One of the effective formulae of making the literary work best seller is to widen the scope of readership. This scope can be extended through getting maximum number of readers for the novel or fiction. One of the popular genres in literature is a “Crossover” fiction. It can ensure wide readership, As a result, the crossover fiction has been emerging as a new form of literary work. Crossover novels are regarded as a new trend and it commonly assumed to be the invention of twenty first century (Becket, 1). This presumption according to Becket (2) is not true as there was a famous novel of Jonathan Swift called “Gulliver’s Travel” written in 1726 at that time It was remarked, “it is universally read, from the Cabinet-Council to the Nursery” (Gay & Burgess, 60). The quote itself defines the concept of Crossover novel that it is read by the children (nursery) as well as the adults (Cabinet-Council). The present paper attempts to focus on the concept of crossover novel with its definition. The paper also tries to find out whether the crossover novels were there in yesteryears’ literature.
The crossover novels catch the attention of children as well as the adults. While narrating self-experience of reading Harry Potter Falconer (1) says that his sister had handed over to him the book “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. When he started reading the book, he was literally hooked. He became child reader and like those children he also engrossed in the book. Narrating his experience, Falconer came to the conclusion that Harry Potter cannot be a mere children’s novel but it is a novel written for children as well as adults.
Before taking into consideration the research topic of the present paper, it is essential to know thoroughly about the crossover fiction. The crossover is like a hybrid books that aim at entertaining children and the adult as well. The previous century literature, there was no such division between children’s literature and adult literature. In the eighteen century, the literature started being divided into children’s books and adults’ books.
Some of the major characteristics would be there that distinguished the children’s novel and adults’ novel. Firstly, unlike adults’ books, children’s books used to be short. It used to have large print with third person narrative. Moreover, the adults’ books used to be more complicated with so many characters. Hence, those novels could not be called crossover novels.
The crossover novels can be defined as “the books that appeal to both adults and children” (Armistead, 33). The crossover fiction can be divided into the following categories; the author of the novel initially has targeted the one audience and then moved to another. The second category is the crossover novel in which the writer writes for children as well as the adults but it is written in separate books. The third category of crossover fiction is that it is written for children and adults in the same work. Gulliver’s Travel for example was the book that was initially intended to be learnt by the adults but later on it became the children novel.
It is said that the term crossover novel started in real sense in the year 1997 with the release of “Harry Potter”. J.K. Rowling, the novelist created a history. Along with the children, the adults were also attracted towards Harry Potter. The crossover novels were also called “kidult” or “Adultescent”, the words that are the combination of two words, kid and adult, or adult and adolescent. But the credit of beginning of crossover novel cannot be given to J.K. Rowling. Before her, the same efforts were made by yesteryears’ novelists. Among them the Carnegie award winner novelist Phillipa Pearce successfully experimented crossover fiction through her short novel “Tom’s Midnight Garden”.
The first attribute of crossover novel is that they depict two worlds; the world of fantasy and the world of reality. In “Tom’s Midnight Garden” for example, Pearce portrayed the world of reality. Though this world is not as dark as the real world in Harry Potter, it is the monotonous world. Tom wants to get rid of the monotonous world. He has no friends and he feels lonely in his life. He wanted playmate/s and he meets Hatty as his playmate. Of course Hatty was not from the real world. She exists in his world of fantasy. At children’s level the book is about the merriment, adventure and escape. He gets immense pleasure in the company of Hatty. Both of them come together, play and make fun. While entertaining the children, book can be taken from philosophical perspective that is suitable for the adults as well. It is about the profound grief and miseries about the lost days in the past. The days still glimmer in the memory of the female protagonist (Web.a.ebscohost.com, 2007). The novel is suitable for the children who can enjoy the playtime games of Tom & Hatty whereas the adult also can relate the novel with some real life incidents such as saving children from contagious diseases, taking care of the health of children etc. Tom’s uncle and aunt both are also the characters that can be close to the typical adulthood. The old landlady is also the symbol of the rudeness and indifference of adulthood.
In “Tom’s Midnight Garden” the encounter with the monotonous and miserable reality starts with Tom’s forceful departure from his house. The sense of losing something is associated with reality. In the world of fantasy, no question of losing anything is there. He unwillingly says goodbye to human and even non-human things.
Crying for something that is lost, giving up favourite things is the part and parcel of real life. Here Pearce introduces her protagonist that in real life we have to lose so many things. In Harry Potter also, J.K. Rowling has discussed the same theme of separation or loss of valuable people and thing from the protagonist’s life.
Do not pity the dead Harry. Pity the living and above all pity those who love without love. (Rowling, 380)
The above quote is actually a philosophy of life. The philosophical quotes are seldom used in children’s books, but still they are used. Dumbledore says this to the protagonist who is still a teenager. Hence it can be said that the harsh realities of life are introduced to Harry at a tender age. The encounter with harsh realities is inevitable to show the adverse journey of the protagonist. If there are no troubles, miseries, the story cannot be written.
One of the major attributes of the children’s novel that has been discussed above; that is the existence of very few characters, simple plot and short novels. Considering this genre, we can say that Tom’s Midnight Garden is a children’s novel as it meets all these conditions. The novel is very short and there are no multiple characters involved in the novel. The main focus is on Tom, Hatty, Uncle Gwen, Aunt Gwen and the old landlady called Mrs Bartholomew. Moreover, the novel is very short in its length. Unlike Tom’s Midnight Garden, Harry Potter is full with so many characters. Moreover, Harry Potter is like an epic that has been divided into seven different books. But there are some themes that can be associated with the adult readers. The nostalgia of the old landlady, the typical behaviour of the adults in the story is philosophical and the adults can relate them to their own lives.
