Abstract
The position of authors of fiction in relation to critical discussion of their work is an unsettled one. While recognized as having knowledge and expertise regarding their texts, they are typically regarded as unreliable sources when it comes to critical analysis, and as partial witnesses whose personal association with the text is liable to influence their judgement. This article reconsiders that position, not by arguing that authors lack bias but by showing that bias is the normal condition of all critical reading and writing, whether by authors of fiction or by academic critics. I take as a case study my novel Calypso Dreaming (2002), comparing my own understanding of the text with a recent discussion by four influential critics. I argue that the rhetorical and methodological framing of critical discussion is a necessarily procrustean exercise, that may yield insights into texts but is also characterized by distortion and selectivity. Moreover, the conventional positioning of critics as “disinterested,” in contrast to “biased” authors, disguises the extent to which academic discussions are subject to the same personal and professional influences as those of other writers.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
A figure of this kind, under the name of Sulis, is a central character in my later novel, Death of a Ghost (2006b).
As a crude measure, there are about 100 primary texts listed in the References section of New World Orders, for a book of some 200 pages.
References
Anon. (2009). Two Intriguing Islands—with Amazing Histories. Bear Essentials: The Newsletter of Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, April, 13–14. Accessed August 24, 2012 from http://www.cbyc.co.uk/club/documents/be009.pdf.
Barthes, Roland. (1967/1977). The Death of the Author. In Image Music Text (pp. 142–148). London: Fontana Press.
Bradford, Clare, Mallan, Kelly, Stephens, John and McCallum, Robyn. (2008). New World Orders in Contemporary Children’s Literature: Utopian Transformations. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Butler, Charles. (1998). Timon’s Tide. London: Orion.
Butler, Charles. (2002). Calypso Dreaming. London: Collins Voyager.
Butler, Charles. (2006a). Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children’s Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, and Diana Wynne Jones. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press/Children’s Literature Association.
Butler, Charles. (2006b). Death of a Ghost. London: HarperCollins.
Butler, Charles. (2007). Holiday Work: On Writing for Children and for the Academy. Children’s Literature in Education, 38(3), 163–172.
Butler, Charles. (2009). Experimental Girls: Feminist and Transgender Discourses in Bill’s New Frock and Marvin Redpost: Is He a Girl? Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 34(1), 3–20.
Derrida, Jacques. (1988). Limited Inc. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
Fish, Stanley. (1980). Is There a Text in this Class? The Authority of Interpretive Communities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Garner, Alan. (1997). The Voice that Thunders: Essays and Lectures. Edinburgh: The Harvill Press.
Giblett, Rod. (1996). Postmodern Wetlands: Culture, History, Ecology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Isaacs, Anne and Zelinsky, Paul O. (1994). Swamp Angel. New York: Dutton.
Stephens, John. (1992). Language and Ideology in Children’s Fiction. London: Longman.
Stephens, John and McCallum, Robyn. (1998). Retelling Stories, Framing Culture: Traditional Story and Metanarratives in Children’s Literature. New York: Garland.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Catherine Butler is Associate Professor in English Literature at the University of the West of England. Her critical books include Teaching Children’s Fiction (edited, Palgrave, 2006), Four British Fantasists (Scarecrow/ChLA, 2006), Reading History in Children’s Books (with Hallie O’Donovan; Palgrave, 2012), and Roald Dahl: A New Casebook (co-edited with Ann Alston; Palgrave, 2012). Her critical work has been honored with a ChLA Article Honor Award, and a Mythopoeic Scholarship Award (for Four British Fantasists (Scarecrow/ChLA, 2006)). Catherine has so far produced six novels for children and teenagers, as well as some shorter works. She is an Associate Editor of Children’s Literature in Education.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Butler, C. Critiquing Calypso: Authorial and Academic Bias in the Reading of a Young Adult Novel. Child Lit Educ 44, 264–279 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-012-9189-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-012-9189-9