Road Dahl and the fantastic literary factory

Abstract

This article is a critically informed commentary on the life and works of Welsh writer Roald Dahl. It is justified by the virtue of being unseen in Brazil, since there are no academic or scientific analyses concerning this important author up to this moment in this country. Dahl is responsible, mainly but not exclusively, for acclaimed works of children’s literature. A good deal of his books has been transformed into celebrated cinematographic adaptations, especially the 1971 and the 2005 versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The present text narrates the most important events in the trajectory of the author always linking it with elements that, directly or indirectly, meaningfully influenced his literary output. We conclude by interpreting the reasons that lead so many children to adore and to psychologically identify in a deep level with Dahl’s works and that lead adults to demonstrate the ideologically inverse attitude.