Children's literature has traditionally been analyzed through humanist frameworks like psychoanalysis and gender theory, which, while legitimizing the genre's study, fail to address its focus on animals, rural settings, and nature. This project takes a non-humanist, sociobiological approach, arguing that children's literature has, for over a century, fostered what E. O. Wilson calls "biophilia"—an evolution-based affinity for living things expressed through innate impulses and predispositions. Focusing on chapter books with immortality as a theme, such as Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting, and Ursula Le Guin's The Other Wind, the study explores how children's literature promotes a syncretic biotheism, revering life's natural cycles while rejecting immortalist ideologies like Christian post-death immortality and secular life extension. These books depict human death as reintegration into nature, offering young readers a unique "ecological literacy." This literacy cultivates values that conflict with industrialism, urbanization, and Christianity, creating "internal anomie" as readers transition into adulthood. By examining how children's literature shapes ecological awareness and challenges dominant cultural mores, the project highlights the genre's role in fostering a deeper connection to the natural world and its cycles, often overlooked in traditional critical analyses.
- 198 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half-Title
- Series
- Title
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- Introduction: Strange non-bedfellows: How children’s literature and ecocriticism managed not to get together
- 1 Pan, pantheism, and natural immanence: The beginning of children’s-literature syncretism in The Wind in the Willows and The Secret Garden
- 2 Explicating anomie: Drowned Ammet and The Search for Delicious
- 3 “The belief in it a blunder, the hope of it a sin”: Honor as anti-immortalism and species self-limitation in The Farthest Shore and Tuck Everlasting
- 4 The children strike back: Anti-immortalism and social revolution in The Amber Spyglass and The Other Wind
- Conclusion
- Index
Trusted by 375,005 students
Access to over 1.5 million titles for a fair monthly price.
Study more efficiently using our study tools.
Information
Publisher
RoutledgeEdition
1Year
2026Topic
LiteraturePrint ISBN
9781041327288
Subtopic
Literary CriticismeBook ISBN
9781040933282
Index
LiteratureFrequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn how to download books offline
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.5M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1.5 million books across 990+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn about our mission
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more about Read Aloud
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS and Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app
Yes, you can access Biophilia and Anti-Immortalism in Children’s Literature by Pamela Swanigan in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literary Criticism. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.