"'Look More Closely,' Said Mum": Mothers in Anthony Browne's Picture Books

Autor/in	Joosen, Vanessa
Titel	"'Look More Closely,' Said Mum": Mothers in Anthony Browne's Picture Books
Quelle	In: Children's Literature in Education, 46 (2015) 2, S.145-159 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0045-6713
DOI	10.1007/s10583-015-9253-3
Schlagwörter	Picture Books; Childrens Literature; Mothers; Child Rearing; Family Environment; Illustrations; Parent Responsibility; Fiction; Parent Role + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Picture book; Bilderbuch; 'Children''s literature'; Kinderliteratur; Mother; Mutter; Kindererziehung; Familienmilieu; Bildliche Darstellung; Fiktion; Parental role; Elternrolle
Abstract	In this article, Vanessa Joosen explores Anthony Browne's construction of motherhood in four of his picture books that focus on family. She focuses on the use of narratological perspective, visual point of view, and intertextual references to explain how an ideology of motherhood is evoked. While Browne makes use of child narrators and focalizers whose view of their mothers is limited, some of his picture books contain illustrations that further explore the mother's psyche and move beyond the child's point of view. His construction of motherhood over the years follows rather than sets trends. "Piggybook" offers a rather simplistic role reversal in the heyday of second-wave feminism and "My Mum" conforms to postfeminist new momism. "Zoo" and "The Shape Game" are more artistically complex and open-ended in their possible interpretations of the mother's psyche. In all four books, Browne's mothers, especially in comparison to his fathers, are depicted with more responsibilities: the families rely on the mother's presence and care for their coherence and emotional well-being. The mothers invariably bring a sense of civilization and sophistication to Browne's fictional families. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01