Når mor blir et dyr

Abstract

When Mothers Become Animals: Transformed Mothers in Two Scandinavian Picturebooks for Children This article examines the animal nature of the mother figures in the two Scandinavian picturebooks Pija Lindenbaum’s När Åkes mamma glömde bort (When Owen’s Mom Breathed Fire, 2005) and Kari Saanum and Gry Moursund’s Pinnsvinmamma (Hedgehog Mom, 2006). The main aim is to study how the mother's role is portrayed in the two picturebooks when she is transformed into an animal, and the functions of animal transformations. The article shows that the two mothers’ transformations can be understood as journeys in the child characters’ playful mind, where the mentally unavailable mothers are situated in the “magical circle” of play. When being transformed, the mother figures lose their original body and mothering abilities, and the power balance between mother and child changes. Finally, we discuss whether the two picturebooks represent a traditional view of the mother figure as safe and reconciling, or whether they challenge the limits of normative motherhood. The theoretical framework includes picturebook theory, transformation theory and mindscape theory.