Silence and Silencing in Children’s Literature. Illustration av Linda Bondestam

The anthology Silence and Silencing in Children's Literature (Makadam förlag, 2021) is edited by Elina Druker, literature professor at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University, Björn Sundmark, professor of English literature at Malmö University, Åsa Warnqvist, docent and research manager at the Swedish Institute for Children's Books, and Mia Österlund, associate professor at Åbo Akademi University. One of the authors is professor emeritus in literature Boel Westin, at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics.

The antology is based on contributions to The International Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL) conference on Silence and Silencing in Children’s Literature held in Stockholm in 2019 and hosted by The Swedish Institute for Children’s Books, in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Aesthetics at Stockholm University, the Department of Culture, Languages and Media at Malmö University and the Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology at Åbo Akademi University.

Who is silenced and who gets to speak?

The authors to the anthology adress the multiple facets of silence and silencing in children's literature, who is silenced and who gets to speak, the aesthetical expressions of silence and how voices are silenced for cultural or political reasons. The contribution by Boel Westin, “A Hundred Miles of Silence: The Moomin stories of Tove Jansson”, discusses the silence theme in the Moomin novels.

Silence and Silencing in Children’s Literature. Illustration av Linda Bondestam.