Five Get into Gender Trouble: A Comparative Exploration of Gender Performativity and Identities, As Portrayed in the First Editions of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five Series through to Hodder’s 2010 Revised Texts

Abstract

The portrayals of sex and gender in children’s literature have developed rapidly in the last century, progressing alongside gender studies and feminist theory. A comparative exploration of different editions of Enid Blyton’s bestselling Famous Five series is presented in this research. The editions studied range from the first editions of the texts which were written for a 1940s middle-class child audience, to Hodder Children’s Books “contemporary” (Hodder 2010, 1) yet “timeless” revisions. These are aimed towards “today’s children”, implied to be a stable and uniform group. As the essentially fluid nature of gender immediately troubles the suggestion that static gender performances and identities are possible, Hodder’s revisions are questioned for their claims of “sensitively and carefully” altered text. From the initial publication in 1942 onwards, the Famous Five series has been subject to minor revisions, with contentious words and minor mistakes edited out. These are typically structural or typographical errors. The few language changes are words or phrases which are no longer acceptable in society. Hodder’s advertised aim for their altered editions was to retain Blyton’s original narrative and to focus exclusively on the dialogue, allowing “today’s children” to enjoy the story without being impeded by the 1940s language. Hodder’s attempts to merge the original narrative with contemporary “expressions and language” reached further than solely replacing old fashioned adjectives with modern alternatives. The new editions of the texts also altered aspects of the gender performativity of the protagonists, and the norms they were expected to adhere to, effectively renegotiating the implied child reader. The changes inspired this research, raising questions of why these gender standards were deemed more “relevant” than those in previous editions, how and why Hodder deemed themselves worthy judges of “accessible” and “appealing” gender identities, and the extent to which these changes are aligned with contemporary understandings of gender. In considering these questions, alongside consistency and coherence of gendered performative acts, this thesis draws on theoretical frameworks of feminist theory, post-structuralist understandings of gender, power distribution and analytics, and existing literary criticism. Extracts of changed text are situated both in historical context, and within the shifting understandings of gender identity. In contextualising revisions with contemporary bestselling children’s literature, an analysis of the extent to which Hodder are following an established framework of gender identity and constructions of childhood are considered. Ultimately, the potential underlying effects of alterations to classic works of literature are discussed, in line with the educational, moral and ethical obligations that children’s literature is expected to fulfil.

Date of Award	14 Jul 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Allan David JOHNSON (Supervisor), Colin Alastair CAVENDISH-JONES (Supervisor) & Peter Edward Rees JORDAN (Supervisor)