly due to being expressive

Dork Diaries – Discourse structure soundbite link

• ‘emotional expression was seen as a key marker of femininity’ (Kehily et al)

Fantastic Mr Fox – Discourse structure

equal textual density of mother and father

• they are both represented equally

Fantastic Mr Fox – Discourse structure analysis of textual density

• subverts gender stereotypes of mother being the more present parent

• further emphasised by ‘to where, dad?’ (elliptical interrogative sentence) showcasing the father having a bond with this child too

Fantastic Mr Fox – Discourse structure soundbite link (1)

• contrasts the idea that ‘the mother-children bond is constructed to be much tighter than the father-children bond’