Läsarengagemang, bildtolkning och identifikation
Barns brev till tidskriften Jultomten
Abstract
Reader Engagement, Interpretation, and Identification: Children’s Letters to the Christmas Annual Jultomten
The article examines a selection of children’s letters sent to the editor of the Swedish annual Christmas publication Jultomten (Father Christmas) during three years at the turn of the century 1900. The aim is to show how children responded to the editor’s invitation to write letters to the journal, how the children commented on some of the images, and how their appreciation and involvement were articulated in terms of reader engagement, interpretation, and identification. For this purpose, the letters were analyzed with the help of visual literacy theories and methods, which focus on primary school children’s picture (and picturebook) reception. The results show that the children’s response to the chosen images varies according to their level of involvement and degree of visual literacy competence.
Authors contributing to Barnboken: Journal of Children's Literature Research agree to publish their articles under the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 License, allowing third parties to share their work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it, under the condition that the authors are given credit and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this license are made clear.
Authors retain copyright of their work, with first publication rights granted to the Swedish Institute for Children's Books.