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Enid Blyton
| Name: | Enid Blyton |
| Also Known As: | Mary Pollock |
| Pronouns: | she/her |
| Occupation: | children's author |
| Medium: | |
| Works: | St Clare's, The Famous Five, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Malory Towers, The Faraway Tree and others |
| Official Website(s): | Wikipedia; Enid Blyton Hachette UK |
| Fan Website(s): | Enid Blyton.net |
| On Fanlore: | Related pages |
Enid Blyton (1897-1968) was a prolific English children's author whose books have been (and still are) bestsellers since the 1930s. She wrote in a number of genres - from fairy tales to animal, nature, detective, mystery, and circus stories, but she often "blurred the boundaries" within her works. In total she wrote 762 books, including mythology, folk lore and Biblical adaptations. She is often listed as one of the most popular children's authors, but her books were also subject to bans by librarians and critics, who saw them as simplistic and repetitious, as well as xenophobic, racist and sexist; claims which continue today[1]. In response it has been pointed out that Blyton wrote what she knew, and was a product of post-war British society which was frequently racist, xenophobic and sexist[2].
Blyton died of Alzheimer's disease in 1968, however her books are still read by children globally, and have been noted as inspiration for both professional and fan writers who grew up on them. Several of her series have been continued on by other authors, and there have been animation and live-action television adaptations.
Canon
Notable works from Blyton are listed below. The full list can be found on Wikipedia: wikipedia:Enid_Blyton_bibliography
- The "Secret" Series (1938-1950)
- The "Faraway Tree" Series (1939-1951)
- The "Famous Five" Series (1942-1962; 21 books in total)
- The "Naughtiest Girl" Series (1940-1952)
- The "St Clare's" Series (1941-1945)
- The "Adventure" Series (1944-1955)
- The "Malory Towers" Series (1946-1951)
- The "Secret Seven" Series (1949-1963)
- The "Noddy" Books (1949-1967)
Fandom
Blyton's impact on fandom is twofold. There is the Blyton fandom itself, with various fanworks having been created. And there is the inspiration fans took from their experiences of reading Blyton as children, as well as the cultural mores which have arisen out of her body of work, most specifically the Famous Five-style adventure series which have been the subject of parody and imitation.
With Blyton's frequent inclusion of "tomboy" characters (usually based on herself as a child) and her boarding school settings, femslash is more common in the fandom than slash, although there is a certain amount of brother slash/incest fanfiction in the Famous Five fandom and het generally. Given the ages of the characters, most works are future fic or AU, with the characters as young adults.
Official Sequels
A number of the series have received official sequels, including the Famous Five, Malory Towers and Noddy. Lists of these can be found at this Enid Blyton Society page and this World of Blyton page.
"Blyton" as a critical description
I'm not always in the mood for being grown-up either and I can enjoy escapist stories very much, hence my love for Pam Rose's Arabian Nights and the early parts of The Hunting...[why just the early parts?] Because I hadn't read the rest...HAHAHAHAHAH!!! No seriously, I *haven't* read all the rest but it did start to get very repetitive after the first few parts... You know the kind of thing, lots of outdoor sex, Doyle being treated like a girl by Bodie, lots of outdoor eating/picnics, lots of outdoor sex and then you had lots of sex/eating/sex/eating/few fights/more sex/more eating and so on until it began to remind me of Enid Blyton but I did *love* the first couple of parts.
How odd, no style change - or is it? Enid Blyton didn't change either, lol. Lots of writers don't, I guess.I have this nascent theory that when we write slash, we like to go back to the moment where homosocial shifts to homosexual, to the point where it all begins, because it meets a need somehow - of the endlessly deferred courtship, maybe, or of a repetition of the adolescent phase where we make "decisions" about identity, or perhaps even the moment we develop an ego identity (I'm reading psychoanalysis at the moment, sorry!). For some reason, we really *love* those first times, and we keep writing them/reading them over and over to recreate the excitement and intensity. Before it all goes stale. So I guess O Yardley is just doing that.
Foyle, heh. The Bullshitters was such a wonderful spoof. Since Foyle was so very Martin Shawish, I do have to wonder exactly *what* they were driving at with Bonehead. I heard ages ago that LC was bent but he's married. Confusing. But also hot.
Archives/Mailing Lists/Communities
- Girlsown - mailing list for the discussion of school girl stories and series (1996-2008)
- Blyton Slash - Livejournal community focussing on Blyton slash (2002-2009)
- Saffic - Livejournal community focussing on femslash which featured Blyton femslash.
Notable Fanworks
Fanfiction based on Blyton Works
Fanfiction in the Style of Blyton Works
- "Ear To Ear" by Caroline Nixon (Star Trek TOS) Spock is perplexed in the story when he finds himself on a planet with characters straight out of A Wizard of Oz or Mother Goose. Alnitah Issue 7(1978)
- "Five Go Off in a Huff" by Chris Blenkarn - Blake's 7 in the style of the Famous Five. Parodies Lost (2001) - also published as a separate zine, Five Go Off in a Huff.
- "Star None" by Teresa Hewitt (Blake's 7) - Horizon Newsletter Issue 27 (1991)
- "Five Go Mad on Gauda Prime" by Judy Bowen (Blake's 7) - Horizon Newsletter Issue 27 (1991)
- "Blake's Seven Go Camping" by Linda Norman (Blake's 7) - AU S2; children's book parody; A/V, C/J, A/B, B/Tr, C/J/Se - Tales from Space City Issue #1 (1998)
- The Famous CI-Five by Joan (The Sentinel/Famous Five) The Best of DIAL 1997-2002
- "Two on a Treasure Island" by byslantedlight (The Professionals) - An innocent week-long holiday at the sea to get away from it all, visiting an old friend of Bodie's who owns a pub, turns into a grand adventure for them. (2010)
- "Half-Term Saturday" by therealsnape. (Harry Potter/Enid Blyton AU, Minerva McGonagall/Narcissa Malfoy) - The plotline (or a large part of it) is Enid Blyton’s. The characters are JK Rowling’s. Dysfuncentine (2012)
- Three Go Camping on Tokyo Moor by Jaelle (Tokyo Babylon/Enid Blyton fusion. Subaru and Hokuto Sumeragi and Seishirou Sakurazuka go camping on their school hols! But what's this about the moors being haunted? Buck up chaps, it's full steam ahead for the Famous Three! Hurrah! [at Insane Musings/Anime Archive]
Meta
- Fan Fiction - thread at the Enid Blyton Society forum (2007)
External Links
- Enid Blyton section at Fanfiction.net
- BLYTON Enid - Works at AO3
- Fanfiction at Enid Blyton.net
References
- ^ To me, JK Rowling exists in the same category as Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl. I will celebrate their worlds and characters, but not the authors. (for those unaware, Enid Blyton wrote wonderful children's books but was a such a massive racist that even the people of the 1950s were a bit alarmed...Roald Dahl was a super, super antisemite. Like seriously 0_0)Tumblr post by thoughtsaboutsnape, published June 6, 2020 (Accessed June 7, 2020).
- ^ "Accusations of racism, xenophobia and sexism Wikipedia
- ^ feedback for The Hunting by Jane of Australia, a 2009 comment at CI5hq
- ^ Gift-Wrapped by O Yardley recced at Crack Van, March 2004