The Child Protagonist in Chilean Prose Fiction

FAIN: FB-12642-75

Lon Pearson
Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, MO 65409-0001)

The prose fiction of Chile is rich with novels depicting a child as the main character. This project will he a study of the child protagonist in Chilean prose fiction. The child vested as hero in the narrative serves many purpose. He represents the youthful experiences of some writers who are barely older than adolescents themselves. In the hands of socialist writers he becomes an unbiased witness of society's atrocities, usually unkind acts of the rich perpetrated on the poor. Study will focus on underlying oral traditions in Chile concerning children as heroes that may be discovered in Chilean Colonial and 19th century literature.