Childhood and Postcolonialismin cooperation with Postcolonial forum, IMS and LUN

Monday 14th 19.00, pre-conference dinner at restaurant in town (PM), some guests and conference partici-pants arrive on the monday already, please let us know when registering via mail, not covered by conference

Tuesday 15th of December 2009 (K1081)

11.00-12.30 Registration at conference desk and coffee

11.30-12.30 Optional lunch buffet (please book when you register) 12.30-12.45 Conference opening, Pro Vice chancellor of the university, Prof. Margareta Petersson Welcome and practical remarks, Astrid Surmatz CHILLL, Cecilia Johansson IMS

12.45-13.45 Keynote Lynne Vallone, Prof. of Childhood Studies, Rutgers Univ., USA, The Idea of the Pygmy in Colonial and Post-colonial Children’s Literature

13.45-14.00 Short break

First section: Chair Helene Ehriander 14.00-14.30 Helma van Lierop, Prof. in Children´s literature, Tilburg univ,/ Leiden univ., The construction of South-Africa in Dutch Children’s Literature around 1900. The Case of Oehoehoe by Nynke van Hichtum

14.30-15.00 Lies Wesseling, Assoc. prof. Maastricht univ., Netherlands,: ”(Post-)Colonialism and Children’s Media: A Proposal for Funding” 15.00-15.30 Coffee & fruit

Second section: Chair Piia Posti 15.30-16.00 Maria Sachiko Cecire, Rhodes scholar, convenor CLYCC, Oxford; Postcolonial Fantasies: Medievalism and Alterity in the Oxford School of Children’s Literature

16.00-16.30 David Whitley, PhD, senior lecturer, Cambridge: ’I wanna be like you’: Postcolonial perspectives on Disney animation

16.30-17.00 Dagný Kristjánsdóttir, Prof. in Icelandic literature, Reykjavík: Secrets in the Family: on Cannibalism in Icelandic Youth literature.

19.00 (ca.)- 23.00 (ca.) Dinner at Teleborg castle (has to be booked in advance)

Wednesday 16th of December (K1076)

08.30-08.50 Coffee to start with 08.50-09.00 Greeting by Gunlög Fur, Prof. of History and Chair of Postcolonial forum

Third section: Chair Anders Åberg 09.00-10.00 Keynote Maria Nikolajeva, Prof. of Education, Cambridge, Childhood as (Post)colonial Space

10.00-10.30 Johanna Koljonen, MA student, journalist and critic, Århus univ., Denmark: Saving the World in Southern California – Global Girl Power in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Canon 10.30-10.45 Coffee & fruit

Fourth section: Chair Johanna Koljonen 10.45-11.15 Astrid Surmatz, Visiting professor Växjö univ./Amsterdam univ.: The Image of Lapland in Children´s Literature in a Postcolonial Perspective

11.15-11.45 Svein Slettan, PhD, lecturer Agder univ-, Norway, In Snow and Ice. Chronotopes and Liminal Space in Nation-Building Narratives.

11.45-12.00 Concluding remarks

Post conference programme, conference lecturers only

All speakers and hotel rooms are preliminarily booked at Teleborg castle, some are booked in the porter´s house, some at the castle itself in close vicinity to the university.

Maria Sachiko Cecire Abstract

Postcolonial Fantasies: Medievalism and Alterity in the Oxford School of Children’s

Literature

Michel de Certeau suggests that ‘by a sort of reversal’, travel is ‘the return to nearby

exoticism by way of a detour through distant places’. This paper considers how the

medievalised fantasy of the Oxford School of Children’s Literature uses spatial demarcation

and travel to consolidate a nostalgic sense of Anglophone sameness and belonging, often in

contrast to the foreign and different. The Oxford School developed as authors affiliated with

Oxford University’s medieval literature-heavy English syllabus began to write and publish

children’s fantasy, often explicitly drawing upon medieval works as well as popular

influences in their novels. This borrowing of sources allows for a travelling across texts as

well as any travel that occurs within them: for poaching and exploring that forms new but

often familiar fantasy worlds. This paper especially considers the works of early Oxford

School author C.S. Lewis, but also engages with the newer fantasy literature of J.K.

Rowling, who, like many contemporary fantasy authors, did not attend Oxford but whose

works bear the influence of the Oxford School style. I argue that the discovering, mapping,

and conquering that take place within these fantasy narratives can reflect similar textual

practices. The tactics of source recombination assert and negotiate each text’s generic

identity, just as the depictions of contact with alterity within the text can assert and negotiate

national and ethnic identity.

