Alf Prøysens Teskedsgumma i tantforskningsperspektiv

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    Abstract

    Alf Prøysen’s Mrs Pepperpot has been adopted by Swedish children’s literature. Still, there is little research done on the stories about her. In this article, I explore the impact of Prøysen’s popular miniature character using topical research on the concept of elderly women or, so called, “aunts”. Mrs Pepperpot’s gender and age, as well as the nature of her shrinking, set her apart from other children’s literature miniatures. This reading, which takes into account how gender and age are made in literary texts, throws new light upon Mrs Pepperpot’s dual nature. The analysis shows how her dramatic adventures whilst a minikin are set off against everyday ”little life”, at the same time as interesting cracks appear in her role as caring wife and good mother via her childish playfulness and rebellious outbursts characterized by non-age adequate behaviour. Thus, Mrs Pepperpot is read as a complex literary character, or a “super aunt”, who encompasses both a female ideal and a resistance towards that ideal.
    Original languageSwedish
    Pages (from-to)1–16
    JournalBarnboken - Journal of Children's Literature Research
    Volume37
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014
    MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

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