Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Clark, Maribeth

Keywords

Nancy Drew, Character Creation, Childhood, Literary Analysis

Area of Concentration

Humanities

Abstract

The Nancy Drew series was created in 1931 and sustained through the collaborative efforts of a book packager, dozens of ghostwriters, and two publishing houses. Encompassing both popular culture study and literary analysis, this work first examines the production history of the series and its reception by consumers, creating a brief sketch of the character Nancy in the process. With this framework established, the project then shifts to a deeper literary analysis of the novels, exploring themes that alternately speak to and challenge the previously accepted notions of Nancy Drew’s identity. The paper concludes with a brief note on the materials within the Nancy Drew franchise currently being published for a new generation of fans, which have largely abandoned these representations of Nancy on which the series was based. Drawing upon current academic interest in children's literature and American girlhood, this thesis examines the creation, revision, and ongoing proliferation of the character Nancy Drew as a cultural icon and formative archetype of children’s mystery series fiction.

Download

Share

COinS