From `Capping' to Intercision: Metaphors/Metonyms of Mind Control in the Young Adult Fiction of John Christopher and Philip Pullman

Abstract

This article undertakes a comparative analysis of two trilogies written for a young adult readership: the Tripods trilogy by John Christopher (1967-8) and the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (1995-2000). Both trilogies can be described as science fiction/fantasy Bildungsromans which centre on attempts by adults or surrogate adult figures to thwart the rite of passage from childhood to adulthood for their young protagonists. Contrary to what one might expect, the figurative language used in the texts which comprise the trilogies comes relatively high on Goatly's cline of 'metaphoricity' (Goatly, 1997: 11), partly because of the incorporation of an `open' address in Pullman's case and partly because of the wide-ranging intertextual allusions employed by both writers. In addition, I argue that in common with other dystopian architexts both trilogies exhibit a marked tendency to blur the boundaries between the metaphorical, the metonymic and the literal and, more specifically, that the `cognitive estrangement' intrinsic to the genre of sf leads readers to interpret metaphorically objects and processes that are literal in the world(s) of the text. Finally, I conclude with the view that both Christopher and Pullman offer empowering subject positions to their young protagonists and, by extension, to their young adult readers, with the clear aim of encouraging them to move beyond the circumscribed world of childhood inexperience.

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