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Home , Moomins, Viktor Jansson

THE EXPLOITS OF

C. COURNOYER LSC530 AUTHOR STUDY

Public domain image by Reino Loppinen, from http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-04/38210902.jpg WHO IS TOVE JANSSON?

Finnish painter, illustrator, and writer best known for Moomin books and comic strips

One of the most successful children’s authors worldwide

Work translated into 49 languages

A “Finnish treasure” (Harju, Sept. 2009, p. 362)

Tove Jansson Stamp by SantiH, 2014. Used under Creative Commons license on Flickr WHO ARE THE ?

Round, large-eyed hippo-like creatures who live in Moominvalley, a lush and mostly unexplored landscape of mountains and sea, caves and forest.

A kind and friendly family: Moominpappa, Moominmamma, Moomintroll. They live in , round and blue, where Moominmamma feeds them well and friends from all over Moomvalley visit for some pancakes, jam, and kindliness.

“Muumit,” comic strip by Tove Jansson, used under fair use from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moomin_kuva.JPG MORE MOOMIN CHARACTERS *

Friends who live with them, or nearby, include

Sisters and Mymble

Snorkmaiden and Snuffkin (Moomintroll’s dear friends),

Sniff, To f f l e , and Too-tiki,

…among many others. *Apparently, I’m Little My.

Images from moomin.com JANSSON’S MOOMINTHEMES

Family life and home as a source of comfort and safety

Tolerance and appreciation of difference

Compassion

Love and acceptance

Mistakes as a source of life lessons and wisdom THE LIFE OF TOVE JANSSON (1914-2001)

• Born in to sculptor father and graphic artist Signe Hammarsten- Jansson, in to a Swedish-speaking minority community. Two younger brothers. • To v e ’s relationship to her parents and views of family reflected in her Moomin family • Spent summers on island beach home. Landscape of Moominland reflects rural • World War II affects her view of family and women, and her work: “It’s a man’s war. I can see what will happen to my work when I get married. I will become either a bad painter or a bad wife. And I don’t want to give birth to children, only for them to get killed in some future war.”2

“Family (1942).” Painting from the Tove Jansson estate, reproduced by BBC News Magazine, March 2014 2 Jansson letter to Eva Konikoff, read in “MoominlandTales: The Life of Tove Jansson,” 2012. (MORE FROM)THE LIFE OF TOVE JANSSON (1914-2001)

• 1939– Soviet Union bombed and invaded Finland. Brother drafted into Finnish army. • Wrote first Moomin book, Moomin and the Great Flood (1945) during the war’s beginning months. Second one, , published in 1946. Natural disasters and family stress reflected the war’s impact on Jansson.

• Finn Family Moomintroll (1948) her breakthrough; English translation in 1950 brought fame and contract for newspaper comic strip. • 120 newspapers with12 million readers read her work 6 days/week. Public appearances and theatre production pulled her away from her other art, and drew on her time and happiness.

Tove Jansson, Moomin: Th e C om p l e te Tove Jansson Comic Strip, Vol. 1. (STILL MORE OF) THE LIFE OF TOVE JANSSON (1914-2001)

• Met fellow artist (and future life partner) Tuulikki Pietilä, began Moominland in Midwinter. Tuulikki inspired To o -Ticky, philosopher tomboy and lover of winter

• 1960 decides not to renew comic strip contract so she can return to painting • With Tuulikki, builds a house on an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Finland • Death of mother. Writes last Moomin book, Moominvalley in November. The Moomins never return home • 1971 takes a trip around the world with Tuuti, and writes The Summer Book (1972), To v e ’s first adult book. Wrote novels and short stories, became well known for her adult fiction. • Diagnosed with cancer. Died in 2001, aged 87.

Tove Jansson, fr om Moominland Midwinter, p .48. F e a t. Too-Ticky, Little My, Moomintroll. Photo by C.Cournoyer INTERESTING BITS ABOUT TOVE JANSSON

Drew the first Moomin-type character on the wall of an outhouse of her family’s summer cottage for her younger brother. It was her depiction of Immanuel Kant. Was very close to her artist mother, and would sit next to her and copy her drawings. Her mother was the inspiration for Moominmamma. The first publication of a Moomin was called “Snork, ” which first appeared Garm…the Finnish satirical magazine that hired her at just 15 years old. But her first published work, Sara and Pelle and the Octopuses of the Water, cam e ou t w h en sh e was13! Lived with partner Tu u l i k k i Pietilä, though homosexuality was banned in Finland. The character To o -Ticky is based on Tu u l i k k i . Winner of the Hans Christian Andersen award THINKING ABOUT A MOOMINAUDIENCE

Crossover literature

“…Jansson’s writing for children and adults reflects diverse address– meaning narratives extend an open invitation to readers of any age, speaking to them on equal terms…”

“.. she demonstrates complexity in both form and theme…”

“there is wide evidence of her diverse readership.”

(Harju, 2009, p. 363-364) THINKING ABOUT A MOOMINAUDIENCE THINKING ABOUT A MOOMINAUDIENCE SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF For a full list of works, see TOVE JANSSON http://tovejansson.com/eng/bibliografia.html

Moomin Novels Moomin Picturebooks 1945 • Jansson, T. (2012).The Moomins and the great flood. : Sort Of Books. 1952 • Jansson, T. (1953).The book about Moomin, Mymbleand little My. London: Ernest Benn, Ltd. 1946 • ------. (1951). Comet in Moominland. London: Ernest Benn, Ltd. 1960 • ------. (1961). Who will comfort Toffle? London: Ernest Benn, Ltd. 1948 • ------. (1950). Finn family Moomintroll. London: Ernest Benn, Ltd. 1977 • ------. (1978). . London: Sort Of Books. 1950 • ------. (1954). The exploits of Moominpappa, described by himself. London: Ernest Benn, Ltd.*

1954 • ------. (1955). Moominsummer Madness. London: Ernest Benn, Ltd.

1957 • ------. (1958). Moominland Midwinter. London: Ernest Benn, Ltd.

1962 • ------. (1963). Tales from Moominvalley. London: Ernest Benn, Ltd. 1965 • ------. (1966). Moominpappa at Sea. London: Ernest Benn, Ltd. 1970 • ------. (1971). Moominvalley in November. London: Ernest Benn, Ltd. RESOURCES

• Berry, C. (2014). ”Moominsin English Dress”: British Translations of the Moomin Series. The Lion and the Unicorn: a critical journal of children’s literature, 38:2, 145- 161.

• Bosworth, M. (2014, March 13). ToveJansson: Love, war and the Moomins. BBC News Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26529309

• Guida, J. (2014, March 5). The Hands that Made the Moomins. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-hands-that- made-the-moomins

• Harju, Maija-Liisa. (2009). ToveJansson and the Crossover Continuum. The Lion and the Unicorn: a critical journal of children’s literature, 33:3, 362-376.

• Jansson, S. (2006). ToveJansson and Her Lovable Moomins. Scandinavian Review, 94:2, 6-11.

• The Official Moomin Site. https://www.moomin.com/en/

• O’Neill, A. (2017). Moominvalley Fossils: Translating the Early Comics of Tove Jansson. Bookbird, 55:2, 46-54.

• Sutton, P. (2004). ToveJansson. Literature Online Biography. Retrieved from Literature Online.

• Tove Jansson– Virtual Museum and Life Story. http://tovejansson.com/eng

• Yule, E. (Producer, Director). (2012). Moominland tales: the Life of Tove Jansson [Documentary Movie]. United Kingdom: BBC Scotland.