Abstract
This study examines the versatility of fantasy. Fantasy can be stated to be serving as an escape from the ugliness of reality, as well as a medium to propagandize those ugly aspects, specifically regarding war. The study focuses on Peter Pan and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and provides an analysis on how various aspects of the genre are reflected through these works. Peter Pan, although it was written before both world wars, due to involvement of Barrie in war propaganda in the US, is believed to have an impact on Roosevelt’s representation of war as a great adventure, echoing Barrie’s Peter. This conceptualization of war is analyzed as reflecting the power of fantasy to impact mass society. On the contrary, Lewis’ work is discussed to be an escapist work in this research, serving as a secondary reality away from the Primary and functions as a means of criticism. This study compares Lewis’s and Barrie’s literary texts regarding their relations to both world wars and explains the evacuation of children during World War II and Barrie’s contributions to war propaganda, portraying war as a great adventure. Therefore, it is concluded that fantasy has the ability to criticize the primary reality through subversion, while also affecting the ways people view events as disastrous as war.
Author Information
Elif Yilmaz, Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, Türkiye
Paper Information
Conference: ECAH2024
Stream: Humanities - Literature/Literary Studies*
This paper is part of the ECAH2024 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Yilmaz E. (2024) Fantasy’s Role in Approaching War: A Comparison of Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and Barrie’s “Peter Pan” ISSN: 2188-1111 – The European Conference on Arts & Humanities 2024: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 355-364) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1111.2024.31
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1111.2024.31
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