Barnboken – Journal of Children's Literature Research
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Multilingualism in Contemporary Sephardic Children’s Literature: Fostering Young Readers’ Engagement in Ladino Culture
No full textTheme: Multilingualism and Children's Literature. Ill. Henry Lyman Saÿen - Child Reading (1915–1918). Smithsonian American Art Museum, object number 1968.19.11.
This article explores the resurgence of contemporary Sephardic children’s literature, with a particular focus on its multilingual nature as a central feature. The study aims to demonstrate how the use of multiple languages within a book serves as a tool to keep young Sephardic readers connected to Ladino – their heritage language – which, nowadays, is considered severely endangered. The methodological approach is based on Jeffrey Shandler’s concept of post-vernacularity, positioning contemporary Judeo-Spanish children’s literature as a post-vernacular phenomenon. The selected books were published in Israel and the United States between 2010 and 2023. This research categorises these works based on the various configurations of multilingualism, which may manifest as direct translations or the use of different languages (and alphabets) in distinct sections of the text and in the pictures. The study concludes that multilingual children’s literature offers a meaningful way for young Sephardim to connect with their cultural roots and engage with Ladino culture
För finlandssvenska unga läsare, på deras språk: Värderingen av litterär flerspråkighet i recensioner av finlandssvenska ungdomsromaner under tidigt 2000-tal
No full text Theme: Multilingualism and Children's Literature. Ill. Henry Lyman Saÿen - Child Reading (1915–1918). Smithsonian American Art Museum, object number 1968.19.11.
For Finland-Swedish Young Readers, in Their Language: The Evaluation of Literary Multilingualism in Reviews of Finland-Swedish Young Adult Novels from the Early 2000s
The article is a study of the evaluation of literary multilingualism in reviews of Finland-Swedish YA novels from the early 2000s. It investigates the evaluation of multilingualism in the literary field and, furthermore, contributes to the field of research into children’s literature reviews. The material consists of reviews of Annika Luther’s Ivoria (2005) and Brev till världens ände (Letters to the end of the world, 2008), as well as of Marianne Backlén’s Kopparorm (Copper snake, 2008), in Finland-Swedish newspapers and periodicals. The novels all feature literary multilingualism, for example instances of Finnish, specific Finland-Swedish linguistic traits, and/or multilingual slang, and these features are discussed in the majority of the reviews. With a theoretical background in literary multilingualism studies, children’s literature research, and studies of literary reviews, and by using textual analysis, the article shows that classic questions regarding literary multilingualism, authenticity, and comprehensibility, as well as different readerships, feature heavily in the material. There are also new elements to the discussion regarding the temporal durability of literary multilingualism and the age gap between author and readers. The reviewers’ evaluation of literary multilingualism is mixed; however, literary multilingualism is recognized as a valuable and multifaceted literary device in Finland-Swedish YA literature of the early 2000s
Elina Druker och Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer (red.), Photography in Children’s Literature
No full textReivew/Recensio
Super-Charlies mamma: Offentliga mammor, vuxet tilltal och parasociala relationer i samtida svenska bilderböcker
No full textTheme: Motherhood and Mothering. Ill. ©Stina Wirsén
Super-Charlie’s Mum: Public Mothers, Adult Address, and Parasocial Relationships in Contemporary Swedish Picturebooks
This article examines contemporary Swedish celebrity picturebooks in which the central characters share names with the children of the authors. The focus is on the relationship between the authors’ public personas and the maternal figures depicted in the books, as well as the ways in which such publications can be understood from a book market perspective. The analysis includes Margaux Dietz’ books about Arnold (2020–2021), Marie Serneholt’s books about Nico and Phille (2020–2021), and Camilla Läckberg’s first instalment in the Super-Charlie series (2011–). The rise of celebrity-authored children’s books has been a notable trend in the Anglo-American publishing industry, with parallel developments emerging in Sweden. The symbiotic relationship between celebrities eager to publish children’s literature and publishers seeking to capitalize on public figures is key to understanding the mechanisms that drive the production of such books. By integrating theoretical frameworks from children’s literature research, motherhood studies, and sociology of literature, this article demonstrates the value of a multifaceted disciplinary approach when analyzing the contemporary Swedish children’s book market. The article explores the adult address created by references to the authors’ actual lives — visible through texts, paratexts, and illustrations — which are primarily accessible to the adult reader. This phenomenon reflects the parasocial relationships that these books utilize to engage readers. As a result, different approaches to motherhood can be discerned: as a carer, a role-model, or a playfully distant star author. These variations of the literary mother figure comment on the authors’ public personas for the benefit of the adult readers, which in turn showcase the commercial possibilities surrounding motherhood, online and on the book market
The Sounds of the Woods and Mountains: Human Voice, Nature Sounds, and Music in Astrid Lindgren’s Ronja Rövardotter and Maria Parr’s Tonje Glimmerdal
No full textThe article takes the form of a comparative analysis of the soundscapes in two classic Nordic novels: Astrid Lindgren’s Ronja Rövardotter (1981; Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter) and Maria Parr’s Tonje Glimmerdal (2009; Astrid the Unstoppable). The aim of the analysis is to explore the role sound plays in the novels’ place-making, and how place is conceptualized. Drawing on theory of place and topoi (Bakhtin; Cresswell; Curtius) and inspired by Henri Lefebvre’s rhythmanalysis, I analyze cyclical and linear sounds. As the study shows, we find spatial rhythms in both novels, and in both there is an interplay between the human voice, nature sounds, and music, but the sounds are orchestrated in very different ways. Overall, the soundscape in Lindgren’s novel is more cacophonic, while it comes across as harmonious in Parr’s. Furthermore, based on the analysis and academic discussions on the novels as pastorals, I argue that Lindgren constructs a more literary and static place or topos while the place-making in Parr’s novel is more dynamic and in line with current concepts of place (e.g. Cresswell)
Pia Maria Ahlbäck, Jouni Teittinen och Maria Lassén-Seger (red.), Nordic Utopias and Dystopias: From Aniara to Allatta!
