Elephant or Elebird?: dialogic formation of truth and subjectivity in Dr. Seuss's Horton Hatches the Egg & Horton Hears a Who!

The voice of the other seems to become more than just a marginal voice in Dr. Seuss's Horton stories. Throughout these two narratives the character of this big elephant constantly reinforces the marginal voice of the other through a dialogic relationship. Horton the elephant cannot and will not...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of children's spirituality
Main Author: Kimiagari, Mohammad Mehdi (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Taylor & Francis [2017]
In: International journal of children's spirituality
RelBib Classification:CD Christianity and Culture
TK Recent history
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B Horton
B Dialogism
B Subjectivity
B Dr. Seuss
B Mikhail Bakhtin
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:The voice of the other seems to become more than just a marginal voice in Dr. Seuss's Horton stories. Throughout these two narratives the character of this big elephant constantly reinforces the marginal voice of the other through a dialogic relationship. Horton the elephant cannot and will not stand a ruling voice. He persistently searches for the other. He is big and he does big things for small things. His acts of compassion and solicitude can best be explained through Mikhail Bakhtin's views on dialogism and language. The aim of this essay is to analyse the mentioned stories in the light of Bakhtin's theories on discourse and subjectivity. All through both of these books in children's literature, readers can detect the dialogic formation of truth and subjectivity as Horton experiences the clash of marginal with dominant. Margin crosses the borders of the centre and therein lies the rub.
ISSN:1469-8455
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of children's spirituality
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/1364436X.2017.1289899