What Makes Pippi Longstocking a Classic of Identity Empowerment? Julia Sophie Haager
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PROGRAMME RESEARCH What makes Pippi Longstocking a classic of identity empowerment? Julia Sophie Haager This article shows, by means of a Longstocking”. Such an idiosyncratic Lindgren responded to these assertions qualitative IZI study, why Pippi Long- name deserved a similarly idiosyncratic in a contribution to the debate on the stocking is so successful and what the story, which Astrid Lindgren duly in- rights of children, saying, “Give children cheery redhead offers for identity. vented. Out of the creative dialogue love, more love, and still more love, between mother and daughter there then manners will follow naturally” “Do you want to know, do you want emerged a character with a story which (Saltkråkan AB, 2015). to know who I am?” hums the char- not only alleviated the dismal hours In itself, her role as a pioneer makes ismatic girl, standing on a table in a of pneumonia but also ultimately Pippi a sensational story. This raises the pirates’ inn, her hands on her hips, with revolutionised children’s literature question of whether Pippi’s “bound- a mischievous grin. Then she thrusts (Schönfeldt, 2014). Early on, Astrid lessness” is central for children. If we out her arms and legs, shouting at the Lindgren wrote reviews and local news look closer, in fact, we also find fasci- pirate captain Blood Svente, “It’s Pippi for a newspaper, and never intended to nating stories – flying cars and beds, Longstocking, Pippilotta Viktualia, I send the story of Pippi Longstocking to pirates, policemen and burglars – and am Pippi Longstocking, Heigh ho ho a publisher (Schönfeldt, 2014). Luck- an endearing friendship with Tommy wa hee ha ha!” The faces of the alpha ily, she submitted it, and in 1945, the and Annika. What makes the format males fill with horror, for no one doubts Swedish Pippi Långstrump was pub- so strong that it has been a reference what this girl can do (Pippi in the South lished by Rabén & Sjögren. Books, radio point for children’s identity issues for Seas, Swedish movie released in the plays, films, a cartoon series and many 70 years? USA in 1975). licensed products followed. Today, the A 9-year-old girl with red hair and stories of Pippi are world famous. Her freckles, strong, fearless and funny. books have been translated into 70 lan- THE STUDY She has no parents, but she lives with guages, and around 60 million copies her monkey and her horse in her own have been sold (Saltkråkan AB, 2015). In the qualitative IZI study Classics of house. She does not go to school; she In 2002 she made it onto the list of Children’s Television from the Children’s sleeps the wrong way round in bed; the best 100 books in world literature Perspective we explored this question she rolls out biscuit dough on the (Bokklubben, 2002). in more detail. 429 children in Germany floor, walks backwards, and decides However, the character did not al- were asked to choose from among the her bedtime herself. She starts her day ways reap this kind of enthusiasm. classics Pumuckl, Maya the Bee, Vicky with uninterrupted euphoria; she faces Lindgren’s imagination did not really the Viking and Pippi a character who every danger bravely and compensates sit well with social conventions at the was particularly significant for them. for little mistakes with wit and charm: time; a young girl who lives alone and One third of the children (n = 135, of Pippi Longstocking is the character who goes against every rule by doing these, 88 girls) aged 8-11 (on average 9.22 who made Astrid Lindgren famous and what she wants, even mocking the years old) chose Pippi Longstocking. unforgettable; she is an indisputable guardians of the law in the process, They drew and described what made classic of children’s television. broke every convention. Astrid Lind- the character significant for them in re- gren advocated a “liberal upbringing”, sponse to open questions. The children which is widespread today, but when were asked to retrospectively explore HOW PIPPI CAME ABOUT Pippi Longstocking was published in their experiences with the character, 1945, this way of thinking had not the significant moments and their The story was conceived in the early yet taken root in society (Schönfeldt, practical value. In addition, they were 1940s at the bedside of Lindgren’s 2014). People were afraid that children asked to evaluate – in the sense of the 7-year-old daughter, Karin, who was ill. could be influenced by Pippi’s manners third-person effect – the effect of the She wanted to hear a story “about Pippi and her defiance of authority. Astrid character on younger children, as well 44 29/2016/E PROGRAMME RESEARCH as the way their