Locating Paganism

Abstract

Modern Paganism can be ‘located’ in several senses. Its beliefs and practices need outlining before its manifestations and functions in children’s literature can be identified and scrutinised. To do this effectively, a kind of ‘Pagan poetics’ can be defined, by drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives and occupying a critical space. And, quite straightforwardly, a sense of place permeates fictional uses of Paganism. This chapter starts, then, by combining this sense of place with the Pagan cyclic view of time to define the Pagan chronotope, manifestations of which are analysed in a selection of children’s fiction. Looking at the Pagan chronotope leads into discussion of tenets of Pagan belief: pantheism, animism and polytheism. Gender-conscious approaches are introduced by comparing the Pagan chronotope with Maria Nikolajeva’s ideas about female and male chronotope (Nikolajeva 1996), and with Starhawk’s rhetorical theory (Foss et al. 1999).