Roald Dahl’s legacy: The language playground for sharing beliefs about children’s competencies

Roald Dahl was a British author, born in Wales of Norwegian parents, and has been one of the most popular authors of children’s literature. Almost all of his books for children have been adapted for films, theatre and musicals. He played with language skillfully and humorously and inspired both children and adults to read. Drawing from Nodelman’s theory of the hidden adult and proposing a new hypothesis of the hidden child engaged in creating fiction for children, this paper will address Dahl’s legacy in the genre of children’s literature and discuss Dahl’s beliefs in children’s abilities to think, act, plan and play at the same time. Dahl’s texts are a playground in which implied child readers can grasp abstract concepts and differentiate between reality and fiction. Dahl acknowledged that children are observant of adults’ activities but pretend not to be to keep the appearance of an innocent child, the role assigned to them by adults. His works for children have grotesque characters, fantastic plots and subversive language, all of which occasionally make adults frown with disgust. Despite many attempts to censor (albeit successfully) or even ban his works, Dahl’s stories continue to attract new audiences, entertain them, make them laugh. By using a multidisciplinary approach to present linguistics, educational and sociocultural influences of some of the most popular Dahl’s works for children, it will be demonstrated that Dahl shared his beliefs in children’s competencies and that his contribution to children’s literature in this respect is favourable and undisputable. /Keywords: Roald Dahl, children’s literature, beliefs, children’s competences