While talking about the category of crossover novels, “Tom’s Midnight Garden” can be categorized as a book in which from the very beginning, Pearce’s target audience is both the children and the adults as well. She introduces us with her teenager protagonist and the other adult characters of the novel. The caring parents take decision to shift Tom to their aunt and uncle for few days as his brother was suffering from measles. It is to protect the other son from the contagious disease. In the house of his Aunt and Uncle as well, Tom’s dialogues with uncle and aunt reflect the category of the book and that is mixed target audience. Switching of Tom from reality to fantasy and fantasy to reality is the combination of children and adult trait of the novel. In Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling uses the technique of switching from children’s attributes to the attribute of adult novel theme. If we go through the series of Harry Potter, we come to know that Harry Potter becomes bolder after every series. In the first book Harry is shown to live in a house that does not respect him at all. He is ill-treated by his aunt, her husband and her son. This is the beginning of the novel where the strong presence of childhood and adulthood can be felt.
Crossover novels also have one major elements and that is the novels are full of mysteries and sometimes horror. The mystery is to maintain in such a manner that both the children and the adults strongly feel to unfold the mysteries and for that they are forced to read the novels. Tom’s midnight garden is a mysterious place. His companion Hatty is mysterious girl. The author has very nicely maintained the mystery of the novel which is revealed in the end. The novel ends with a shock to the reader. It is unexpected for the readers to know that the small Hatty in Tom’s fantasy world was no one but the rude landlady. Tom was playing with the landlady of her childhood. This is twist to the story. In Harry Potter also the readers are encountered with series of shocks and twists.
The crossover novels cannot be completed without some major elements. They are high adventures, the quest, and existence of good and evil, exploration, romance and escapism.
Harry Potter consists of several adventures. Harry and his friends experience thrills and adventures at every step of their journey. They encounter with so many weird, mysterious and magical creatures. Tom’s adventurous journey starts with the door downside of the building. The door is mysterious. In day time, the door opens in a real world but in the midnight the door opens in a magical world and a beautiful garden. When Tom experiences the garden and highly imaginative world outside of the door, he cannot resist himself from the quest of visiting the place again and again. One cannot see actual evil characters in Tom’s Midnight Garden”, all are stock characters. The parents, aunt, uncle have to be caring, strict and disciplined. Hence, this element of crossover novels cannot be applied to Tom’s Midnight Garden. But we can say that some of the characters are pleasant for the protagonist such as Hatty, and Tom’s brother, while some of the characters are irritating for him such as his parents, uncle, aunt and initially the landlady. But still these characters cannot be portrayed with only dark colour. They are good characters but they are undesirable at certain circumstances to Tom.
The soul of any crossover novel is the exploration. Tom’s urge to explore something unusual in his life and eventually he becomes succeeded in exploring his pleasure of life in the form of Hatty. Hatty and Tom are like partners. There is some romantic touch to their relationship. But being the love of teenage and small age, it is much like a friendship than the romance. The sexual urge is there but it is hidden beneath the shroud of innocence. The adult at the same time interpret the novel from philosophical and spiritual perspectives. Tom and Hatty are leading a very innocent and happy life in the garden quite like to Adam and Eve in Eden garden. They were unaware of the things that happen in the adult world. The loss of paradise is felt through the devastated character of Mrs Bartholomew who is very miserable due to her loss of paradise (loss of innocent life of her childhood). The adults have lost the innocence and that is the major cause of the monotony and miseries of the real life. This can be adult interpretation of the novel.
The last element that escapism shown by Pearce in the novel is through the leisure time Tom used to spend with his brother and later on with Hatty. Tom is missing his brother a lot. He has been forcefully separated from his brother and he wants a partner for his leisure time. When he comes to know that the partner cannot be got in the real world, he moves to the world of fantasy and imagination.
Harry Potter is regarded as the epitome of crossover novels. But still the crossover novels did exist in yesteryears as well. Phillipa Pearce has brought this genre in front of the readers 60, 70 years back. Though it was a small experiment and not big saga like Harry Potter, we can conclude that this genre was there in the old literature. Along with Tom’s Midnight Garden, other such novels may be there which can be explored and discussed as the crossover novels.
Introduction
Thesis Statement: The term crossover novel is not the 21st century term, but it was prevalent in previous century as well. It was redefined in 21st century
Major Characteristics of crossover novels:
Suitable for both adults and children
The depiction of fantasy and reality world
Fantasy v/s Spirituality
20th century and 21st century crossover novels
Comparative analysis
Tom’s Midnight Garden
Harry Potter
Elements of crossover:
Exploration
Adventure
Quest for something
Mysteries
Conclusion
Crossover novels are not the invention of 21st century.
They were present in old literature but the form had not then been defined.
Work Cited
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Beckett, Sandra L. Crossover Fiction. New York, NY: Routledge, 2009. Print.
Falconer, Rachel. The Crossover Novel. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.
Gay, John, and C. F Burgess. The Letters Of John Gay. Oxford [etc.]: The Clarendon Press, 1966. Print.
Pierce, Philippa. Tom's Midnight Garden. N.p.: Oxford University Press, 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <https://books.google.co.in/books?id=sa6aBwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Tom%27s+Midnight+Garden+fantasy&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false>
Rowling, J. K, and Mary GrandPré. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007. Print.
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