Les fantômes et le mythe de l’innocence enfantine
GHOSTS AND THE MYTH OF CHILDREN’S INNOCENCE

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with the treatment of ghost children in fantastic English literature. These characters are recurrent in Victorian literature. Unlike adult ghosts who are often malevolent, ghost children are harmless, generally the innocent victims of a cruel fate which they do not deserve. Their presence is only a sad reminder of what they suffered in their lifetime. This conception was shared by twentieth century writers until the 1970’s. Novels such as The Other by Thomas Tryon or Julia by Peter Straub completely shatter the myth of children’s innocence. This is clearly indicative of a post-Freudian concepttion. Freud and his disciples have demonstrated that young children, far from being the immaculate angels we like to imagine, have strong sexual drives which may lead them to criminal behaviour. As Sabine Büssing puts it, children in contemporary literature have become the “strangers in the house.”

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