Carrying death away : social responsibility, the environment and comedy in Terry Pratchett's Johnny and the Dead

Abstract

Terry Pratchett is well known for his personal brand of comic fantasy (both in his adult and children’s novels), which he uses to underscore more serious and pertinent concerns. His use of the comic and fantastic are platforms from which to voice his criticisms of society and the way it functions. In Pratchett’s own words (in accepting the Carnegie Medal, 2001), ‘humour has its uses. Laughter can get through the keyhole while seriousness is still hammering on the door. New ideas can ride in on the back of a joke, old ideas can be given an added edge’ (http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/ pressdesk/press.php?release=pres_terspeach.htm). With this in mind then, the aim of this article is to analyse Terry Pratchett’s Johnny and the Dead (1993) in terms of its didactic purpose and its aims to educate child readers about environmental issues and social responsibility. The paper will focus on Pratchett’s use of comic fantasy as a platform from which to voice his criticisms of society and its attitude toward the environment. The article also considers how Pratchett uses both comedy and fantasy to distance readers from their ‘Primary Realities’ (the reality in which they live and function on a daily basis) by transporting them into a Secondary Reality (that is, the world of the book) which contains emotional truth that transcends physical reality.