Jo h a n n a Ko l j o n e n Ab s t r a c t

Sa v i n g the Wo r l d fro m So u t h e r n Ca l i f o r n i a : Gl o b a l Gi r l Po w e r in the Bu f f y

the Va m p i r e Sl a y e r Ca n o n

In the ce n t u r y- ol d Am e r i c a n tra d i t i o n of the su p e r h e r o ep i c , a lon e he r o or

a sm a l l co l l e c t i v e str u g g l e for al l of hu m a n i t y ag a i n s t foe s bo t h na t u r a l an d

su p e r n a t u r a l . Th r o u g h po p- cu l t u r a l co l o n i a l i s m , the s e st o r i e s ha v e gr a d u a l l y

be c o m e a con t e m p o r a r y m y t h o s fo r an int e r n a t i o n a l , so m e t i m e s gl o b a l ,

au d i e n c e . Fo r com m e r c i a l rea s o n s as we l l as for co h e r e n c e , the “sav i n g the

wo r l d” tro p e inc r e a s i n g l y req u i r e s a “wo r l d” be y o n d the pr e d o m i n a n t l y wh i t e ,

mi d d l e- cl a s s an d Am e r i c a n rea l i t y of the pr o d u c t i o n en v i r o n m e n t . Ho w e v e r ,

lim i t a t i o n s in bu d g e t s an d kn o w- ho w ha v e ca u s e d ev e n ide o l o g i c a l l y

am b i t i o u s st o r y un i v e r s e s su c h as Star Trek, The X-Men, an d Heroes to

st r u g g l e wi t h the inc l u s i o n an d rep r e s e n t a t i o n s of a va r i e t y of cu l t u r e s an d

et h n i c i t i e s .

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997- 2003), a sh o w wi t h a st r o n g fem i n i s t

ag e n d a fro m the ge t- go, the na r r a t i v e de v e l o p m e n t of fro m a sim p l i s t i c bl a c k-

an d- wh i t e mo r a l un i v e r s e to an inc r e a s i n g l y co m p l e x wo r l d op e n e d

po s s i b i l i t i e s fo r the sh o w ’ s cre a t o r s to ra i s e the ba r fo r the m s e l v e s on the

iss u e of rep r e s e n t a t i o n as we l l . Th e sh o w cu l m i n a t e s in Bu f f y lit e r a l l y sh a r i n g

he r su p e r- po w e r s wi t h al l the po t e n t i a l Sl a y e r s in the wo r l d , ef f e c t i v e l y cr e a t i n g

a gl o b a l ar m y of gi r l su p e r h e r o e s an d re-dis t r i b u t i n g na r r a t i v e foc u s fro m the

So u t h e r n Ca l i f o r n i a n ne x u s to the res t of the wo r l d . Af t e r the sh o w ’ s of f i c i a l

ca n c e l l a t i o n at the en d of the se v e n t h se r i e s , ho w e v e r , its cr e a t o r s ex p a n d e d

thi s pl o t l i n e int o a sti l l-run n i n g “Sea s o n Ei g h t”, rel e a s e d in gr a p h i c no v e l for m .

Th i s pa p e r is a rea d i n g of Buffy wh i c h foc u s e s on its st r a t e g i e s for ha n d l i n g

the iss u e of gl o b a l rep r e s e n t a t i o n on scr e e n , co n t r a s t e d wi t h the gr a p h i c

no v e l s , wh i c h ar e ex e m p t fro m the mo s t ob v i o u s bu d g e t a r y co n s t r a i n t s of TV

pr o d u c t i o n bu t no t the cu l t u r a l bi a s of the i r pr o d u c t i o n en v i r o n m e n t .

Dagný Kristjánsdóttir:

Dagný Kristjánsdóttir, Prof. in Icelandic literature, Reykjavík: Secrets in the Family: on

Cannibalism in Icelandic Youth literature.

Contemporary Icelandic Children’s Literature often addresses a

paradoxical reality of children facing unappeasable

contradictions between their private life and public conception

of “normality”. They find themselves stuck between order and

chaos and they have to fight, not only for themselves but for

their parents as well. In Thorarinn Leifsson´s book Father’s

secret (2007) the children feel ashamed on behalf of their father

and they try to cover up his secret and keep it from their

friends as well as the authorities. It so happens that their

father is a cannibal. He is in no control over his “cannibal

lust” and the children can’t talk sense into him. But his

children find him very funny and they love him. If he’s a monster

they are the monster’s kids.

