Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna: A Children's Classic at 100

Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna: A Children's Classic at 100

Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna: A Children's Classic at 100

Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna: A Children's Classic at 100

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Overview

Appearing first as a weekly serial in The Christian Herald, Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna was first published in book form in 1913. This popular story of an impoverished orphan girl who travels from America's western frontier to live with her wealthy maternal Aunt Polly in the fictional east coast town of Beldingsville went through forty-seven printings in seven years and remains in print today in its original version, as well as in various translations and adaptations. The story's enduring appeal lies in Pollyanna's sunny personality and in her glad game, her playful attempt to accentuate the positive in every situation. In celebration of its centenary, this collection of thirteen original essays examines a wide variety of the novel's themes and concerns, as well as adaptations in film, manga, and translation.

In this edited collection on Pollyanna, internationally respected and emerging scholars of children's literature consider Porter's work from modern critical perspectives. Contributors focus primarily on the novel itself but also examine Porter's sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up, and the various film versions and translations of the novel. With backgrounds in children's literature, cultural and film studies, philosophy, and religious studies, these scholars extend critical thinking about Porter's work beyond the thematic readings that have dominated previous scholarship. In doing so, the authors approach the novel from theoretical perspectives that examine what happens when Pollyanna engages with the world around her--her community and the natural environment--exposing the implicit philosophical, religious, and nationalist ideologies of the era in which Pollyanna was written. The final section is devoted to studies of adaptations of Porter's protagonist.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781496813114
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Publication date: 05/04/2017
Series: Children's Literature Association Series
Pages: 296
Sales rank: 824,066
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Roxanne Harde, Camrose, Alberta, Canada, is associate professor of English, associate dean (Research), and a McCalla University Professor at the Augustana Faculty of the University of Alberta. She has published extensively on American women writers, children's literature, and popular culture.


Lydia Kokkola, Luleå, Sweden, is professor of English and education at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. She is the author of Fictions of Adolescent Carnality.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction. Glad to be 100: The Making of a Children's Classic Lydia Kokkola Roxanne Harde 3

Part I Pollyanna's World

1 "Then just being glad isn't pro-fi-ta-ble?": Mourning, Class, and Benevolence in Pollyanna Roxanne Harde 27

2 "Aggressive femininity": The Ambiguous Heteronormativity of Pollyanna Laura M. Robinson 44

3 "Matter out of place": Dirt, Disorder, and Ecophobia Anthony Pavlik 58

4 "Ice-cream Sundays": Food and the Liminal Spaces of Class in Pollyanna Samantha Christensen 77

5 At Home in Nature: Negotiating Ecofeminist Politics in Heidi and Pollyanna Monika Elbert 96

Part II Ideological Pollyanna

6 The "veritable bugle-call": An Examination of Pollyanna through the Lens of Twentieth-Century Protestantism Ashley N. Reese 121

7 Pollyanna, the Power of Gladness, and the Philosophy of Pragmatism Janet Wesselius 137

8 When Pollyanna Did Not Grow Up: Girlhood and the Innocent Nation Dorothy Karlin 156

9 Pollyanna: Intersectionalities of the Child, the Region, and the Nation Patricia Oman 172

Part III Adapted Pollyanna

10 The Gospel of Good Cheer: Innocence, Spiritual Healing, and Patriotism in Mary Pickford's Pollyanna Anke Brouwers 191

11 "Almost a golden glow around it": The Filmic Nostalgia of Walt Disney's Pollyanna K. Brenna Wardell 211

12 Pollyanna: Transformation in the Japanese Context Mio Bryce 227

13 Pollyanna in Turkey: Translating a Transnational Icon Tanfer Emin Tunç 246

Afterword. Lessons from Pollyanna Marina Endicott 263

Contributors 267

Index 271

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