The grotesque space: Grotesque bodies and identities in wonderlands

The concept of wonderland has dragged many down rabbit holes and through secret doors since dreams and imagination first sparkled due to their inclusion of diversity, transformation and endless possibilities.This thesis proposes that wonderlands are grotesque spaces that provide open spaces for the flow in bodies and identities due to these features, thusly leading to theliberation from and transgression of the boundaries, hegemonic powers and norms of the 'real-world.' Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, James Matthew Barrie's Peter and Wendy and Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book are analysed in the light of this claim to prove that the disruptive and transgressive effect of the grotesque spaces in these works challenge the social and political institutions, norms, decadence, and hypocrisyof theVictorian society in fin-de-siècle, as well as those of the contemporary era. In the first chapter, the background of the concept of the grotesque and theories of the grotesque body, as well as related theories of identity formation are presented in order to reveal the rejuvenating and transgressive effect of the grotesque. The second chapter relates the theories on the grotesque to theories on spatiality, and claims that wonderlands, as imagined literary worlds, are the ultimate examples for grotesque spaces with their active feature that alters the bodies and identities of the individuals they house, and their tendency towards multiples and hybridity. In the third chapter, three examples of wonderlands from fin-de-siècle literature are analysed to prove the disruptive effect of grotesque spaces on the norms and rules of 'real-world' places through their capacity to flex territories of places, identities and bodies. This thesis suggests that the power of the grotesque creates active and transformative spaces that embrace the multiplicity of identities, along with the transformation of bodies and places. Grotesque spacestransgressthe connotations ofand boundaries framed for bodies, identities andplacesby the norms of the 'real-world.' The selected novels are examined in relation to spatiality to prove how they disrupt and challenge their era, as well as to suggest that wonderlands will remain as timeless spaces for literature due to their support of diversity and multiplicity.