The postdoctoral research project ”Disturbing Childhood” explores how negative images of the child in Swedish and Danish children’s literature process and problematize ideas of children’s agency, freedom and competence. In a selection of works that include picture books for younger children alongside chapter books for middle readers (ca 9–12 years) portrayals of children are examined where freedom, agency and competence emerge as potentially harmful, destructive and/or burdensome. This includes images where agency is forced upon the child or cases where the child is portrayed as competent but where the actions performed have destructive consequences for the child and/or its surroundings. Emphasis is placed on ways these portrayals contribute with new perspectives on the child and on childhood in a Swedish and Danish but also an international context. The research project is inspired by child studies, particularly theoretical work on relational agency, in combination with theories concerning children’s literature as partaking in the construction of childhood discourse.
Peter Kostenniemi
Postdoc
In my research I’m exploring negative images of the child in children’s literature. How can this contribute to new perspectives on childhood in a societal perspective?
Negative portrayals of the child in children’s literature
Ideas of children’s freedom, agency and competence are frequently tied to positive notions of emancipation and empowerment of the child. But how can children’s literature challenging such ideas contribute with other perspectives on children and childhood.
