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Australian Children's Literature Witch Images In UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND WITCH IMAGES IN AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE A dissertation submitted by Penelope M. Young, BA, GradDipEd(Secondary) For the award of Master of Philosophy 2001 Witch Images in Australian Children’s Literature ABSTRACT In this dissertation it is argued that the European witch trials that took place between 1450 and 1700 have resulted in a legacy of stereotypical themes in Australian children's literature. Those accused of witchcraft were almost always women who were old, without protection, and physically ugly. They were accused of consorting with the devil, making harmful spells, flying through the night on a magic staff and exhibiting malevolent intent towards others. An analysis of this period forms the contextual framework for identifying themes that appear in contemporary Australian children's literature. A survey of twenty-three books, identified as stories about witches, was conducted to ascertain whether the stereotypical witch from the European witch-hunts continues to be characterised in Australian children's literature. The findings suggest that the witch figure in Australian children's literature mirrors the historical evidence from the European witch trials, but has evolved into a more powerful and proactive character than that identified in the historical literature. The characterisation of the witch in the books for older readers is powerful and evil, compared to the witch as a trivial and diminished figure in the books for younger readers. Gender is also a major influence in the characterisation of the witch, with all readers exposed to themes that may influence their expectations regarding the behaviour and role of women. The representation of the witch in the books reinforces the misogyny of the witchcraft era, and weaves patterns of meaning in the texts that construct undesirable female images. Readers of all ages can link these images to the social world beyond the text. ii Witch Images in Australian Children’s Literature CERTIFICATION OF DISSERTATION I certify that the ideas, experimental work, results, analyses and conclusions reported in this dissertation are entirely my own effort, except where otherwise acknowledged. I also certify that the work is original and has not been previously submitted for any other award. _______________________________ _______________ Penelope M. Young Date ENDORSEMENT _______________________________ ______________ Associate Professor Geoff Bull Date Principal supervisor _______________________________ ______________ Ms Lesley McAuley-Jones Date Associate Supervisor iii Witch Images in Australian Children’s Literature ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my Principal Supervisor, Associate Professor Geoff Bull, Faculty of Education, University of Southern Queensland, for his continual advice, support and endless patience. In addition I would like to thank Ms Lesley McAuley-Jones, the Associate Supervisor of my dissertation, for her encouragement and advice, particularly in relation to the historical background to the study. Special thanks are included to Jeanette Hamilton and Geoff Bull, for their commitment to the study and for reading and discussing the books with me. Their insight and perseverance was appreciated and highly valued. I would particularly like to acknowledge the ongoing support and encouragement I have received from the University of Southern Queensland and in particular the Faculty of Education, to enable the completion of this study. And last, but most importantly, I would like to acknowledge the sustained encouragement and assistance of my family. To my husband Frank, for his helpful and ongoing support, and to my children Kate and Paul, whose interest and enthusiasm for the study kept me on task! iv Witch Images in Australian Children’s Literature TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ii Certification iii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents v List of Tables viii List of Appendices ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 1 1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 2 1.3 FOCUS OF THE STUDY 3 1.4 STUDY QUESTION 4 1.5 STUDY PARAMETERS 4 1.6 STUDY METHODOLOGY 5 1.7 REPORT OF THIS STUDY 6 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 7 2.1 INTRODUCTION 7 2.2 HISTORICAL DETERMINANTS OF TRADITIONAL WITCH 9 IMAGES 2.2.1 Historical context 9 2.2.1.1 Witch images identified in 2.2.1 13 2.2.2 Demographic considerations 14 2.2.2.1 Witch images identified in 2.2.2 17 2.2.3 Misogyny and the witch hunts 17 2.2.3.1 Witch images identified in 2.2.3 20 2.2.4 The Malleus Malificarium 20 2.2.4.1 Witch images identified in 2.2.4 25 2.2.5 Religion, the Church and Witchcraft 25 2.2.5.1 Witch images identified in 2.2.5 31 2.2.6 Torture, Trial and Execution 31 2.2.6.1 Witch images identified in 2.2.6 35 2.2.7 The social context of the witch 35 2.2.7.1 Victim 35 2.2.7.2 Accuser 