Gennem en komparativ, queerteoretisk tilgang beskriver jeg i denne artikel, hvordan Astrid Lindgren subverserer kønskonventioner i sine fantastiske fortællinger Bröderna Lejonhjärta (1973) og Ronja ...Rövardotter (1981). Ved at inddrage begreber fra bl.a. Judith Butler og Jack Halberstam, analyserer jeg værkernes hovedkarakterer som komplekse, kønsarbitrære individer, der både æstetisk og psykologisk besidder egenskaber fra det modsatte køns traditionelle domæner. Analysen viser, at titulære Karl ’Skorpan’ Lejonhjärta og Ronja Rövardotter står i opposition til en binær kønsforståelse og besidder i stedet en queer væren og færden, der kan beskrives som hhv. en tomboy og et følsomt drengebarn.
Through a comparative, queer theoretical approach, in this article I describe how Astrid Lindgren subverses gender conventions in her fantasy narratives Bröderna Lejonhjärta (1973) and Ronja Rövardotter (1981). By including concepts from Judith Butler and Jack Halberstam amongst others, I analyze the main characters as complex, gender-arbitrary individuals who both aesthetically and psychologically possess characteristics from the traditional domains of the opposite sex. The analysis shows that titular Karl 'Skorpan' Lejonhjärta and Ronja Rövardotter stand in opposition to a binary understanding of gender and instead possess a queer being that can be described as a tomboy and a sensitive boy child, respectively.
The literary man-child character can function as a subversive agent within the text to expose traditional ideologies and suggest alternate possibilities. Much beloved in Sweden, Karlson from Astrid ...Lindgren’s Karlson on the Roof trilogy (1955–1968) represents this kind of man-child character in texts for children, particularly through his queerness. The trilogy illuminates Karlson’s queerness by contrasting him with the normative reality of 20th-century Stockholm through his trademark narcissism, primal desires, and illogical or fallacious rhetoric that often invokes silence from children and adults within the story. Through the lens of Jack Halberstam’s queer subcultures, Karlson can be appreciated as a specific kind of literary man-child character that necessitates a legitimated queer visibility. This visibility is cultivated by his non-normative belief system and buttressed by his resistance to being silenced or kept secret from this normative world. Furthermore, Karlson’s queerness fuels his charisma, making him popular because of his behaviour, not despite it. Ultimately, his queerness as a man-child character disrupts traditional boundaries and delineations of the child/adult binary and allows the child reader to witness the vulnerabilities of normative institutions while also appreciating diversity in non-normative family structures.
Research in the translation of humorous elements in children’s books is a complex subject, which cannot be reduced to studies of wordplay and of other highly humorous items. The translation of ...slightly humorous items can also influence the whole literary work if such elements are used frequently. This article analyses the ways in which such funny instances were dealt with in the English and German translations of the Bill Bergson books (original name: Kalle Blomkvist) by the Swedish author of children’s books Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002). More specifically, it discusses the translation of several funny words and expressions, repetitions and exaggerations.It is shown that the humorous effects in the English translation are sometimes less obvious than in the German translation, even if both translated texts rendered the majority of humorous instances in a very funny way.
The article is mainly concerned with philosophical interpretations of Astrid Lindgren’s Karlson books. Inspired by Gaare and Sjaastad’s reading of Pippi Longstocking, the article discusses the ...philosophical ideas embedded in Lindgren’s books about Pippi Longstocking, stressing, in particular, Lindgren’s implicit critique of Western culture. Next, an attempt is made unsuccessfully to locate the figure of Karlson of the Karlson trilogy (
Karlson on the Roof
,
Karlson Flies Again
and
The World’s Best Karlson
) in this critical context. Instead, it is shown that the figure of Karlson may be better understood in the context of the later Wittgenstein’s conception of language games. In such a reading, Karlson appears as a figure of the other. The otherness can be here understood as a distancing act from everyday language games, and the habits and
Lebensformen
that they function in. While the existing language games’ rules constitute the sphere of the ordinary, the deviation from them forms the sphere of unusualness, extra-ordinariness, otherness, or “jiggery-pokery,” to use Karlson’s words. Presenting such otherness to the reader implicitly serves two pedagogical goals. First, it acquaints children with possible forms of “being other.” Second, it opens a sphere of “whatifness”, that is, the account of what the world would look like if certain concepts, or practices, were different. It is claimed that the domain of “whatifness”, by presenting alternatives to the ordinary, brings the reader closer to a better understanding of the conditions of their own
Lebensform
.
This contribution deals with Astrid Lindgren’s War Diaries 1939-1945 (Krigsdagböcker 1939-1945), published posthumously in 2015. The purpose of the article is to prove, informed by Jan Assmann’s and ...Astrid Erll’s research, that diaries can be treated as an important document of Swedish collective memory, but also – as war diaries – as part of the global memorial discourse. The diaries show a new perspective on World War II in Swedish literature. They are not only an account of the individual fate of the author, but they present a broader picture of Swedish society and reigning social moods at the time.
