Trabajo de Fin de Grado (code 31099) Degree in English Studies Session 2020-2021 Student’s first name Pablo Esteban Student’s surname Arenas Filardi DNI 48801505J “A Modernized Fairy Tale”: Revisiting Title of your TFG Americanness in L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. First name and surname of your Tutor María Teresa Gómez Reus Abstract: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz needs no introduction. Being a literary success since its publication at the turn of the century, this story has surpassed the limits of time and space, becoming part of the history of America as well as one of the most recognizable children's books of all time. Nevertheless, it is not a conventional fairy-tale. Its singularity relies on its relentless Americanness and L. Frank Baum's purely American concern of creating something new: a modernized fairy tale. This undergraduate dissertation seeks to explore a topic that has been greatly overlooked by critics: the elements that make this classic a quintessential American story. The dissertation argues that, by distancing himself from European traditions, by asserting American values, and by the use of explicit national imagery, L. Frank Baum achieves something never seen in American Literature: a fairy-tale Americans can call their own. Children’s Literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Thematic keywords Americanness, Fairy Tale, Innovation. Total number of words 8288 Student’s Signature: Tutor’s Signature: Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3 2. Lyman Frank Baum’s American Experience .............................................................. 7 3. American Children’s Literature: Tradition and Rupture. ........................................ 9 4. The Wonderful Wizard of America .......................................................................... 12 4.1 Transcending European Fairy Tales ..................................................................... 13 4.2 American Ideals and Imagery ............................................................................... 20 5. Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 25 6. Works Cited ................................................................................................................... 26 2 1. Introduction “Almost every great nation has its immortal work of juvenile fantasy. In England it is Lewis Carroll’s Alice books. [...] Italy’s classic is Pinocchio. In America the classic fantasy is, of course, L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz.” – (Martin Gardner, Preface xi) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is not only the American fairy tale par excellence, but it epitomises America. Since its publication in 1900, The Wizard has imprinted itself in the nation’s folklore, displaying and transforming the American character and becoming “a millstone as much as a milestone in American culture” (Hearn xiv). In his forging of a pioneering children’s classic, Baum created a symbol for the nation, for it was not until The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, at the dawn of the twentieth century, that the United States would have its own and exclusive children’s masterpiece, one that would make a priceless contribution to the literary scene (Hearn xiii; Zipes et al. 555). What particularly makes this book so quintessentially American is its innovative quality, a newness, which, according to Zipes (555) and Kincaid (40), has to do with Baum’s capability to create a fantasy land that amalgamates the American Midwest landscape, the American Dream and the American Experience through recognisable American characters: a unique combination of elements which have provided American children with a fairy tale they can call their own. Apart from the status this book enjoys, it is worth mentioning The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’s powerful and original imagery. It is undeniable that the voyage of Dorothy and her odd party still echoes in our minds, having transcended time and space and existing in a continuum within the American imagination. Needless to say, Victor Fleming’s 1939 screen adaptation also contributed to enhancing the book’s fame, but the popularity of the film has not diminished the vitality of the book itself. 3 A number of scholars have debated the question of which medium consecrated The Wizard, with some critics prioritizing the book over the film, and others the opposite. Michael Hearn has firmly opposed the argument that it was the film that made famous the tale, claiming that the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer “bought the property in first place because The Wizard was already the most beloved American children’s book of the twentieth century” (xiv). Contrary to this, Paul Kincaid has suggested that it was the film version that “did most to cement its place in the American popular imagination” (50). Deborah Cartmell takes a step further considering that in the case of The Wizard of Oz “the film becomes the ur-text in the minds of its viewers” (168) and regards Baum’s text as a “little-known work” (172). Notwithstanding, the fairy tale was a vast success, printing 90.000 copies during the first year of its publication which brought L. Frank Baum to write 14 sequels. His literary saga was continued after his death in 1919 – data which shows that in 1939 the book was still a highly esteemed literary piece. Yet the film, according to Carol Billman, “transcends its original in American popular culture [...] by acts of both omission and commission” (248). The filmmakers achieved to make The Wizard of Oz more explanatory to the audience, avoiding Baum’s disparities, and creating in the screen adaptation a more approachable and attractive version of the tale which is nowadays perceived as the default medium (Billman 248). But if the disparities of the text were a problem to create a film, they are doubtlessly what gave this fairy tale its singular literary quality. Nonetheless, half a century had to pass after its publication in order for it to be considered a genuine work of literature worthy of scholarly consideration (Gardener x; Hearn xv). Simply, and despite its economic success, it was bypassed by critics, who considered it shallow, naïve or poorly written (Hearn xcviii; Littlefield 47). As Hearn claims, “this paradox is not surprising, for historically Americans have been notoriously careless in recognizing their own visionaries” (xiv). 4 Although Edward Wagenknecht’s Utopia Americana (1929) was the earliest attempt to give the tale a critical response, it was not until 1964 that The Wizard of Oz earned the recognition it deserved. It was thanks to Henry Littlefield’s article “The Wizard of Oz: A Parable on Populism” that the book finally received the scholarly attention it deserved (Hearn lxxxix; Liebhold; Radell 274). Littlefield did not only consider the children’s classic to conceal “an unsuspected depth” (50), but he also contemplated the much-debated question of whether Baum filled his tale with multiple political and contemporary references: the so called “allegory debate”. Littlefield defended and illustrated that Baum’s masterpiece was a parable of the turn of the century Mid- western populist movement. In his eyes, the Tin Woodman represents the Eastern industrial workers, deprived of humanity, the Scarecrow becomes the Mid-west farmer, stigmatized as ignorant, and the Lion embodies William Jennings Bryan, the democratic candidate who lost the elections for not being sufficiently brave (53). With this theory, Littlefield pioneered the first work of criticism, delving deep into The Wizard, considering it a work of art and opening an insatiable desire to decipher the hidden meaning behind the text. From then onwards, critics have bountifully discussed the question of whether L. Frank Baum truly tried to convey a coded message in his tale. Two distinct attitudes may be traced: on the one hand, the critics who, in the same fashion as Littlefield, found intrinsic meaning in the fairy tale, and, on the other, the ones that are sceptic of this theory, and who, as Littlefield puts it, “see in it only a warm, cleverly written fairy tale” (50). Quentin Taylor, Hugh Rockoff, Gretchen Ritter and William Radell, for example, fully conceive The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as an allegorical tale and firmly support Littlefield’s theory, “considering the idea that Baum had monetary, topical and political metaphors in mind when he wrote The Wizard” (Radell 274). Ranjit Dighe, on his part, “rejects the idea that Baum had deliberate allegorical intent”, assenting that the story closely matches the socio-political context (Radell 275). Taking issue with this line, Michael Gessel, David Parker, Katherine M. Rogers, 5 Evan I. Schwartz and Bradley Hansen have denied any glimpse of allegorical signs in The Wizard of Oz, maintaining, instead, that the hypothesis that Baum aimed to imbue his tale with satirical or allegorical content derives “from the overactive imaginations of interpreters” (Radell 274). Even Michael Patrick Hearn, who could be considered the most prominent of all the Oz scholars, in his annotated edition of The Wizard of Oz, undermines Littlefield’s parable on populism theory, claiming that it “far outweighs its critical value” (xc), and asserting that the tale was meant to be nothing more than an innocent story and a piece of youthful entertainment (Hearn xlix). There is, therefore, no critical agreement on whether The Wizard presents real literary depth. A century and two decades after