Northern European Children's Literature
NORTHERN EUROPEAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE Writing & Global Cultures Flags / Fall 2019 Sandra Ballif Straubhaar GSD 340 / 37160 EUS 347 / 35545 CL 323 / 33450 Course Description: This course will introduce students to nineteenth- to twenty-first-century children’s literature from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Authors highlighted will include Heinrich Hoffmann (Struwwelpeter), Wilhelm Busch (Max and Moritz), Selma Lagerlöf (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils), Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking, Ronja the Robber’s Daughter, The Red Bird, The Brothers Lionheart), Erich Kästner (Emil and the Detectives), Dick Bruna (Miffy), Jostein Gaarder (Sophie’s World), Bjarne Reuter (The Boys from St. Petri), Tove Jansson (Finn Family Moomintroll), Otfried Preussler (The Robber Hotzenplotz, Krabat), Walter Moers (Capt’n Bluebear), Cornelia Funke (Inkworld, Mirrorworld, Pan’s Labyrinth), Sven Nordqvist (Pancakes for Findus), Michael Ende (Momo, Jim Button, The Neverending Story), Jacques Vriens (You’re a Hen!), Annie M. G. Schmidt and Fiep Westendorp (Jip and Janneke), and Klaus Schädelin (My Name is Eugen). Students are encouraged to explore additional authors and works for papers or group projects. Emphasis will be placed on the prominent place of children’s literature in the popular culture of central and northern Europe, as well as the serious issues and themes which north Americans might otherwise consider “adult” that are often found in this genre -- death, war, poverty, social justice, and family conflict, for example – alongside whimsy, warmth and wonder. Grading: Quizzes on Reading (on most Wednesdays, when readings are due): 10 % Two six-page reaction papers or position papers, 15% each: 30 % In-class peer review activities on the above two papers: 10 % One six-page research paper: 20 % Reading Journals (turned in 8 times, approx.
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