The myth of Cokaygne in children's literature : the consuming and the consumed child
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The myth of Cokaygne in children's literature : the consuming and the consumed child
（Arbeiten zur Literarischen Phantastik, Bd. 6）
P. Lang, c2011
- : pbk
Available at 1 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-121)
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In the English-speaking world, the medieval concept of Cokaygne as a paradisiac landscape made of food is merely preserved as a part of American folklore, the "Big Rock Candy Mountain". This motif of food in abundance is recurrent in children's literature, which is discussed here first of all from a psychoanalytic angle, arguing that the infant's first contact with the world is established through food intake. In addition, a scarce diet as part of child-rearing in the 19th century and the rationing system during World War II triggered the fantasy in children and adults alike. Accordingly, the medieval land of plenty found a new place in the imagination of the Victorian and post-war child. Apart from the predominant theme of the consuming child, this book also links the notion of cannibalism to the imagined cornucopia of food in children's literature, which is a frequent motif in many children's books up to the 21st century.
Table of Contents
Contents: The Myth of Cokaygne - Literary References - An Etymological Approach to 'Cokaygne' - The Carnivalesque - Historical Background - Significant Elements of the Land of Plenty - Children and Food - A Psychoanalytical Approach - A History of Abstinence - The Land of Cokaygne in Children's Literature - The Domestic Cokaygne - Never-Ending Food Supply - The Land of Plenty - Cokaygne Reversed: The Child as an Object of Indulgence - A Socio-historical Approach to Cannibalism - The Fear of Child-Eaters - Wicked Witches - Gruesome Giants - The Starving Child in a World of Abundance.
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