Masculinities in British and French Children’s Fiction, 1940-1970.

While gender is an increasingly central topic in French and British children’s literary scholarship, few studies examine images of masculinity in children’s fiction during the period 1940-1970. This mid-century moment constitutes a transformative time in history and especially in terms of gender ideologies, which were complicated by changes brought about by World War Two, imperialism and decolonisation, and the expansion of women’s liberation movements. Equally, post-war Europe abounded with protective measures in publishing to safeguard children from ‘corruptive’ influences, also witnessing a growth in youth cultures, and an idealistic belief in the reconciliatory potential of children’s literature in an age of reconstruction. Like all literature, children’s fiction engages with sociocultural norms in the environments in which it is produced, including norms of gender and national identity.
This thesis analyses images of masculinity in French and British children’s fiction published between 1940-1970, asking how fiction intended for consumption by young people reflected ideals of masculinity and broader current ideologies of gender, but could also reflect and indeed constitute challenges to normative views. Drawing on developments in publishing, it considers how literary trends and influences contributed to these constructions of masculinity, and compares portrayals across Britain and France, evaluating their reflections of their individual cultural circumstances of creation. It intends to fill gaps in children’s literary scholarship, which has not previously considered images of masculinity within this time frame and depth using a comparative model; this model highlights similarity and difference to access a deeper intercultural understanding of mid-century masculinity in Europe. The thesis focusses analysis through themes of series fiction, the family unit, war and imperialism.