'Glokal' litteraturhistoria – på väg mot en omvärdering av finlandssvensk barnlitteratur

Abstract

This article considers the conditions and possibilities of writing a methodologically innovative glocal history of post-war Swedish-language children’s literature in Finland. Since previous studies of this literature are, as of today, fragmented and scattered in various publications, a comprehensive and more nuanced picture of the time period is sorely needed. Yet, how is such a project to be carried out in light of recent revisionist debates on the possibility of writing national literary histories? The article proposes that the answer lies in applying transnational, intersectional and visual perspectives onto the material. A working hypothesis is that parallel representations of Finno-Swedishnesses, influenced by shifting notions of the child and childhood and by the liminality of Finno-Swedish culture, permeate the literature under study. Transnational and intersectional perspectives can, therefore, shed new light on representations of ideological and societal tendencies, such as power negotiations between generations, multilingualism, gender, and class distinctions. A fully integrated visual perspective acknowledging paratextual and material aspects of children’s literature would further deepen the discussion. Acknowledging transnational tendencies, an intersectional and visual national children’s literature history could thus interrogate established “truths” about Finno-Swedish children’s literature and thereby open up new ways of viewing this liminal literature.

Keywords: Literary history, nationality, transnationality, Finno-Swedish children’s literature, intersectionality, visuality.