Beyond Pippi Longstocking: Intermedial and International Approaches to Astrid Lindgren's Work(Children's Literature and Culture)

Astrid Lindgren, author of the famed Pippi Longstocking novels, is perhaps one of the most significant children's authors of the last half of the twentieth century. In this collection contributors consider films, music, and picturebooks relating to Lindgren, in addition to the author's reception internationally. Touching on everything from the Astrid Lindgren theme park at Vimmerby, Sweden to the hidden folk songs in Lindgren's works to the use of nostalgia in film adaptations of Lindgren's novels, this collection offers an important international and intermedial portrait of Lindgren research today.

Introduction Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer and Astrid Surmatz I. Different Aspects of the International Reception 1. Pippi Longstocking in the United States: Representations and Reception Eva-Maria Metcalf 2. Pippi Longstocking in South Africa: Translation and Reception Rolf Annas 3. We Love What We Know: The Canonicity of Pippi Longstocking in Different Media in Flanders Sara van den Bossche II. Intermedial Studies: Films 4. Re-making the National Past: The Uses of Nostalgia in the Astrid Lindgren Films of the 1980s and 1990s Anders Åberg 5. Intermediality in Children’s Literature: Reflections of Adult Relationships in the Film "Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter" Tobias Kurwinkel and Philipp Schmerheim 6. Bill Bergson, a Political Statement or a Symbol of Swedishness? A Comparison of Astrid Lindgren’s Bill Bergson Texts with the 1990s Film Adaptations Corina Löwe III. Intermedial Studies: Illustrations and Picture Books 7. Visualizing People: Multimodal Character Construction in Astrid Lindgren’s Work Maria Nikolajeva 8. Astrid Lindgren’s Picturebooks: One Text -- Two Illustrators Agnes Bjorvand 9. Photographical Picture Books by Anna Riwkin-Brick and Astrid Lindgren Helene Ehriander 10. To Mirror the Real: Ideology and Aesthetics in Photographic Picturebooks Elina Druker IV. Intermedial Studies: Music, Sculpture, and Architecture 11. In Heaven There Is Great Joy: Folk Song Tradition in the Writings of Astrid Lindgren Magnus Gustafsson 12. The Sound and Music of Astrid Lindgren Björn Sundmark 13. Disbeliefs in the Sculptural Imagination: On Theatricality and Intermediality in the Astrid Lindgren Memorials Jens Arvidson 14. Astrid Lindgren’s World in Vimmerby – a "Total Work of Art"? Heidrun Führer

Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer is Professor in the German Department at the University of Tübingen. In 2010 she held the position of guest professor in memory of Astrid Lindgren at Linnaeus-University of Kalmar/Växjö, Sweden. She was also one of the advisory editors for The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature.

Astrid Surmatz is tenured Assistant Professor in Swedish and Scandinavian Literature at the University of Amsterdam. In 2008 she was guest professor in memory of Astrid Lindgen at Linnaeus-University of KalmarVäxjö/, Sweden, where she continues as a visiting professor. She wrote her dissertation on Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking in various translations and is works currently on Linnaeus.

"An impressively diverse collection in terms of both methodology and subject... The essays in this volume demonstrate how Astrid Lindgren defined and continues to resonate with both a specific national identity and the citizenry of the so-called universal republic of childhood." - Karen Coats, Children's Literature Association Quarterly