Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Älskad och förnekad : Flickboken i Sverige 1945-65

Theander, Birgitta LU (2006) In Skrifter utgivna av svenska barnboksinstitutet 92.
Abstract
The tradition of writing books specifically for girls came to an abrupt end in the middle of the 1960's. In Sweden this was a turbulent decade when society changed in many ways, and equality between the sexes was a key word. The old girls' and boys' books were replaced by "the modern book for young people", which, it was proclaimed, should be up-to-date, discuss real problems, break taboos, and appeal equally to girls and boys. In research and in historic surveys, most of the attention has been paid to this new genre, while girls' fiction from the after-war period is either hardly mentioned, or described with contempt .



The aim of this dissertation is to investigare and describe girls' fiction from the period 1945-65 in... (More)
The tradition of writing books specifically for girls came to an abrupt end in the middle of the 1960's. In Sweden this was a turbulent decade when society changed in many ways, and equality between the sexes was a key word. The old girls' and boys' books were replaced by "the modern book for young people", which, it was proclaimed, should be up-to-date, discuss real problems, break taboos, and appeal equally to girls and boys. In research and in historic surveys, most of the attention has been paid to this new genre, while girls' fiction from the after-war period is either hardly mentioned, or described with contempt .



The aim of this dissertation is to investigare and describe girls' fiction from the period 1945-65 in Sweden. The theoretical base for my approach is Alastair Fowler's view that a genre is not a list of criteria, but a family likeness functioning, in a certain community at a certain time, as a pre-understanding of the text, a background against which the text is read. My investigation includes all books which were regarded as girls' fiction by contemporary editors, reviewers, book sellers or authoritative handbooks for parents.



When studying the whole genre, not only a few "typical" items, I found that girls' fiction of this period was very different from what is generally assumed today. It dealt with serious problems like war, racism, alcoholism, divorce and death. Romance was a common subject, but the girl protagonist mostly did not surrender to the man she loved, but kept the power over her life. On the whole, the protagonists were strong characters who solved problems with enthusiasm and competence. Personal development and human relations were important themes, but the major part of the genre dealt more with adventures, every-day trouble, professional or other work, or depicting foreign cultures.



The genre was not a lifeless and stereotypical remnant from the past. On the contrary, it was a vigorous literature with 1,022 new titles and many interesting authorships, often highly esteemed by contemporary critics. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Prof. Kåreland, Lena, Litteraturvetenskapliga institutionen, Uppsala universitet
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
General and comparative literature, Betty Cavanna, Annik Saxegaard, Mary Stolz, Merri Vik, Elsa Nyblom, Anna-Lisa Lundkvist, Martha Sandwall-Bergström, Claque, Astrid Lindgren, reader inquiries, Alastair Fowler, genre studies, the after-war period, girls' fiction, children's literature, Allmän och jämförande litteraturvetenskap, Scandinavian languages and literature, Nordiska språk (språk och litteratur)
in
Skrifter utgivna av svenska barnboksinstitutet
volume
92
pages
504 pages
publisher
Makadam förlag
defense location
Humanisthusets hörsal, Helgonabacken 14
defense date
2006-10-28 10:15:00
ISSN
0347-5387
ISBN
978-91-7061-031-8
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
2813a094-e8d3-42f9-9db1-31f63ef91ae5 (old id 25651)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:52:26
date last changed
2019-05-23 17:01:34
@phdthesis{2813a094-e8d3-42f9-9db1-31f63ef91ae5,
  abstract     = {{The tradition of writing books specifically for girls came to an abrupt end in the middle of the 1960's. In Sweden this was a turbulent decade when society changed in many ways, and equality between the sexes was a key word. The old girls' and boys' books were replaced by "the modern book for young people", which, it was proclaimed, should be up-to-date, discuss real problems, break taboos, and appeal equally to girls and boys. In research and in historic surveys, most of the attention has been paid to this new genre, while girls' fiction from the after-war period is either hardly mentioned, or described with contempt .<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The aim of this dissertation is to investigare and describe girls' fiction from the period 1945-65 in Sweden. The theoretical base for my approach is Alastair Fowler's view that a genre is not a list of criteria, but a family likeness functioning, in a certain community at a certain time, as a pre-understanding of the text, a background against which the text is read. My investigation includes all books which were regarded as girls' fiction by contemporary editors, reviewers, book sellers or authoritative handbooks for parents.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
When studying the whole genre, not only a few "typical" items, I found that girls' fiction of this period was very different from what is generally assumed today. It dealt with serious problems like war, racism, alcoholism, divorce and death. Romance was a common subject, but the girl protagonist mostly did not surrender to the man she loved, but kept the power over her life. On the whole, the protagonists were strong characters who solved problems with enthusiasm and competence. Personal development and human relations were important themes, but the major part of the genre dealt more with adventures, every-day trouble, professional or other work, or depicting foreign cultures.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The genre was not a lifeless and stereotypical remnant from the past. On the contrary, it was a vigorous literature with 1,022 new titles and many interesting authorships, often highly esteemed by contemporary critics.}},
  author       = {{Theander, Birgitta}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-7061-031-8}},
  issn         = {{0347-5387}},
  keywords     = {{General and comparative literature; Betty Cavanna; Annik Saxegaard; Mary Stolz; Merri Vik; Elsa Nyblom; Anna-Lisa Lundkvist; Martha Sandwall-Bergström; Claque; Astrid Lindgren; reader inquiries; Alastair Fowler; genre studies; the after-war period; girls' fiction; children's literature; Allmän och jämförande litteraturvetenskap; Scandinavian languages and literature; Nordiska språk (språk och litteratur)}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  publisher    = {{Makadam förlag}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Skrifter utgivna av svenska barnboksinstitutet}},
  title        = {{Älskad och förnekad : Flickboken i Sverige 1945-65}},
  volume       = {{92}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}