Roald Dahl Popular, Prolific, Controversial

Libri & Liberi 2013 2 (1): 129-148
129
Roald Dahl: Popular, Prolific, Controversial

Alston, Ann & Butler, Catherine, eds. 2012. Roald Dahl. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan. 202 pp. ISBN 978-0-230-28361-9
Best-selling British author Roald Dahl (1916-1990) is often cited as one of the most
popular and beloved writers for children. However, the author of childrens classics such
as James and the Giant Peach (1961), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and
Matilda (1988) is also regarded as controversial. Over the years his writing has often been
dismissed as vulgar, meretricious, racist, misogynistic (1), full of grotesque humour
and violence deemed inappropriate for young readers. Despite all these (and many other)
alleged shortcomings, Dahls work has nevertheless managed to garner critical support: his
scholarly admirers are vocal in celebrating his linguistic craft and subversiveness, as well
as his ability to [get] children reading (2).
Catherine Butler, one of the editors of the new collection of essays dealing with Dahls
literary output (entitled simply Roald Dahl), voices her surprise at the scarcity of critical
writing on Dahl. Furthermore, existing scholarly texts are quite limited in their scope,
focusing mostly on Dahls suitability as a writer for children, the relationship between his
life and opinion, and his status as a phenomenon (2). This essay collection is therefore
an attempt to revitalize the somewhat stale area of Dahl studies by introducing novel
approaches to his body of work and, ideally, by stimulating future discussions.
The Roald Dahl casebook includes ten thematically and methodologically diverse
essays which deal with various aspects of this prolific authors works. Though authors
sometimes turn to his autobiographical writings and short stories for examples, all essays
are primarily focused on writings for children (novels and poetry). Apart from analyzing
Dahls narrative strategies and techniques, thematic preoccupations and characters, many
of the essays deal with controversial aspects of his corpus such as the (inappropriate?) use
of language and (alleged) glorification of violence. Representation of Dahls work in other
media (illustrations, film) as well as the interplay between his life and work present further
points of interest for the authors featured in this collection.
In the opening essay, Deborah Thacker analyzes Dahls relationship to folk and fairy
tales, and oral storytelling in general. The author explores the ways in which Dahl (ab)uses
folk and fairy tale conventions, as well as the strategies he employs in his attempt to recreate storytelling sessions and challenge traditional power relations between adults
(authors, tellers) and children (readers, listeners). Finally, Thacker calls for a re-evaluation
of Dahls work in light of new approaches to folk tales and storytelling and their role in the
process of acculturation.
Jackie Stallcup explores the fine line between humour and disgust found in Dahls
novels and poems for children. The author focuses on figures or objects that become the
butt of Dahls jokes, and the strategies used to generate humour (incongruity, taboo and
derision).
David Rudds essay focuses on Dahls linguistic innovations and examines various
techniques adopted by the author on both the micro and macro levels of language. In addition,
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Prikazi Reviews
Rudd challenges what he perceives to be two misconceptions about Dahls vocabulary: the
notion that it is limited to slang and colloquial language, and the notion that it is outdated.
The aim of Pat Pinsets essay is to examine the role of education in Dahls books,
and the role of Dahls books in education. Identifying the roots of Dahls (mostly negative)
views of formal education in his personal experience, Pinset goes on to analyze the portrayal
of education (both formal and informal) and the representatives of education (teachers,
headmasters/mistresses) in Dahls fictional and autobiographical writings. Despite the
negative portrayal of education in his novels, Dahls works are often explicitly didactic;
Pinset links this didactic string with medieval morality plays and Paul Bunyans allegory
The Pilgrims Progress.
Ann Alston discusses the role and depiction of families in Dahls novels. On the plus
side, claims Alston, Dahls novels regularly portray the triumph of the underdog child (the
oppressed) over the adult (the oppressor), thus becoming empowering wish-fulfilment
fantasies (92). However, Alston also finds faults with Dahls fictional families: adults are
often portrayed as abusive, cruel and emotionally unresponsive (this might account for the
fact that he is not very popular with parents and teachers), the parent-child relationship (in its
many disguises) is privileged over all others, and childless families are heavily ostracized.
Though feminist critics have not, for the most part, looked favourably on Dahls work,
Beverly Pennells analysis of the representation of women and girls in The Magic Finger,
The BFG and Matilda provides a more positive outlook on the subject.
Heather Worthingtons essay deals with another controversial aspect of Dahls work:
the frequent and often grotesque depictions of violence. Providing select examples from
Dahls childrens, adult and juvenile fiction, Worthington maintains that violence, by being
contained in fantasy and made safe by the fictional status of the narratives (138), becomes
a source of empowerment and vent for negative and repressed emotions. In this way, Dahls
escapist and cathartic fantasy meets an emotional need in child readers to which few other
writers are prepared to cater (11).
Essays by June Pulliam and Carole Scott provide an insight into how Dahls literary
output translates into other media. Pulliam focuses on film adaptations of Dahls childrens
novels, from Mel Stuarts Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) to Wes Andersons
The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). The author is particularly interested in the extent and nature
of cinematic departures from the original texts, and the ways in which these attempt to cater
to the needs of both child and adult audiences. Carole Scott analyzes the fruitful relationship
between Dahl and illustrator Quentin Blake whose artistic creations, maintains Scott, both
complement and expand Dahls expression (166).
The last essay in the collection, that of Peter Hunt, provides a more sceptical outlook
of Dahls position within the cannon of childrens literature. According to Hunt, Dahls
only contribution to childrens literature is a visible vulgarization of childrens books
and the commodification of fantasy and its genres (176). Set apart from other essays
in this collection which, while acknowledging certain problems and drawbacks, remain
generally enthusiastic and positive about Dahl, Hunts undisguised criticism demonstrates
the diversity of critical opinions on the popular childrens author.
The Roald Dahl casebook is an interesting, thought-provoking, and, in many ways,
long-overdue book. Dahl studies are still a largely unexplored and underpopulated area
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(12). As editor Carol Butler notes, a single volume of essays can hardly be expected to
remedy such a state of affairs singlehandedly, but it undoubtedly presents a successful and
effective first step.
Nada Kujundi

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Libri & Liberi 2013 2 (1): 129-148

Roald Dahl: Popular, Prolific, Controversial

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