• Editorial
  Sundmark, Björn   Journal article in Bookbird : Journal of International Children's Literature;1 : Johns Hopkins University Press (2018)	Journal article

• Editorial
  Sundmark, Björn   Journal article in Bookbird : Journal of International Children's Literature;2 : Johns Hopkins University Press (2018)	Journal article

• Canon Constitution in Children's Literature. Ed. Bettina Kümmerling-M...
  Sundmark, Björn   Review article in International Research in Children’s Literature;1 : Edinburgh University Press (2018)	Review article

  

  

  Canon Constitut ... Children’s Literature.pdf   (328.9Kb)

• Emil and Intergenerational Solidarity
  Sundmark, Björn  (2018) Intergenerational solidarity in children's literature (28 April, 2018 : Cambridge, UK)	Conference contribution

  

  

  English abstract:	Children’s literature is built on a paradox: it should enable and empower the child reader; at the same time, it should maintain and inscribe the adult-child dichotomy on which the generational social order is constructed. Both of these (seemingly contradictory) aspects are foundational to children’s literature. Thus, juvenile reading is in itself potentially empowering – it makes it possible for children to learn and find things out by themselves, while the very content of children’s literature – from Robinson Crusoe to Harry Potter – regularly encourages child agency and independence. But the opposite is also true. Reading is a regulatory regime, teaching lessons and discipline, and childhood itself is all too often represented either as a place of exile, a nostalgic realm of fantasy, a Neverland, beyond the grasp of “real” life, or as a dystopian prison, regulated and authoritarian. The way in which children’s literature resolves (or fails to resolve) this paradox is the subject of a great deal of critical work – both because of the ideological and pedagogical-political implications, and because of the challenging complexity of the issue. Perry Nodelman’s work (most notably in The Hidden Adult) and Maria Nikolajeva’s concept of aetonormativity (the norm of adulthood), for instance, both show how adult desires and ideas about childhood ultimately shape children’s literature. My own position, exemplified in the anthology Child Autonomy and Child Governance in Children’s Literature, focuses more on the liberating and empowering potential of children’s literature. (Which of course, also can be the aim of the “hidden, aetonormative adult” lurking in the text, but if so, an adult who encourages it.) The aim in this chapter, however, is to bypass some of the problems involved by underplaying both the signs of adult agenda (aetonormativity), or examples of child subversiveness and autonomy. Instead, I will look at what goes on at a relational level between adult and child in some examples of children’s literature. My focus will be on representations of inter¬generational solidarity between children and adults, with the main examples taken from the Emil trilogy by Astrid Lindgren. “Solidarity” as a key critical term does not ignore the reality of two unevenly matched parties (in terms of power) – the adult and the child – but crosses the power divide between the two. The adult aids the child; the child helps the adult. Meaning is established in what happens in between, not in recognizing who is the stronger party. Theoretically, I also take my cue from Angela Nix whose work on the all ages-aspect of Tove Jansson’s Moomin books I find inspirational. Nix argues that regardless of a Moomin character’s age s/he can display characteristics that are unsynchronized with their status as a child or an adult. Moominpappa can be childishly petulant, Moomin can behave maturely and responsibly. Thus, the child-adult dichotomy is rendered rather meaningless. Instances of assertions of “adult” formal power, in the guise of officious hemulens, for instance, are regularly parodied and undercut. At the same time, the child-parent hub is supremely important. It is not a coincidence that Moomin has a Moominpappa and Moominmamma, and that they are squarely anti-authoritarian. What Nix’s reading of Jansson suggests further is that the parent-child relationship is meaningful, while the aetornormative adult-child situation is not, at least not in Jansson’s Moominverse. In any case, Nix’ shows that there are two dichotomies at work at the same time – the adult-child, and the parent-child. The former tends towards ageism and aetonormativity, the latter is relational and grounded in kinship and solidarity. Obviously, there is huge overlap and confusion, and much of what goes where is culturally determined. Nevertheless, I believe the distinction is important and useful. I will now use it to shed light on some acts of intergenerational solidarity in the Emil trilogy by Astrid Lindgren. I will also discuss the nature of Emil’s relationship to, primarily, his father Anton, and the farmhand Alfred.
  Note:	conference venue: Homerton college, Cambridge

• Ett logiskt fokus i undervisningen? Lärare undervisar om logiska samb...

  Walldén, Robert Eds: Hipkiss, Anna Maria; Holmberg, Per; Olvergård, Lotta; Thyrberg, Kajsa; Ängsal, Magnus P.   Conference article in Grammatik, kritik, didaktik : Nordiska studier i systemisk-funktionell lingvistik och socialsemiotik; : Institutionen för svenska språket, Göteborgs universitet Serie: Göteborgsstudier i nordisk språkvetenskap;34 (2018) Trettonde nordiska konferensen för systemisk-funktionell lingvistik och socialsemiotik (NSFL 13) (12-13 October 2017 : Göteborg, Sweden)

  Conference article

  

  

  English abstract:	This study uses systemic-functional linguistics to explore teaching about logical connections. It is based on observations, sound recordings and teaching materials in school year 1 and 6. The school has many multilingual students and employs genre-based instruction. The result shows that the two participating teachers teach about logical connections which are important for realizing the generic structures which are the focus of instruction: narrative texts and discussions. The result also shows that it can be challenging to teach about logical conections, when they have different semantic functions while also being realized through different grammatical categories. Another important result is that logical connections are most fruitfully explored in light of how they function in specialized texts. An isolated focus on logical connections has limited prospects of scaffolding the production of oral and written texts.
  Swedish abstract:	Studien utforskar två lärares undervisning om logiska samband, utifrån ett systemiskt-funktionellt språkligt tolkningsramverk. Den grundar sig på observationer, ljudinspelningar och läromaterial i årskurs 1 och 6 på en flerspråkig skola som satsar på genrepedagogik. Resultatet visar att lärarna undervisar logiska samband som är betydelsefulla för att realisera de genrestrukturer som är i fokus: narrativ respektive diskuterande text. Resultatet visar även att det kan finnas utmaningar med att undervisa om logiska samband, när de har olika semantiska funktioner och samtidigt realiseras genom olika grammatiska kategorier. Ett annat viktigt resultat är att logiska samband med fördel uppmärksammas utifrån vilka funktioner de har i ämnesspecifika texter. Ett isolerat fokus på logiska samband har små utsikter att stötta produktion av muntlig och skriftlig text.

  Ett logiskt fokus i undervisningen.pdf   (204.3Kb)

  http://hdl.handle.net/2077/56444

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