Green Activism. Image of Greta Thunberg in Picturebooks in the Swedish Book Market
Abstract
In the article, I focus on the image of the Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg, in two picture books from the Swedish book market in 2020: the informative one: Småmänniskor, storadrömmar: Greta Thunberg (Greta Thunberg. Little People, Big Dreams) by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Anke Weckmann; and the fictional book: Greta ochjättarna. Inspireradav Greta Thunbergskampförklimatet (Greta and the Giants: Inspired by Greta Thunberg’s Stand to Save the World) by Zoë Tucker and Zoe Persico. My analysis aims to discuss and compare these books from the perspective of the third wave of ecocriticism that urges for taking up remedial actions. I attempt to evaluate the means of artistic expression that have been employed to implement these actions in both the iconotexts. I also confront the third wave agenda with ideas about contemporary literature for children, which, since the twentieth century, has been renouncing offensive didactic activities in favour of aesthetics and entertainment. The conclusion is that the picture books represent a similar degree of light didacticism, and their hybridity blurs clear-cut genre boundaries between fiction and reality.
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