UC Davis

The paper provides a brief classification of allegories in the book Magic Cube, one of the most popular Chinese children’s fantasy literature. By comparing Magic Cube to another children’s book The Wizard of Oz, this study aims to prove that allegories exist commonly in children’s fantasy literature. Both Magic Cube and The Wizard of Oz feature journeys in lands with special rules, except that the protagonist of the former is a boy and the latter is a girl. This paper discusses how male authors write about young protagonists of different genders. This paper aims at adding cross-cultural interpretation of children’s fantasy literature to current theories.To test the hypothesis that socio-political, educational, and gender allegories are ubiquitous in children’s fantasy literature, this paper involves close reading of texts from the two examined books in their textual and cultural context. In addition, even though children’s fantasy literature is not always gendered, these two books have gender implications related to narratives and plots. I would like clarify that the arguments I have drawn are based on my personal understanding, incorporating academic views and textual evidence that I tend to approve of.