Jade Correge
PhD
Jade Correge is a current PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. Her thesis looks into landscapes in Victorian children's literature and most specifically, fairy tales from the mid-nineteenth century to the fin-de-siècle. She is particularly interested in science and aesthetics while researching the evolution of the child in nature.
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Thesis
Landscape in Victorian Fairy Tales: Ecopedagogy through Aesthetics, Science and Affect
This thesis examines how some English and Australian authors reconceptualised the traditional fairy tale (an action-based medium with stereotypical settings) by propelling their children characters into developed landscapes. Faithful to lingering Romantic influences and children's literature conventions, nature is still idealised, but complexified through the projection of aesthetic theory, scientific knowledge, and affective strategies onto the landscapes. Rather than just an innocent being wandering in idyllic god-made nature, the child is treated as an explorer engaging with its complex environment. Art, science, affect, all these participate in educating children (and adult) readers about ecology and making them reflect on the links which tie humans to their environment.
Research interests
- Children's literature
- Ecocriticism
- Plant studies
- Affect theory
- Landscape studies
- Literature and Science