The ongoing appeal of the chronicles of Narnia : a partial explanation

Author: Devin Brown

Source: New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship, Volume 9, Number 1, December 2003 , pp. 99-112(14)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

Despite widely varying critical response, 50 years after its original publication C.S. Lewis's series The Chronicles of Narnia remains more popular than ever. One of the reasons for its continuing appeal may be that it has become a functional part of the cultural heritage of its readers and of those it has been read to, replacing the more traditional myths that informed preceding generations. Following a universal pattern -- departure from a familiar home, initiation into a larger unknown world, trial and testing, some form of death and renewal, and then finally return and reinvigoration -- the Narnia protagonists can be seen as modern incarnations of what Joseph Campbell has labeled the hero with a thousand faces, and as such can serve as models in the process of maturation and development.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1361454032000232121

Publication date: 2003-12-01