"Dark materials" : shifting shadows in the works of Ursula Le Guin and Philip Pullman

My thesis "Dark Materials: Shifting Shadows in the Works of Ursula Le Guin and Philip Pullman" proposes a new category of fantastical children's literature which explores difficult themes, such as death. In Chapter One, I introduce how the adult/child hierarchy represses children's literature; fantasy can counter this by subverting methods of signification. In Chapters Two and Three I discuss Le Guin's Earthsea and Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogies, respectively, focusing on the concepts of the shadow and the guide. Within Chapter Four I discuss both authors by examining their approach towards death. Overall, I stress the need for a type of compassionate literature which gives children and young adults the means to explore and develop their sense of self, despite the difficulty of this journey. Dark Materials provide a guide by realizing unspeakable experiences as fantastical spaces, and emphasizes the necessary exchange of power for freedom.