Reconfiguring Nurture in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials

"Reconfiguring Nurture in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials" argues that effective nurture cannot be circumscribed by biological bonds, nor accomplished by isolated individuals. The novels present nurturing relationships grounded in the willing assumption of responsibility for Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry by surrogates in both stable and temporary relationships, providing alternate structures to compensate for those that have failed. At the same time, the novels do not deny the need for nurture grounded in a mature wisdom. Pullman's critique of parental and institutional failures stops short of a radical subversion of adult authority.