Pollyanna (novel)

The author Eleanor Hodgman Porter

Pollyanna ( listen ^?^/^I ) is the title of a children's book by the American author Eleanor Hodgman Porter , published in 1913 . The novel and its sequel Pollyanna grows up from 1915 are still popular classics of American children's and youth literature to this day .

content

After her parents die, the eleven-year-old orphan Pollyanna Whittier comes to live with her wealthy aunt Polly Harrington in Beldingsville, Vermont . The aunt is an elderly maid whose top priority is the fulfillment of duty. Polly makes life difficult for her cheerful niece, but she remains lovable and tries to find something good in every life situation. Pollyanna has an extremely optimistic outlook on life that her father once taught her. She calls the goal of finding joy everywhere, the "seek joy" game. She infects her aunt and the unapproachable and bitter residents of the conservative small town. But one day an accident happens: Pollyanna is hit and can no longer move her legs. Unable to walk, she suddenly finds nothing to look forward to. In this crisis, the residents of the city stand by her, they come to Pollyanna and show her how much she has positively influenced people's lives. Pollyanna realizes that she can be happy to be alive and not to have lost her legs in the accident. In the end, Pollyanna learns to walk again in a clinic and Aunt Polly marries her childhood sweetheart Dr. Chilton.

Publication in German

Cover of the first edition from 1913

Pollyanna has been published several times and under different titles in German:

Pollyanna: a happy book for young people (illustrated by Lotte Oldenburg-Wittig )
Pollyanna makes everyone happy (new edition, illustrated by Erich Hölle, Franz Schneider Verlag 1965)
Pollyanna: an orphan in America (edited new edition by Freya Stephan-Kühn , illustrated by Milada Krautmann, Arena Verlag 1995, ISBN 3-401-04610-1 )

Sequels

In 1915 Eleanor H. Porter's sequel Pollyanna grows up appeared , which was published in German as Pollyanna grows up: a new happy book for young people .

After Eleanor H. Porter's death, the book series was continued by other authors. Published in English:

from Harriet Lummis Smith :
- Pollyanna of the Orange Blossoms: The Third Glad Book
- Pollyanna's Jewels: The Fourth Glad Book
- Pollyanna's Debt of Honor: The Fifth Glad Book
- Pollyanna's Western Adventure: The Sixth Glad Book
from Elizabeth Borton :
- Pollyanna in Hollywood: The Seventh Glad Book
- Pollyanna's Castle in Mexico: The Eighth Glad Book
- Pollyanna's Door to Happiness: The Ninth Glad Book
- Pollyanna's Golden Horseshoe: The Tenth Glad Book
- Pollyanna and the Secret Mission: The Fourteenth Glad Book
from Margaret Piper Chalmers :
- Pollyanna's Protegee: The Eleventh Glad Book
from Virginia May Moffitt :
- Pollyanna at Six Star Ranch: The Twelfth Glad Book
- Pollyanna of Magic Valley: The Thirteenth Glad Book
from Colleen L. Reece :
- Pollyanna Comes Home
- Pollyanna Plays the Game

Cultural reception

In English usage, Pollyanna is synonymous with an overly optimistic and therefore naive person.

In 1978 the psychologists Margaret Matlin and David Stang described the Pollyanna principle , named after the novel or its eponymous heroine , according to which positive experiences are perceived more strongly than negative ones.

In the United States, Parker Brothers introduced a board game based on the novel in 1915.

Porter's hometown of Littleton, New Hampshire celebrates Pollyanna Glad Day annually .

In 1989 the first part of the video game series Mother appeared , whose "Oberwelts" soundtrack was named Pollyanna .

Film adaptations

The novel was first made into a silent film in 1920 with Mary Pickford in the title role. The most famous film version dates back to 1960. In that of Disney -produced film all love Pollyanna is Hayley Mills can be seen in the title role, the one for her portrayal of the Pollyanna honorary Oscar was awarded. Unlike in the book, Pollyanna is injured in this film version when she falls from a tree.

In 1973 the BBC produced a six-part TV miniseries , and in 1986 the Japanese anime series The Wonderful Pollyanna was released . For American television, the material was re-filmed in 1989 in a modernized musical version by Disney under the title Polly .

In 2003, a British television film on the broadcaster ITV followed with Amanda Burton in the role of Aunt Polly and Georgina Terry as Pollyanna, which was largely based on the novel.

Secondary literature

Alice Mills: Pollyanna and the Not So Glad Game . In: Children's Literature 27, 1999. pp. 87-104.
Joe Sutliff Sanders: Spinning Sympathy: Orphan Girl Novels and the Sentimental Tradition . In: Children's Literature Association Quarterly 33: 1, 2008. pp. 41-61.

Individual evidence

^ Dictionary of idioms: Pollyanna. Retrieved April 16, 2020 .
↑ Margaret W. Matlin / David J. Stang: The Pollyanna principle: Selectivity in language, memory, and thought . Schenkman, Cambridge, Mass. 1978, ISBN 0-87073-817-8 .
↑ A brief summary can be found in Rüdiger Pohl: Cognitive Illusions: A Handbook on Fallacies and Biases in Thinking, Judgment and Memory , Psychology Press (2004), p. 255
↑ boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved March 15, 2013 .
^ Pollyanna of Littleton, New Hampshire. In: golittleton.com. Retrieved March 15, 2013 .

[1] Dictionary of idioms: Pollyanna. Retrieved April 16, 2020 .

[2] Margaret W. Matlin / David J. Stang: The Pollyanna principle: Selectivity in language, memory, and thought . Schenkman, Cambridge, Mass. 1978, ISBN 0-87073-817-8 .

[3] A brief summary can be found in Rüdiger Pohl: Cognitive Illusions: A Handbook on Fallacies and Biases in Thinking, Judgment and Memory , Psychology Press (2004), p. 255

[4] boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved March 15, 2013 .

[5] Pollyanna of Littleton, New Hampshire. In: golittleton.com. Retrieved March 15, 2013 .