Of the Postmodernists’ Party Without Knowing It: Philip Pullman, Hypermorality and Metanarratives

Authors

  • Beppie Keane

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/pecl2005vol15no1art1260

Keywords:

Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials trilogy, religion, postmodernism, morality, ethics, George Bataille

Abstract

The prominence of Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy has prompted energetic debate around Pullman's treatment of organised religion and questions of morality and ethics. Pullman's treatment of religion is considered in a different way by drawing on George Bataille's notion of hypermorality, which proposes a view of morality based on rationality and enabling a critique of those moral codes, which claim the authority of institutionalised religions.

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References

Bataille, Georges (1985) Literature and Evil, trans. A. Hamilton. London, Marion Boyars.

Bird, Anne-Marie (2001) ‘“Without Contraries is no Progression”: dust as an all-inclusive, multifunctional metaphor in Philip Pullman’s “His dark Materials,”’ Children’s Literature in Education 32.2: 111-123.

Bird, Anne-Marie (2005) ‘Circumventing the Grand Narrative: dust as an alternate theological vision in Pullman’s “His dark Materials,”’ in Millicent Lenz and Carole scott (eds) His Dark Materials Illuminated. detroit, Wayne state University Press, pp.188-198.

Gooderham, david (2003) Fantasizing As it is: religious language in Philip Pullman’s “His dark Materials” trilogy, Children’s Literature 31: 155-175.

Hines, Maude (2005) ‘second Nature: dæmons and ideology in The Golden Compass,’ in Millicent Lenz and Carole scott (eds) His Dark Materials Illuminated. detroit, Wayne state University Press, pp.37-47.

Lyotard, Jean-François (1984) The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans. G. Bennington and B. Massumi. Manchester, Manchester University Press.

McCallum, Robyn (1999) Ideologies of Identity in Adolescent Fiction: The Dialogic Construction of Subjectivity. New York, Garland.

Parsons, Wendy and Catriona Nicholson (1999) ‘talking to Philip Pullman: An interview.’ The Lion and the Unicorn 23. 1: 116-134.

Pullman, Philip (1996) Northern Lights. London, scholastic.

Pullman, Philip (1998) The Subtle Knife. London, scholastic.

Pullman, Philip (2001) The Amber Spyglass. London, scholastic.

Scott, Carole (2005) ‘Pullman’s enigmatic ontology: revamping old traditions in “His dark Materials,”’ in Millicent Lenz and Carole scott (eds) His Dark Materials Illuminated. Detroit, Wayne state University Press, pp. 95-105.

Stephens, John and Robyn McCallum (1998) Retelling Stories, Framing Culture: Traditional Story and Metanarratives in Children’s Literature. New York, Garland.

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Published

2005-01-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

“Of the Postmodernists’ Party Without Knowing It: Philip Pullman, Hypermorality and Metanarratives” (2005) Papers: Explorations into Children’s Literature, 15(1), pp. 50–59. doi:10.21153/pecl2005vol15no1art1260.