Inkompetenta vuxna och kompetenta barn

Abstract

Incompetent Parents and Competent Children. A Significant Theme in 21st Century Scandinavian Picture Books In our time, the task of parenting seems fraught with anxiety. Such parental angst is manifested, for instance, in the extensive number of books and tv-programs aimed at guiding parents in child rearing. Fictional works, including children’s literature, also feature an increasing interest in parental failure or dysfunction, which stands in sharp contrast to the high standards society places upon the act of parenting. In the 21st Century, the issue is becoming more and more profound even in picture books. In this article, I study how adults and children and the relations between the two are depicted in four picture books from Sweden, Norway and Denmark. All of the stories deal with the issues of dysfunctional parenting, but approach the subject from somewhat different angles. My primary aim is to investigate which adult–child discourses are expressed and especially in what ways adults’ incompetences or failures are depicted, but I also hope to shed some light on the books’ general treatment of parenting and childhood in contemporary Scandinavia.

Keywords

• children’s literature
• picture books
• adult–child discourse
• late modernity