parents dealt with the character. This phenomenological approach was intended to illuminate the essential core (core identity) of clas- sic TV characters, taking into account the child’s perspective. The analyses show that from the children’s per- © IZI Ill. 1: Pippi is the strongest: the fascination with her physical superiority is shown clearly in the drawings by spective there are two Alena (8) and Samuel (10) key areas concerning Pippi Longstocking: on the one hand, her unique character, and on the other, the fascination with children, having a pet means taking cannot do, such as jump out of the her stories. on responsibility and thereby coming window or pick up a door” (Linus, a step closer to being grown up. It is 10). The TV character here acts as a unusual for children to have the kind of medium through which children can PIPPI’S UNIQUE CHARACTER freedom that comes through material experience things that are physiologi- AND CHILDREN’S IDENTITY means and a lack of supervision, which cally not possible for them. Besides the ISSUES is why Pippi Longstocking’s autonomy physical deficits, this is also true for is as much a part of her uniqueness as skills and ideas we learn only later in When asked what the children found her appearance. life, such as baking biscuits by yourself, particularly great about Pippi, they The third, and probably most promi- cleaning, and going on adventures of identified 4 aspects what made her nent feature children identify is Pippi’s your choice (Ill. 2). unique. physical superiority. 9-year-old Sven Interestingly, children emphasise the The most obvious one is Pippi’s ap- says, “She is very strong”, and 75 other skills they see as important, so they do pearance. The children liked her “funny children agree with him verbatim. not think it is bad that Pippi “cannot clothes” (Haci, 10), the fact “that Pippi The fascination with this is evident in count or do sums” (Araceli, 10). Quite Longstocking was so colourful” (Gor- the drawings: Pippi can lift her horse, the opposite: children think that she don, 9), “that she has two different policemen, the world’s strongest man, has “great ideas” (Till, 9) and that “Pippi socks on” (Lara, 10), and of course also giant snowballs, and much more (Ill. 1). Longstocking [was] [...] also clever” “her red hair and pigtails” (Florian, 9). Pippi also has the courage to use her (Emma, 10). In the eyes of a child, physi- This optical peculiarity is echoed in al- strength: “Pippi Longstocking is very cal inferiority to adults and dangers is most every child’s drawing: orange-red strong. She dares [...] to do dangerous clearly more threatening than a lack of hair, plaited into two pigtails. things” (Sabiha, 9). However, there is reading and maths skills. Just as memorable is Pippi’s autonomy, more behind this power fantasy of If physical superiority is combined with which is the result of her particular being stronger than others: the fact strong mental ability and material au- situation: “She lives alone in a villa, that “she can do a lot of things we tonomy, the result is a character who and her father is rich and is a pirate” (Samuel, 10). The freedom that comes with this certainly does not escape the children. “She did everything she wanted” (Matthias, 10) and “She solves her problems herself, without any help” (Samira, 9). In addition, © IZI “She [...] lived with Mr Ill. 2: Pippi is able to experience what is not yet possible for children, such as baking enormous amounts of Nilsson, her monkey, and biscuits (Illana, 9) or cleaning with brushes strapped to her feet (Renate, 10) her horse” (Fahim, 10). For 29/2016/E 45 PROGRAMME RESEARCH is actually an adult. Nonetheless, Pippi through Pippi’s friends, Annika and is the embodiment of a child. Not only Tommy, and through their reactions, CONCLUSION in her appearance, but also in her ideas why Pippi’s behaviour is inappropriate. and, above all, her humour. Children need attachment and love, In the eyes of the recipients, Pippi is, 59 out of 135 children describe Pippi which is why they say: “There were a and remains, above all, boundless. with the words “funny” or “witty”. few things I didn’t like about it, e.g. With this core identity she makes it This fourth factor clearly distinguishes she lives alone without her parents” possible for children, whose daily lives Pippi from adults. Children love the (Süleyman, 8). This may, however, be are restricted by rules and physical fact that “she always has really crazy the reason why Pippi functions as she and cognitive deficits, to experience ideas and is always witty” (Illana, 9). does, for sometimes characters need what it would be like to be boundless They clearly understand that “she was something to be “broken” in order to as a child – not as an adult.