De elva svanarnas äventyr – The adventure of the eleven swans
DE ELVA SVANARNAS ÄVENTYR is a retelling of a classical story by H.C Andersen and an inquiry into the possibilities of using children literature and a norm critical design perspective as a change agent. The retold story focuses on male characters expresson of emotions outside of the toxic male norms. The aim of the story De elva svanarnas äventyr is to create an alternative narrative to challenge the toxic male norm, with the hope that a gradual change will occur in the portrayal of male characters and the male norm.
It is well known that stereotypical gender norms can cause a lot of harm to young and old minds alike. However for younger minds it can be especially harmful, because it can limit the child’s own perception of their abilities and possibilities for the future. Trepanier-Street and Romatowski (1999) write about just how harmful stereotypical gender norms can be to children’s young and impressional minds. Although they also adress how valuable children’s literature can be to combat these norms, specifically in a teaching environment. While books created with stereotypical gender norms limit children perceptions of themselves. Books written challenging these norms can allow children to dream and see possibilities unconcerned by gender. That was when I understood just how powerful children’s literature can be and how helpful when used correctly it can be as an agent of change.
In recent years there has been an increase in children literature that have norm critical perspective or an alternative narrative that strays from the harmful normative. This increase in norm challenging books can be thanks to publishing houses like Olika (Olika, 2023). However, what I found interesting as well as slightly disturbing was the lack of work being done with the stereotypical male norm. While great work has been done, and continues to be done, to counter the stereotypical passive and quiet female character. This was done by creating female characters who are outspoken, brave and not limited by any social frames created by harmful gender norms. But that counter work against the stereotypical male character hasn’t gotten the focus it deserved. So on most accounts the harmful stereotypical gender norms for males still remains the same.
That’s how I ended up focusing my children book on creating a counter narrative to the current one. At this stage it was important to focus the new narrative on one main aspect and that aspect was expressing emotions. Within the area of expressing emotions I narrowed it down further to two main emotions, being afraid and being sad, as well as the act of crying. The expression of these two emotions along with the act of crying is rarely seen portrayed in male characters. The point the narrative is trying to communicate is a message of gender equality when it comes to emotions. Simply put, all genders are capable of feeling the same range of emotions.
The final thing I did in this project was to arrange for me to read the finished version of De elva svanarnas äventyr to my targeted audience. The age range of my target audience is 3–6 years of age. But amongst the things I learned from this experience the most prominent thing was how the story was more suited towards the older children in the age range. This was noticed due to the length of the story and the participants ability to focus, while the older participant was able to pay attention and show engagement during the length of the story. The other participant, being a year younger, was able to focus and be engaged for majority of the story. But I got the feeling that I lost their attention at certain slower parts of the story. However the overall feedback I got from this experience was positive and during the small interview afterwards I concluded that the participant understood the message I was trying to send them.
References
The influence of children’s literature on gender role perception: A reexamination. M.L.Trepanier-Street. J.A. Romatowski. 1999
Olika, 2023. https://olika.nu/pages/sa-jobbar-vi-med-normer