Stockholm university
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Maria AnderssonSenior lecturer, associate professor

Publications

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Mångkulturell barn- och ungdomslitteratur  

    2017. Maria Andersson, Elina Druker.

    Book (ed)

    Skönlitteratur för barn och unga är en viktig källa till kunskap om andra människor, kulturer och länder. Denna bok behandlar skildringar av det mångkulturella samhället i barn- och ungdomslitteratur, i såväl bild som text. Boken berör också litteraturens roll som kulturförmedlare i en mångkulturell värld. Genom nedslag i svensk och internationell barn- och ungdomslitteratur diskuterar de fjorton författarna framställningen av svenskhet och nationella minoriteter samt upplevelser av främlingskap och gränsöverskridande möten. I boken förs en reflekterande diskussion runt hur olika kulturer gestaltas i skönlitteraturen, vilket även ger perspektiv på några av 2000-talets debatter om barn- och ungdomslitteratur i Sverige.

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  • Från stork till spermabank

    2016. Maria Andersson. Samlaren 136, 5-37

    Article

    The aim of this article is to analyze depictions of gender and sexuality in sex education books for young children published in Sweden between 1965 and 2014. After describing the general trends in the publication of sex education literature during the period, the article discusses the narrative address and family structures, gendered descriptions of reproduction, and the introduction of assisted reproductive technologies and non-heterosexual parenting in the studied material. The majority of the sex education books portray white, two-parent families and focus on heterosexual reproduction. Men and sperm are normally described as more active and important during conception, and the reproductive process is often depicted from the sperm’s point of view. At the same time, there are books throughout the period that problematize gender stereotypes in reproduction and, from the late 1990s, heteronormative sexuality. This article also shows that verbal and visual descriptions of sexual intercourse were more explicit in sex education books from the 1970s, while books from the early 21th century depict a greater variety of families and assisted reproductive technologies. After the 1970s, sex education literature for all ages disappears and the books are more clearly adapted for different age groups.

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  • Att bli människa

    2010. Maria Andersson, Boel Westin, Åsa Arping.

    Thesis (Doc)

    The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to analyze discourses of children, morality and gender in prose works for children and adults written between 1880 and 1910. Ten texts by Amanda Kerfstedt, Helena Nyblom and Mathilda Malling are studied. The main questions are: To what extent did writing for children or adults create different possibilities and restraints for the authors? Were ideas of morality and sexuality articulated differently in relation to children, women and men? What gender ideals were formulated through depictions of children’s upbringing?

    By foregrounding the role of children and children’s literature, a new perspective on the period is put forward. The analyses explore how changing ideas about family, femininity and virtue affected the way women wrote and how the literary establishment received their works. Some other important topics are the debate on children’s sex education in the 1880’s, the function of childhood in discourses of gender and sexuality, and the role of confession in 19th century society and literature.

    Conceptions of children, gender and morality are continuously redefined in Kerfstedt’s, Nyblom’s and Malling’s texts for children and adults. Varying ideals, ideas and practices are compared in the texts, which creates a space for change and negotiation. In contrast to previous research, this thesis shows that Swedish children’s and adult literature around the turn of the 20th century shared many themes and ideas. Although different aspects of the questions are put in focus, books for both audiences explore how a true man, woman or child should be, what defined a moral life and, ultimately, what it meant to be human.

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