In new Icelandic fantasies, science fictions and picture

books we often meet children who are marginalized in society, not

because of themselves for they are wonderful children, but

because of people who should protect them but fail them. These

grown-ups are less a help than a hindrance, blocking the

children’s way to successful socialization. The YA-novels

discussed here are new-realistic novels about serious problems,

told in humoristic or ironic fashion. The body plays an important

role in these books as metaphor, being a grotesque body, too big/

too small, despised or desired, accepted or rejected. Another

characteristic is the visual turn in YA literature, from

interesting illustrations to strong influence from computer games

and cartoons.

Helma van Lierop Abstract

'The Construction of Africa in Dutch Children's Literature Around

1900. The case of Oehoehoe by Nynke van Hichtum (1899-1901)'.

Nynke van Hichtum is one of the best-known Dutch

children's book writers from the first part of the twentieth century.

In this presentation the focus is on her children's books about the

life and culture of a South-African boy in the 19th century. On the

basis of Van Hichtum's poetics, expressed in essays and interviews,

the assumption was that in these books the transmission of an

authentic South Africa would be her main concern. A close reading

of the text however reveals that in her representation Van Hichtum

turns out to be rather more selective than she might have thought

herself in practising what she preaches.

Maria Nikolajeva (University of Cambridge)

Childhood as a (post)colonial space

(Abstract)

The paper argues how children’s literature studies have been informed by postcolonial theory,

not only through its application on texts for young readers, but through changing the very way

we think about our subject. The first part of the paper contextualizes postcolonial theory

within children’s literature research, identifying their common denominator as the inquiry into

power hierarchies, ethnicity-based and age-based respectively. The issues of inclusion,

exclusion and alterity, voice and silencing, appropriation and subversivity are discussed,

leading to the claim that the combination of aetonormative (age-related) and postcolonial

theories provide ample tools for analyzing children’s texts featuring various aspects of

ethnicity.

The second part of the paper explores strategies of othering the child through setting and

through the conflict between dominant and oppressed culture. My point of departure is that

postcolonial power structures, interacting with aetonormative, can significantly enhance the

overall impact of othering. Two of such strategies are Orientalism and Robinsonnade, which

is illustrated by a critical discussion of a number of classical and modern children’s texts,

including The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen, A Single Shard, Rebels of the Heavenly

Kingdom, Of Nightingales That Weep, Kensuke’s Kingdom, Julie of the Wolves and Island of

the Blue Dolphins.

Svein Slettan Abstract

In Snow and Ice. Chronotopes and Liminal Space in Nation-Building Narratives

Between the 1880’s and 1920’s, successful expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic

form a central part in the construction of a Norwegian nation identity. After several

hundred years of unions with Denmark and Sweden, Norway gained full national

sovereignity in 1905, and the decades before and after this historical turning point was

marked by nation-building – both in a material and ideological sense. Internationally

famous explorers like Fridtjof Nansen (Crossing of Greenland 1888, North Pole

Expedition 1893-96) and Roald Amundsen (Northwest Passage Expedition 1903-06,

South Pole Expedition 1910-12) was widely perceived as outstanding examples of

courage, will-power and creativity – in short, qualities sought for by the young

Norwegian nation. .

The polar expeditions can be seen as a narrative with great inspirational power.

Everything seems to be there: Adventurous travelling from the secure into the

dangerous unknown, breath-taking situations, last-minute-salvation, friendship,

conflicts, jealousy, etc. Nansen and Amundsen contributed to this narrative through

their own writing, and later on, the literary resources in the material has been widely

investigated in both adult and children’s literature. In this paper, I will discuss texts in

Norwegian children’s literature that either tell about the expeditions or have some kind

of intertextual relation to them. I am especially concerned with the fascinating

intersection of time and space that has made the polar expeditions so suitable as

nation-building narratives for a young and searching nation. Here, I draw upon

Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of the chronotope, certain motifs where space and time

intersect. The chronotope of threshold is one example, which is ”connected with the

breaking point of a life, the moment of crisis, the decision that changes a life”.

Connected with this, I also draw upon the notions of rites-de-passage and of liminal

space. We are dealing here with the passage between old and new, and with challenges

and maturation. These processes are seen as heroic developments in many Norwegian

children’s books, but there are also books with an ironic and deconstructive focus on

the old heroes. In addition, there is an interest in the Arctic as a kind of idyllic

chronotope, both in older and in more recent books.

