A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick 
               
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                              warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications  
                                                                    
                                    
                                    
                                    
                                    
              A Bakhtinian Reading of Fantasy Chronotopes 
                in Modern Children’s Fantasy Literature 
                                    
                                    
                                  by 
                                    
              
                                    
                              Zhiwen Luo 
                                    
                                    
                                    
                                    
                   A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for   
                                the degree of   
                    Doctor of Philosophy in Education (Children’s Literature) 
                                    
              
                     University of Warwick, Centre for Education Studies 
                               September 2017 
                                    
                              
                                 Contents 
                                     
             Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... V 
             Declaration .............................................................................................................. VI 
             Abstract .................................................................................................................. VII 
             Chapter One ............................................................................................................... 1 
             Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 
                1.1 Literature Review ........................................................................................... 2 
                   1.1.1 Definitions and Interpretations of Fantasy .......................................... 5 
                   1.1.2 The Focused Scope of This Study ..................................................... 18 
                   1.1.3 Critical Studies of Time and Space in Children’s Fantasy Literature23 
                1.2 Theoretical/Methodological Framework ...................................................... 37 
                1.3 The Aim of This Study and Research Questions.......................................... 51 
                1.4 The Selection of Primary Texts .................................................................... 56 
                In Summary ........................................................................................................ 60 
             Chapter Two ............................................................................................................. 62 
             The Epic Chronotope .............................................................................................. 62 
                2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 62 
                2.2 The Epic Chronotope Embodied in the Focused Fantasy Works ................. 68 
                   2.2.1 The Epic Chronotope Embodied in The Chronicles of Narnia ......... 68 
                   2.2.2 The Epic Chronotope Embodied in The Dark is Rising .................... 80 
                   2.2.3 The Epic Chronotope Embodied in Elidor ........................................ 90 
                2.3 The Epic Chronotope in Dialogue ................................................................ 94 
                   2.3.1 The Symbolic Dialogue on the Level of Awareness ......................... 94 
                                                           II 
              
                   2.3.2 The Provincial Village Infiltrated by the Epic Chronotope............... 98 
                   2.3.3 The “Novelisation” of the Epic Chronotope ................................... 105 
                In Summary ...................................................................................................... 117 
             Chapter Three ........................................................................................................ 118 
             The “Fantastic” Time-travel Chronotope ........................................................... 118 
                3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 118 
                3.2 Restoring the Connectedness of Time and Space ...................................... 127 
                3.3 Time-travel Chronotope in the “Fantastic Uncanny” Mode ...................... 130 
                   3.3.1 The Idyllic Chronotope as the Setting for Time Travel ................... 130 
                   3.3.2 The “Unlocalised” Idyllic Chronotope as a Literary Illusion ......... 132 
                   3.3.3 Daydreaming Sheltered by the “Oneiric House” ............................ 136 
                3.4 Time-travel Chronotope in the “Fantastic Marvellous” Mode ................... 139 
                   3.4.1 Thirdspace Accommodating Logically Paradoxical Timelines ....... 142 
                   3.4.2 Thirdspace: The Eternal and Changing Midnight Garden .............. 144 
                3.5 The Thirding/Othering of the Construction of Childhood ......................... 148 
                   3.5.1 The Binarism in Re-presenting the Past .......................................... 149 
                   3.5.2 Existential Temporality: The Unity of Three Ekstases ................... 152 
                   3.5.3 Thirding/Othering in the Construction of Childhood ...................... 156 
                In Summary ...................................................................................................... 161 
             Chapter Four .......................................................................................................... 163 
             The Heterotopian Chronotope.............................................................................. 163 
                4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 163 
                4.2 The Ever-expanding Multiverse Projected in His Dark Materials ............ 165 
                   4.2.1 The Polyvalent Ontological Structure ............................................. 168 
                                                          III