An Initial Foray into the Digital Mapping of London in Children's and Young Adult Literature

Abstract

What kinds of urban places give rise to magic in children's and young adult fantasy literature? Thinking specifically of London, is it the ancient, twisty, almost secret backstreets that seem only visible to those in-the-know that convey magical possibilities waiting to be discovered? Or is it the eclectic mix of whimsical buildings with their beautiful spires and domes alongside dreary tower blocks and council estates that gives us the sense that anything can happen in the city – that anyone can live in and move through London, including wizards, waifs, princesses, and poltergeists? The original methodology described here consists of close reading over two hundred fantasy children's and YA novels set in London. I explain how, by combining Geographic Information Science (GIS), binary coding, literary mapping software, and children's literature scholarship, I have developed a system of annotation that allows me to digitally map the movements of the protagonists to answer questions about how place functions in fantasy fiction set in London and, by extension, cities more generally.