Nordic Childhoods 1700-1960: From Folk Beliefs to Pippi Longstocking / Edition 1

by Reidar Aasgaard, Marcia Bunge, Merethe Roos

Overview

This volume strengthens interest and research in the fields of both Childhood Studies and Nordic Studies by exploring conceptions of children and childhood in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). Although some books have been written about the history of childhood in these countries, few are multidisciplinary, focus on this region as a whole, or are available in English. This volume contains essays by scholars from the fields of literature, history, theology, religious studies, intellectual history, cultural studies, Scandinavian studies, education, music, and art history. Contributors study the history of childhood in a wide variety of sources, such as folk and fairy tales, legal codes, religious texts, essays on education, letters, sermons, speeches, hymns, paintings, novels, and school essays written by children themselves. They also examine texts intended specifically for children, including text books, catechisms, newspapers, songbooks, and children’s literature. By bringing together scholars from multiple disciplines who raise distinctive questions about childhood and take into account a wide range of sources, the book offers a fresh and substantive contribution to the history of childhood in the Nordic countries between 1700 and 1960. The volume also helps readers trace the historical roots of the internationally recognized practices and policies regarding child welfare within the Nordic countries today and prompts readers from any country to reflect on their own conceptions of and commitments to children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367886271
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/10/2019
Series:	Studies in Childhood, 1700 to the Present
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Reidar Aasgaard is Professor of History of Ideas at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Marcia Bunge is Professor of Religion and Bernhardson Distinguished Chair at Gustavus Adolphus College, USA

Merethe Roos is Associate Professor of Education at Telemark University College, Norway.

Table of Contents

List of Figures viii

Biographical Notes x

Acknowledgments xv

1 Introduction Reidar Aasgaard Marcia J. Bunge 1

Part I Spheres of Life: Home, Church, and Society 15

2 The Child in Norwegian and Scandinavian Folk Beliefs Ørnulf A. Hodne 17

3 The Household Code: Protestant Upbringing in Denmark-Norway from the Reformation to the Enlightenment Ingrid Markussen 40

4 "Let the Little Children Come to Me": Representations of Children in the Confessional Culture of Lutheran Scandinavia Kristin B. Aavitsland 58

5 Education of Children in Rural Finland: The Roles of Homes, Churches, and Manor Houses Anu Lahtinen 76

6 Children's Rights and Duties: Snapshots into the History of Education and Child Protection in Denmark (ca. 1700-1900) Anette Faye Jacobsen 91

Part II Children's Development: Formation, Education, and Work 109

7 "A Plain and Cheerful, Active Life on Earth": Children, Education, and Faith in the Works of N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872, Denmark) Marcia J. Bunge 111

8 "Educating Poor, Rich, and Dangerous Children": The Birth of a Segregated School System in Nineteenth-Century Sweden Bengt Sandin 131

9 The Child in the Early Nineteenth-Century Norwegian School System Thor Inge RøR Vik 147

10 Negotiating Family, Education, and Labor: Working-Class Children in Finland in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Pirjo Markkola 163

11 Sheep, Fish, and School: Conflicting Arenas of Childhood in the Lives of Icelandic Children, 1900-1970 Ólöf Gardarsdóttir 175

12 Educational Policy and Boarding Schools for Indigenous Sami Children in Norway from 1700 to the Present Ketil Lenert Hansen 188

13 Children and Their Stories of World War ?: A Study of Essays by Norwegian School Children from 1946 Ellen Schrumpf 205

14 "In Song We Meet on Common Ground": Conceptions of Children in Songbooks for Norwegian Schools (1914-1964) Eiliv O. Olsen 220

Part III Literature: Children's Books, Fairy Tales, and Novels 239

15 Children, Dying, and Death: Views from an Eighteenth-Century Periodical for Children Merethe Roos 241

16 Incandescent Objects and Pictures of Misery: Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales for Children Maria Tatar 254

17 Inventing Subjectivity and the Rights of the Child in Nineteenth-Century Nordic Children's Literature Olle Widhe 265

18 Competent Children: Childhood in Nordic Children's Literature from 1850 to 1960 Åse Marie Ommundsen 283

19 The Small People in the Big Picture: Children in Swedish Working-Class Novels of the 1930s Karin Nykvist 303

Select Bibliography 319

References 321

Index 352

Editorial Reviews

"Nordic Childhoods 1700–1960: From Folk Beliefs to Pippi Longstocking is a rich and varied volume that seeks to unite insights from childhood studies and Nordic studies and make these accessible to an English-speaking audience....The book is an interesting, well-written, and sound contribution to the history of childhood."
-Helle Strandgaard Jensen, Aarhus University

 

From the Publisher