Looking Glasses and Neverlands: Lacan, Desire, and Subjectivity in Children’s Literatue

This study introduces and explores Lacan’s complex theories of subjectivity and desire through close readings of cananical children’s books such as Charlotte’s Web , Stellaluna , Holes , Tangerine and The Chocolate War . It provides an introduction to this body of work while making the claim that children’s textual encounters are as significant as their existential ones in constituting their subjectivities and giving shape to their desires. The texts render lucid Lacan’s theory, and the theory helps explain why the text remain so profoundly influential in constructing a childs’s sense of self.