Myth, Symbol, and Meaning in Mary Poppins

The Mary Poppins that many people know of today--a stern, but sweet, loveable, and reassuring British nanny--is a far cry from the character created by Pamela Lyndon Travers in the 1930's. Instead, this is the Mary Poppins reinvented by Disney in the eponymous movie. This book sheds light on the original Mary Poppins,

Myth, Symbol, and Meaning in Mary Poppins is the only full-length study that covers all the Mary Poppins books, exposing just how subversive the pre-Disney Mary Poppins character truly was. Drawing important parallels between the character and the life of her creator, who worked as a governess herself, Grilli reveals the ways in which Mary Poppins came to unsettle the rigid and rigorous rules of Victorian and Edwardian society that most governesses embodied, taught, and passed on to their charges.

List of contents

Foreword by Neil Gaiman Preface 1. The Strangely Familiar Mary Poppins - The Mary Poppins Books - The Narrative Structure - Mary Poppins' Ambiguity - The Wonderful Real World 2. Pamela Lyndon Travers 3. Thematic Continuity of Mary Poppins - Liminal Figures and the Threshold - The Shaman - The Dandy - The Trickster - Dyonisus and the Bacchae - Liberated Bodies: The Dance - Italo Calvino and the Concept of Lightness - The Primitive Vision of the World: The Maternal Right - A Child-Like Vision of the World: The Pre-oedipal Phase - The Path of Desire - Mary Poppins and Husserl: Intentional Consciousness 4. The Governess at the Door - The Governess As Institution - The Advent of the Governess: a) The Law of Order (The Unspoiled Children) b) The Threat of Disorder (The Stolen Children) - The Governess and the Mother: Aspects of Victorian-Edwardian Sexuality - Manners - Teratology and the Governess - The Governess as Bulwark of Bourgeios Values - The Governess as Threshold Figure - Inevitable Contradictions - Fortunate Contradictions   Endnotes Bibliography Index

About the author

Giorgia Grilli teaches children's literature at the University of Bologna. She has published four books on children's literature in Italian.

Product details

• Authors: Giorgia Grilli, Grilli Giorgia
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 10.11.2014
• EAN: 9781138856103
• ISBN: 978-1-138-85610-3
• No. of pages: 224
• Series: Children's Literature and Culture
• Subjects: Children's and young people's books > Story books, fairytales, sagas, rhymes, songs > Fairytales and sagas; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > Other languages / Other literatures; LITERARY CRITICISM / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Children's & Young Adult Literature, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, Literature: history & criticism, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, Literature: history and criticism, Children’s and teenage literature studies: general