The nuanced treatment of Mikhail Bakhtin’s ideas and the notion of transformative utopianism are used here to read the works of Lewis Carroll. The discussions of relevant literary passages are detailed, and the critical references are carefully deployed. The key argument is that the novels explore the possibilities of social change in Victorian society via fantasy representations of childhood. The readings of passages demonstrate critical abilities and the breadth of the scholarship involved is impressive. Bakhtin is not easy to read. It is good that the project engaged with his key works and the related scholarship.

Written by Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland published in 1865 and Through the Looking-Glass published in 1871 are well-known works of children’s literature. This research project’s chosen novels are structured by episodic events occurring to the child protagonist, Alice. The novels suggest a sense of derision towards existing power structures in the Victorian era by subverting Victorian conventions. Through deploying the perspective of transformative utopianism, this paper argues that the construction of a fantasy realm showcases both utopian and dystopian notions, subverting the existence of perfect traditional utopian ideals and revealing the fairytale world as a critical utopia, which challenges hegemonic structures and institutions in the Victorian era. Through Mikhail Bakhtin’s carnivalesque theory and his other theories on language, we see how Carroll portrays the world order of “transformative utopianism” as applicable to Victorian society. By applying it to the fantasy realm, the novels suggest a possibility for social change. Bakhtin, a Russian philosopher and literary critic, postulated a theory which was first introduced in his book, Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics (1929) called the “carnivalesque”, which is a temporary destabilization of power structures. Bakhtin’s other theories such as polyphony, heteroglossia and dialogism are also used to analyze Carroll’s novels in this research project, introducing various voices and refracting Carroll’s authorial intentions onto fictional characters to ironize Victorian society’s unidirectional and didactic education and conventions. The perspective of “transformative utopianism” is also deployed to analyze how the fantasy realm in Carroll’s novels provides an alternative utopian vision by conveying its attainability.

My undergraduate studies have provided me ample support and training in the study of literature, be it essay writing opportunities and reading myriads forms of writing. Being exposed to an atmosphere that highly encourages the expression of thoughts and ideas, I am fortunate that I could seize the opportunity through working on this capstone project to look into topics of literature which I am interested in and introduce my thoughts in this research paper. I find the research and writing process intriguing and thought-provoking, especially when I could discover more about children’s literature, my favorite course and literary genre I have encountered in my undergraduate studies.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the teaching staff I have come across during my four-year undergraduate studies. Most importantly, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to Professor Tay for his unwavering guidance and support throughout this project.