41 2.2.7.3 Witch images identified in 2.2.7 45 2.2.8 Mediaeval magic and heresy: shaping the image 45 of the witch 2.2.8.1 Sexuality, the Sabbat and the Devil 46 2.2.8.2 Broomsticks, Spells and Cats 48 v Witch Images in Australian Children’s Literature Page 2.2.8.3 Witch images identified in 2.2.8 51 2.2.9 The End of the Witch-hunt 51 2.2.9.1 Witch images identified in 2.2.9 55 2.2.10 Summary of 2.2 55 2.3 THE WITCH IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE 58 2.3.1 The impact of the witch in children's literature 58 2.3.2 Gender in children's literature: social construction 62 and misogyny 2.3.3 Summary of 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 66 2.4 RESEARCH QUESTION RESULTING FROM THE 66 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 67 3.1 INTRODUCTION 67 3.2 DESIGN OF THE STUDY 67 3.2.1 Quantitative data analysis 69 3.2.2. Qualitative data analysis 69 3.2.3 Theme analysis in children's literature 70 3.2.4 Categorisation of witch images identified in the 74 historical sources 3.2.4.1 Social indicators 75 3.2.4.2 Characteristics/personality (traits) 76 3.2.4.3 Physical appearance 77 3.2.4.4 Activities and roles 78 3.2.5 Using group consensus to analyse qualitative data 81 3.2.6 Method of data analysis 82 3.2.6.1 Data collection 82 3.2.6.2 Categorical analysis 83 3.2.6.3 Statistical analysis 83 3.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BOOKS USED WITHIN 84 THE STUDY 3.4 RECORDING THE VARIABLES 85 3.4.1 Judge selection 85 3.4.2 Judge briefing 85 3.4.3 Judge training 86 3.4.4 Scoring procedures 87 3.5 ANALYSIS OF METHOD 88 3.5.1 Parameters 88 3.5.2 Design 88 3.5.3 Identifying themes in children's literature 88 3.5.4 Scoring procedures 89 3.6 SUMMARY 89 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 90 4.1 INTRODUCTION 90 4.2 QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 90 4.2.1 Year of publication 91 4.2.2 Author's gender 91 4.2.3 Protagonist's gender 93 4.2.4 Witches' number, age and gender 94 4.2.5 Setting, time and genre 95 4.2.6 Gender assumption in text 97 4.2.7 Summary of quantitative data analysis 98 4.3 TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS 99 4.3.1 Theme Analysis 100 vi Witch Images in Australian Children’s Literature Page 4.3.1.1 Analysis of 'Social indicators' data 102 4.3.1.1.1 Powerful images 104 4.3.1.1.2 Moderate images 106 4.3.1.1.3 Minimal images 106 4.3.1.1.4 Summary of 'Social indicators' data 108 4.3.1.2 Analysis of 'Traits' data 109 4.3.1.2.1 Powerful images 110 4.3.1.2.2 Moderate images 113 4.3.1.2.3 Minimal images 114 4.3.1.2.4 Summary of 'Traits' data 116 4.3.1.3 Analysis of 'Physical appearance' data 117 4.3.1.3.1 Powerful images 119 4.3.1.3.2 Minimal images 119 4.3.1.3.3 Summary of 'Physical appearance' data 120 4.3.1.4 Analysis of Activities and Roles data 121 4.3.1.4.1 Powerful images 123 4.3.1.4.2 Moderate images 131 4.3.1.4.3 Minimal images 131 4.3.1.4.4 Summary of 'Activities and Roles' data 132 4.3.2 Summary of witch images in books surveyed 134 4.3.3 Male witches in the books surveyed 139 4.4 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 141 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 145 5.1 INTRODUCTION 145 5.2 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 145 5.2.1 The witch's role and influence in the narratives 145 5.2.2 Different categories of books 147 5.2.3 The influence of gender 150 5.2.4 Summary 152 5.3 LIMITATIONS 154 5.3.1 Methodology 154 5.3.2 Consensus of panel of judges 154 5.4 FUTURE RESEARCH 155 5.4.1 An investigation on the influence and impact of 155 witch images in Australian children’s literature on young and adolescent readers. 5.4.2 The implications of gender bias when teaching 156 literacy References 158 Appendices 164 vii Witch Images in Australian Children’s Literature LIST OF TABLES Page Table 4.1 Authors' gender x total witches 91 Table 4.2 Authors' gender x witches' gender 91 Table 4.3 Witches' gender and age 94 Table 4.4 Setting, time and genre of 23 books surveyed 95 Table 4.5 Examples of gender assumption in text of 23 books surveyed 97 Table 4.6 Categories of witch images identified in the Review of the 100 Literature Table 4.7 Total number of ‘Social Indicator’ witch images 103 identified in the 23 books surveyed Table 4.8 Total number of ‘Traits’ witch images identified 109 in the 23 books surveyed Table 4.9 Total number of ‘Physical appearance’ witch 118 images identified in the 23 books surveyed Table 4.10 Total number of ‘Activities and Roles’ witch 122 images identified in the 23 books surveyed Table 4.11 Total number of witch images identified 134 in the 23 books surveyed Table 4.12 The number of books containing Powerful witch images 136 Table 4.13 The number of books containing Moderate witch images 137 Table 4.14 The number of books that contained Minimal witch images 138 or images were Not sufficiently identified Table 4.15 Male witches in 23 books surveyed 140 viii Witch Images in Australian Children’s Literature LIST OF APPENDICES Page Appendix
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