Astrid Surmatz Abstract

In the Swedish discourse on Lapland, liminality has played an important role

since the days of Linnaeus and his journey to Lapland (1732), experimenting with

different concepts of inclusion and exclusion regarding the Saami minority. In this

paper, the focus is on the shifting paradigms of national and ethnic identity in two

iconic books adressed to children, Elsa Beskow´s picture book Olles skidfärd

(translated as Ollie´s ski trip) and a children´s book, Selma Lagerlöf´s ubiquitous

journey of Nils Holgersson. Although they are both a nationally cannonized part of

the Swedish heritage, the ethnic aspect in them has rather been subdued than

emphasized in favour of a more general discourse on discovery, adventure, nature and

art. Their reception in the public and in new media point in the same direction. How

the picture book and the literary geography book, both published in the first decade of

the 20th century, draw upon hetero- and autostereotypes mirroring their time and at

the same time reflect some eminent research, will add to the understanding of a

process of national identification which both highlights the iconic aspects of ethnicity

and hides their discoursive potential. Especially the definition of the child and the

ethnic is part of the same discourse of alterity and liminality and shows similarities in

representation which add to the understanding of the shifting role of ethnicity within

children´s literature.

Lynne Vallone 16 November 2009

Department of Childhood Studies

Rutgers University

Abstract for CHILLL conference:

The Idea of the Pygmy in Colonial and Postcolonial Children’s Literature

From physician and Royal Society Fellow Edward Tyson’s 1699 treatise The Anatomy of a

Pygmy through the late-nineteenth century, “scientific” discourses (including anatomy,

folklore, and evolutionary theory) informed the conversation about origin, “progress,”

and “civilization” essential both to colonialist ideologies of conversion and commerce as

well as to the development of, especially, Anglo-American children’s literature and

culture of the twentieth century. The explicit link between the idea of the pygmy and a

children’s literature intended for (white) children is based on assumptions of immaturity

and inferiority in both the African (or any racialized miniature) and the child. This talk

will argue that the history of the colonialist and racist idea of the pygmy as miniature

Other cannot be separated from the creation of twentieth-century children’s literature

(in such popular novels as The Story of Doctor Dolittle [1920] and Charlie and the

Chocolate Factory [1964] and travel literature such as The Famous Adventures of

Richard Halliburton [1932]). In addition, the figure of the pygmy—or its metonymic

counterpart, the Lilliputian, Native American or Celt, to name a few from recent

children’s books—remain visible in revisions of older texts, in awkward textual apologia,

as well as in radical new visions of the racialized other that emerge from the

complicated nexus of race and size difference.

Lies Wesseling Abstract

Drafting a Network Proposal for the Research Field "Children's Media

and (Post-)Colonialism" This lecture will not present research results, but a

research plan, that is, a preliminary version of a funding proposal for the Dutch

Science Foundation, Program "Internationalizing the Humanities". This

program subsidizes international networking initiatives within the field of the

humanities. I would like to profit from this gathering of experts within the field

as an excellent opportunity for receiving feedback on my work-in-progress,

hopefully to the benefit of all concerned.

David Whitley, Lecturer in Literature and Film, Faculty of Education, Cambridge

University

Abstract

‘I wanna be like you’: Post-Colonial Approaches to Disney Animation

This paper begins by reviewing (briefly!) what seems to have characterised post-

colonial approaches to Disney over the past forty years. Scholars who have been

interested postcolonial themes within the Disney oeuvre have tended to see such

themes as embedded within patterns of silence, distortion, and falsification. Thus

earlier Disney films are seen predominantly as occluding voices and images that

signal ethnic diversity, or - on the rare occasions when ethnic diversity becomes

recognisable - as representing racial difference through negative or conservative

stereotypes. More recent films – such as Pocahontas and Mulan, where leading

protagonists who are neither white nor western are given much more positive roles

– have been seen as erasing difference through plots that draw on sentimental

archetypes from genres such as romance and melodrama.

While much of this work has been extremely valuable in offering a more

stringent approach to Disney that enables underlying structures and tensions to be

seen more clearly, this paper raises a question as to whether the child audience of

these films has been taken into account sufficiently. In particular, it is proposed

that it may be useful to look afresh at the much maligned category of ‘innocence’

that the Disney company has itself used extensively to characterise and ‘brand’ its

films. Is this category simply a sanitising marketing device, deployed increasingly

cynically by a corporation whose global reach has made it an exemplar of

postcolonial cultural imperialism? Or should we take more seriously the

possibility of a ‘poetics of innocence’, that renders potentially repressive features

less determining than they might be in an adult centred narrative? These questions

will be explored in relation to a key scene from The Jungle Book.