No full textReview/Recensio
Reading Practices with Multilingual Children in Norwegian Kindergartens : Picturebooks, Tangible Objects, and Playful Bodies
No full text Theme: Multilingualism and Children's Literature. Ill. Henry Lyman Saÿen - Child Reading (1915–1918). Smithsonian American Art Museum, object number 1968.19.11.
One in five children in Norwegian kindergartens are multilingual, and reading practices that encourage the use of multilinguals’ entire linguistic repertoire can serve as important opportunities for language sharing, which is also encouraged by the Norwegian education authorities. In this study, we initially aimed to explore kindergarten reading practices involving languages other than Norwegian. When it became clear that such practices are rare, we expanded our investigation to include early childhood teachers’ experiences of reading with multilingual children more broadly. Our data sources consist of both self-reported data from a nationwide survey on reading practices in Norwegian kindergartens and six semi-structured focus group interviews with kindergarten staff. As reading in Norwegian kindergartens appears to occur in a space between kindergarten children’s right to meaningful experiences in different languages and their need to learn Norwegian, we shed light on what early childhood teachers highlight as central resources for reading with multilinguals. The key resources that emerge in the analyses encompass different forms of expression, hence multimodality is used as the overarching theoretical perspective in the study. Additionally, we discuss how good opportunities for promoting diverse reading practices become evident when kindergarten staff demonstrate curiosity, creativity, and a problem-solving approach to reading with multilinguals
Rap og multietnolektisk myndiggjøring i Amina Sewalis dagbokroman Hør’a, dagbok!
No full text Theme: Multilingualism and Children's Literature. Ill. Henry Lyman Saÿen - Child Reading (1915–1918). Smithsonian American Art Museum, object number 1968.19.11.
Rap and Multiethnolectal Empowerment in Amina Sewali’s Diary Novel Hør’a, dagbok!
In this article, I explore the utilization of literary multiethnolect as a stylistic device by author Amina Sewali to depict the linguistic and cultural empowerment of the 12-year-old protagonist in the Norwegian children’s book Hør’a, dagbok! Dagen Nansi gjøret dagbokskriving HEFTIG igjen! (Hey Listen, Diary! The Day Nansi Maded Diary Writing AWESOME Again!, 2020). The article combines theoretical perspectives on children’s rights and agency with considerations on literary multiethnolect and rap as intercultural identity markers. The United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child not only stresses children’s entitlement to culture and leisure, but also recognizes their right to their own language, even if it differs from the majority language in their country of residence. These rights can be viewed as both developmental and participatory rights. This implies that through cultural forms of expression, such as music and language, children can evolve and engage with various communities, including family, school, and a broader intercultural community. To examine how the protagonist Nansi’s use of the Norwegian language in her diary aligns with her right to culture and leisure, I conduct a close reading of selected passages pertaining to her reflections on language and rap. I am particularly interested in passages that not only showcase the author’s depiction of Nansi’s contemplations on rap elements such as rhyme, beat, and flow but also highlight the musical agency of her first-person narration. I conclude that the portrayal of Nansi’s experience and experimentation with language and music has the potential to communicate a rights-centered agency, empowering and motivating readers implicitly
Att förhålla sig till ovisshet i litteraturundervisningen : Litteraturdidaktiska perspektiv på Linda Bondestams klimatbilderbok Mitt bottenliv
No full textManaging Uncertainty in the Literature Classroom: Linda Bondestam’s Climate Change Picturebook Mitt bottenliv in Literary Education
Children’s literature on environmental matters puts great responsibility on its readers to solve future environmental problems. Similarly, in an educational context, there are underlying premises that the students should be fostered into environmental awareness, at the risk of climate fiction solely becoming “teaching aids”, providing clear-cut solutions to the climate crisis. In this article, I seek to address these premises by analysing Linda Bondestam’s climate picturebook Mitt bottenliv: Av en ensam axolotl (My Life at the Bottom: The Story of a Lonesome Axolotl, 2020) in relation to literary education. In Bondestam’s picturebook, human consumerism causes an apocalypse but an endangered axolotl survives and thrives. The aim of the article is to discuss the complexity of Mitt bottenliv in relation to literary education. In the analysis, the key concepts are “didactic gaps” (Beauvais) and “staying with the trouble” (Haraway). The article explores what it can entail to stay with the trouble in relation to uncertainty in literary education. Mitt bottenliv can hardly be said to provide clear-cut solutions for the climate crisis. Rather, the complexity of the picturebook creates an ambiguity in the didactic gaps, and an uncertainty to be managed within the context of literary education. This ambiguity enables the reader to stay with the trouble in relation to the picturebook as well as the environmental troubles we are facing, without placing the responsibility of the future upon the reader. Consequently, the article draws attention to the potential of complex picturebooks in literary education, as well as to literary education as a means of managing uncertainty