L’analyse porte sur les Journaux de guerre 1939-1945 (Krigsdagböcker 1939-1945)
rédigés par Astrid Lindgren et édités à titre posthume en 2015. À l’aide d’outils empruntés aux travaux de Jan Assmann et Astrid Erll, l’article se propose de démontrer que les journaux intimes peuvent être considérés comme d’importants documents de la mémoire collective suédoise, mais aussi – selon une mise en oeuvre particulière du genre – comme s’inscrivant dans le discours mémoriel général. Les journaux ouvrent une nouvelle perspective et permettent de représenter la Seconde Guerre mondiale dans la littérature suédoise. Ils ne fournissent pas seulement le récit du destin personnel de l’auteur, mais dressent un tableau plus large de la société suédoise et du climat social de l’époque.
Deze bijdrage gaat over Astrid Lindgrens Oorlogsdagboek 1939-1945 (Krigsdagböcker 1939-1945), dat postuum gepubliceerd werd in 2015. Met behulp van het onderzoek door Jan Assmann en Astrid Erll wil het artikel aantonen dat zulke dagboeken beschouwd kunnen worden als een belangrijk document van het Zweedse collectieve geheugen, maar dat zij ook – als oorlogsdagboeken – deel uitmaken van een meer globaal herinneringsdiscours. De dagboeken werpen een nieuw licht op de Tweede Wereldoorlog in de Zweedse literatuur. Ze leggen niet alleen rekenschap af van het individuele lot van de auteur maar geven een breder beeld van de Zweedse maatschappij en van het heersende sociale klimaat in die tijd.
Ławniczak Sonia. Diary Writing during the Second World War in Sweden. Astrid Lindgren’s War Diaries 1939-1945. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 98, fasc. 3, 2020. Langues et littératures modernes - Moderne Taal- en Letterkunde. pp. 733-752.
The literary man-child character can function as a subversive agent within the text to expose traditional ideologies and suggest alternate possibilities. Much beloved in Sweden, Karlson from Astrid ...Lindgren’s Karlson on the Roof trilogy (1955–1968) represents this kind of man-child character in texts for children, particularly through his queerness. The trilogy illuminates Karlson’s queerness by contrasting him with the normative reality of 20th-century Stockholm through his trademark narcissism, primal desires, and illogical or fallacious rhetoric that often invokes silence from children and adults within the story. Through the lens of Jack Halberstam’s queer subcultures, Karlson can be appreciated as a specific kind of literary man-child character that necessitates a legitimated queer visibility. This visibility is cultivated by his non-normative belief system and buttressed by his resistance to being silenced or kept secret from this normative world. Furthermore, Karlson’s queerness fuels his charisma, making him popular because of his behaviour, not despite it. Ultimately, his queerness as a man-child character disrupts traditional boundaries and delineations of the child/adult binary and allows the child reader to witness the vulnerabilities of normative institutions while also appreciating diversity in non-normative family structures.
...the project "Book Dog and Astrid Lindgren" is in line with the four main principles of the united Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child and follows the guidelines drawn up by the Asthma ...and Allergy Association. A test to select suitable dogs has been developed. Besides being inspired by Astrid Lindgren's humanist values, the one-year training is also supposed to be in keeping with the current curriculum for compulsory school and the work with basic values advocated there.
Astrid Lindgren’s children’s novel Vi på Saltkråkan (1964) which is set in the outer archipelago of Stockholm is an ideal case for the study of a variety of eco- or “environmental critical” (Buell, ...2005) themes and motifs. There is for instance, the ideo-historical motif of the representation of a number of positions on nature and the physical environment generally, from the most anthropocentric one of Vesterman over the “sociocentric” (Buell 2005) view represented by the Grankvist family, to the eco- or biocentric stand of Pelle, which is epitomized in his love and defense of all kinds of animals including the most threatening and irritating ones. There is also the ecocritical generic problem of the idyll. More themes could be named. What will be at the centre of attention in this article, however, is the motif of weather as connected to that of locale, or place, and the Melkersons and the islanders’ defense of place. I suggest that part of the novel’s environmental relevance lies in what could be understood through the metaphor of contract: the characters enter a contract of dependence through the category of weather. This contract is deeply place-related and existentially loaded. The motif of weather cuts into the idea of environmental justice (Adamson, Evans and Stein, 2002), through the Melkersons’ struggle to save Snickargården, a struggle which is shared by the islanders themselves. The weather always serves to underscore the Melkersons’ attachment to place which is one of deepest solidarity, and to home. The novel contains an escathological undercurrent related to place and to weather. In the emphasis on this, the novel offers a profound environmental insight into the dependence of human existence upon environment. Keywords: ecocriticism; environmental criticism; Astrid Lindgren; Vi på Saltkråkan; environment; nature; landscape; place; weather; eschatology; environmental justice.
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