The Return of the Fairy: Australian Medievalist Fantasy for the Young
Abstract
'The title of this essay refers to the trajectory of fairy narratives in Australia, which comprised a prominent component of cultural production for children in the first two decades of the twentieth century, largely disappeared from view in the mid-century, and returned during the 1980s in conjunction with the development of products marketed to young girls and their mothers. However, contemporary Australian fairies are not altogether constrained by the pink and glitter of global marketing practices but also take on more local forms, exemplified by Bob Graham's toughtalking boy fairy in Jethro Byrde Fairy Child (2002).'
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Published 1 October 2011 in Volume 26 No. 3-4. Subjects: Australian children's literature, Colonial literature & writers, Fairies, Medievalism.
Cite as: Bradford, Clare. ‘The Return of the Fairy: Australian Medievalist Fantasy for the Young.’ Australian Literary Studies, vol. 26, no. 3-4 - , 2011, doi: 10.20314/als.77dfc584c8.