Description
Book SynopsisThis book is a literary analysis of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan in all its different versions -- key rewritings, dramatisations, prequels, and sequels -- and includes a synthesis of the main critical interpretations of the text over its history. A comprehensive and intelligent study of the Peter Pan phenomenon, this study discusses the book's complicated textual history, exploring its origins in the Harlequinade theatrical tradition and British pantomime in the nineteenth century. Stirling investigates potential textual and extra-textual sources for Peter Pan, the critical tendency to seek sources in Barrie's own biography, and the proliferation of prequels and sequels aiming to explain, contextualize, or close off, Barrie's exploration of the imagination. The sources considered include Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's Starcatchers trilogy, Régis Loisel's six-part Peter Pan graphic novel in French (1990-2004), Andrew Birkin's The Lost Boys ser
Trade Review
'This excellent book is an important contribution to the documentation and critical interpretation of a literary myth, text and character that has transcended its authorial and textual origins and, as the author states, 'taken on a life of its own'.- Scottish Literary Review
"Her analysis is compelling... [An] interesting and highly readable text." - Kayla McKinney Wiggins, Mythlore
"Stirling's bibliography is a model of thorough research and her analysis offers fresh ideas for Peter Pan Studies." - Children's Literature Assocation Quarterly.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations and References Introduction: The Shadow of Peter Pan 1. Origins and Storytelling 2. Peter and Pantomime 3. Wendy and Peter 4. Before Peter Pan: Loisel 5. Imagining Barrie 6. Ending Peter Pan 7. Sequels Bibliography Index
