Time Control in Diana Wynne Jones's Fiction: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci

Abstract

Recently, the popularity of the British author Diana Wynne Jones has increased so much that also the literary critic, which until now has been snubbing her production, has begun to examine her works. I have decided to focus on Diana Wynne Jones's novels because I believe that she is an incredibly talented author who, thanks to her innovations, has given her contribution to modern children's fantasy. Through my dissertation, I want to demonstrate the complexity of Jones's novels and also how her production has contributed to the renewal of fantasy literature. I have started my dissertation by introducing Diana Wynne Jones. Specifically, I have touched on her biography to highlight how her personal life has influenced her entire production and I have offered an overview of Jones's narrative feature and theme. In the last part of this chapter I have focused on the relation between literary criticism and Jones. The following chapter addresses the issue of time treatment in the Chrestomanci Series. Precisely, I have offered a brief explanation of the notion of time and I have deeply focused on the nature of time travel. In particular, I have explained Jones's idea of time traveller, I have presented the common subjects in time travel stories and I have compared and contrasted Jones with other relevant fantasy children's authors. The other main section of this chapter, concentrates on the relation between time and space in two Jones's books. First of all, I have introduced the concept of space and then I have spoken about Jones's geography rewriting. The fourth chapter addresses the concept of parallel worlds. Therefore, after having introduced the concept of parallel universes, I have focused on multiverse in Chrestomanci series and I have concluded this section by highlighting traces of heterotopia. The last chapter of my dissertation focuses again on time, but here time is understood as history. Indeed, I have focused on the rewriting of history in The Chronicles of Chrestomanci and I have analysed the relationship between Diana Wynne Jones and the Anglo-Saxon tradition.