Limelight The need to be human By Lubna Abdel Aziz It may indeed be true that all humanity is written on a child's face. Our problem is that we cannot read. Yet more often than not we reach out for the rich and fertile world of children's literature -- of love and innocence, of courage and bravery, of nobility and purity, for entertainment as well as guidance. More often than not authors have manipulated such knowledge, skillfully concealed behind children's themes to tell their tales of social injustice, political corruption and human failures. This style of story-telling is older than Aesop himself, a Greek slave of 600 BC credited with all the wise and witty fables that have remained as pertinent, amusing and as fresh today as they were 3,000 years ago. The beloved The Hare and the Tortoise, still retains its useful message, charmingly wrapped up in universally appealing humour. French poet Jean de La Fontaine (1621--1695) followed in Aesop's footsteps, portraying human behaviour in animal characters, even if he suggests more forcefully than Aesop, that life is a jungle. La Fontaine treated such serious subjects as power, greed and violence with an amused philosophical acceptance. He wrote his fables in light natural verse, and despite their sophistication and oftentimes pessimism, they play a large role in children's education. Following La Fontaine, French writer Charles Perrault (1628--1703) collected a number of old fairy tales, which he published under his son's name, now considered a children's classic. Tales of Mother Goose, or Mère L'Oye, were of unknown origins, and were over 700 years old when first published. They included such standard favourites as The Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. Cinderella pops up in almost every culture with the main character switching genders from country to country. Tales of German folklore were gathered by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm (1785/ 86--1859/63), whose stories continue to enrich and enlighten day after day. Hans Christian Andersen (1805--1875) was inspired by folk tales of his native Denmark. His beloved fairy tales have charmed readers with their rich humour and sharp irony, reflecting on the sadness and joy of living. Who can forget the naked truth of The Emperor's New Clothes or the final touching beauty of The Ugly Duckling? Folk literature handed down for generations by word of mouth was only written after the invention of printing in the 1400s. As a result most authors prior to that are unknown or uncertain. What is certain is that both children and adults equally enjoy all the legends, customs and superstitious beliefs of their folklore characters. Fairy tales, on the other hand, transport us to imaginary worlds of evil witches and good fairies, of magical spells and supernatural powers. Such is the account of The Arabian Nights, both a folk tale and a fairy tale; it is a collection of ancient stories from mysterious Asia and dark North Africa. The tales of Scheherazade have kept sleepless readers for generations captivated by the magic of Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp and the daring of Sindbad The Sailor. The 1800s saw the emergence of children's literature as an independent entity. Talented authors and illustrators began creating children's books intended to entertain rather than instruct, and the numbers have been growing steadily. Besides Perrault, Andersen and The Brothers Grimm, Joseph Jacobs of Britain collected many English and Irish folk tales, which included The Three Little Pigs and Jack and the Beanstalk. Many of the classic novels in children's literature were published between 1865 and 1900. Among such classics is the French La Belle et La Bête, Beauty and the Beast, written by Jean-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, based on a widespread old folk tale, which became Disney's box office phenomenon. It is adults who have told stories to children to enchant and educate them since the beginning of time. Yet the line between fact and fiction is blurred, so is the line between man and child. A crossover often occurs in adult and children's literatures by both writer and reader. Authors aiming at adult audiences never dreamed of children gobbling up their works with relish. Such books as Daniel Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels come to mind. Apart from their books for adults many have written distinct works for children like Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, and Mark Twain's rollicking Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Some authors whose readers are not well defined, have ultimately appealed to all ages like Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, P L Travers's Mary Poppins and J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbits. Some writers have skillfully disguised their social satires as children's fairy tales, like Lewis Carrol's Alice In Wonderland, considered the best and most famous story ever written for children. The same goes for Frank L Baum's accounts of Dorothy's journey from a farm in Kansas to the magic land of The Wizard of Oz. The film version remains one of the best ever made for children and parents alike. Sir James Barrie, Scottish dramatist, created his own Peter "the boy who wouldn't grow up" Pan, another silver screen favourite adventure story in Never Never Land. One such classic is the tale of the little wooden puppet who longed to become a real boy, Pinocchio, whose nose grew longer and longer every time he told a lie, written by Carlo Collodi, pseudonym for Italian author/ journalist Carlo Lorenzini (1826 -- 1890). He soon tired of writing for newspapers, and devoted himself to writing for children "because adults are too hard to please". The result was a tale, which he referred to as "a bit of foolishness" to the editor of Il Giornale dei Bambini. The editor of the children's paper loved it and so did his readers. The Adventures of Pinocchio were serialised in 1881-1882 and published in 1883. The book received tremendous acclaim and several productions of the touching tale of the wooden puppet who longs to be a real boy were performed regularly since 1911 to the delight of multitudes for almost a century. Its magic as well as its lesson is lasting. Why else would two cinematic geniuses like the late Stanley Kubrick and the ever present Steven Spielberg come up with the idea of the modern sci-fi Pinocchio, David, in A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), the wonderful life-loving robot child who longs to be a real boy? The newest version comes our way via Italy, Pinocchio's original home. Oscar winner actor/director/ writer Roberto Benigni La Vita é Bella (Life is Beautiful, 1998) called by some "a comic genius" reveals his profound admiration for Chaplin in concept and style. He too sees humour in the darkest moments: "I don't think its possible to have very good comedy unless there is some tragedy" says Benigni, who became the first to win Best Actor Oscar for starring in a foreign film, Life is Beautiful. Despite lukewarm reviews, 1.1 million Italians flocked to see the film in its first weekend breaking the all-time Italian box office records. An English dubbed version now showing in the US and the UK may very well do the same. It has already been entered as a foreign language Oscar contender and while it remains to be seen how well it will do, it is heartening to know that filmmakers and filmgoers resort to a stroll in a child's garden of imagination and pluck from its array of ever blooming blossoms. Pinocchio has to work hard to earn the right to be human by applying human virtues. Certainly his quest is a noble one. It should be everyone's quest to seek those human attributes that are squandered consistently and constantly by humans. With such inhumanity surrounding us at every turn, is it not more desirable to be a wooden puppet? -- Or is it! As long as the adult can preserve the purity of a child's heart and mind, there is hope for humanity.
