Didacticum

Vielfalt (im) Bilderbuch – Perspektiven, Gegenstände und Diskurse

2023-12-17T20:16:05+01:00

The topic of what is being portrayed is discussed within socio-political discourses, as well as within the context of repeated and enjoyable engagement with picturebooks. The relationships between picture and written text, as well as between content and form, enable the creation of exceptional aesthetic possibilities, not only to reinforce social norms and relations, but also to critically debate and creatively expand them. In this regard, it is evident that the focus of current picturebook creation is increasingly shifting towards the representation of social diversity and the depiction of various identities and relationships. Therefore, this conference volume concentrates on the aesthetic potential of picture books to create initial images of a world characterised by the diversity of living conditions, models, forms of relationships, and desires. The significance of identity and difference categories, such as gender, desire, class, ethnicity, or religion in the picturebook, is of interest here. Also, the artistic-narrative techniques used to depict diversity are of importance. This volume aims to examine the narrative and symbolic worlds, as well as the aesthetic and compositional strategies employed in current picture book creation, from a subject-specific, didactic, and artistic perspective regarding the representation of diversity.

Wollen oder folgen – das Kuddelmuddel zwischen Kopf, Hand und Werkzeug

2023-12-18T09:34:45+01:00

When working on a picturebook for children, there are a lot of questions that arise: with the role of the parents, gender issues, with the aesthetics, the question of one’s own vision, with the themes, all the questions of diversity, with the implementation as an image, the question of everyday life and time, with the creation of atmosphere, the question of technique, and so on and so forth. All these questions involve illustrators in a back and forth between head, hand and tool. The article deals with questions of perception and representation, of willingness and ability, and provides insights into the everyday work of illustrators, which is always characterised by the interplay of possibilities and impossibilities of diverse representation.

Von Figurenkörper bis Typographie. Vielfalt erzählen im Bilderbuch

2023-12-18T09:35:40+01:00

The article examines representations of picture books with regard to diversity; here, this concerns on the one hand the content-related, thematic level, when it is analyzed which constellations, ideas and concepts are present. On the other hand, the question of diversity also concerns the formal level of the picture books, in which it is worked out which strategies of representation are used and how diversity is produced or negated through the manner of narration.

Ansatzpunkte für eine diversitätsbewusste Didaktik des Bilderbuchs

2023-12-18T09:36:17+01:00

The article offers reflections on a diversity-conscious approach to picturebooks in literature- based lessons. The starting point for this is the concept of diversity and the lines of and contributions to its discourse in pedagogy and literature didactics. Using two selected picturebooks (Something Else and Julián is a Mermaid), it is demonstrated how diversity is addressed in picture books in different ways and what didactic consequences result from this. The article ends with a plea for diversity awareness that does not exclusively refer to the content of a literary text, but also to its form and its aesthetics.

Meine Bilder erzählen Geschichten

2023-12-18T09:36:55+01:00

Podcast: https://radioigel.at/julie-voelk/

Julie Völk’s fine drawings, combined with the diverse range of texts she illustrates – from fairy tales to narratives – provide plenty of room for interpretation and imagination. Nonetheless, the artist is also adept at narrating stories through visuals, as is evident from her wordless picture books. The conversation with Sabine Fuchs – professor at PH Steiermark – focuses specifically on Völk’s storytelling abilities without verbal text. Julie Völk provides an insight into her artistic and creative approaches as well as her perspective on visual storytelling. What is the process of creating picture narratives, which elements serve as connectors and drive the plot forward? How can actions and characters be highlighted, and the realities of life be represented? The image details and compositions that display diversity are given particular attention.

Künstlerische Variationen bildlicher Gestaltung einer Liaison von Imagination und Realität in Bildnarrationen ausgewählter (fast) wortloser Bilderbücher

2023-12-18T09:37:25+01:00

In this article, exemplary artistic approaches and ways of shaping reality and imagination in (almost) wordless picture books will be presented. Possible pictorial and pictorial-literary artistic strategies are documented in the selected picture books.

Offen für Vielfalt – Darstellung und Wahrnehmung von Diversität im textfreien Bilderbuch

2023-12-18T09:37:50+01:00

In wordless picturebooks (silent books), diversity is evident at first glance, particularly where distinctions are made based on external attributes such as age, gender, ‘race’ or physical ability. Visual narrative can further enhance the scope and nuances of diversity by encouraging viewers to seek new perspectives and to recognize subtle differences that may not be immediately apparent. In this way, visual storytelling not only reflects diversity but also enhances its meaning. The article outlines a perspective on the impact of picturebook reception on literary education. It examines the visual representation of diversity and the openness inherent in wordless picture books.

Drei Räuberinnen und ein verliebter Koch

2023-12-18T09:38:14+01:00

Podcast: https://radioigel.at/verena-hochleitner/

In Verena Hochleitner’s picture books, diversity is actively embodied. For instance, Hochleitner portrays diversity by showcasing various dog breeds in ‘Hunde Salon’ or multifold (romantic) relationships in her multi-award-winning book ‘Der verliebte Koch’. Her representations include questions of equality, emancipation and female empowerment (‘Die drei Räuberinnnen’). Significant themes such as foster parenthood are addressed in Hochleitner’s books; ‘Jakob & das Rote Buch’ (text by Franz-Joseph Huainigg) for example explores the question of what constitutes a family. With strong colors and illustrations that appeal to readers of all ages, different realities and alternative lifestyles are juxtaposed naturally even while they invite discussion.

Daniel ist Hausmann. Felix ist der Junge im Rock. Zur Diversifizierung von ‚Männlichkeit‘ im Bilderbuch

2023-12-18T09:38:34+01:00

‘Femininity’ has now over quite a long period been the object of critical debate in children’s literature as well as in children’s literature research. In contrast, ‘masculinity’ – as the unmarked norm – has only infrequently been the subject of closer examination. Meanwhile, though, a rising number of contemporary picture books feature young boys who repudiate hegemonic gender norms and scripts, thereby exposing and negotiating rules and ideals that guide gender performance. In attempting to challenge and diversify ‘masculinity’, however, these books employ very different strategies which the article aims to explore. It is especially concerned with a current tendency in which ‘hybrid masculinities’ are constructed: Rather than deconstruct oppressive gender structures and regulations, many books ultimately perpetuate notions of ‘masculinity’ as a form of individualism and, again, as opposed to ‘femininity’. Drawing on the field of masculinity studies (e.g., Connell, Meuser, Bridges) and children’s literature research (e.g., Wannamaker, Nodelman), the article examines how gender- and heteronormative ascriptions are challenged, but sometimes also obscured and/or perpetuated by these strategies.

Nando von Arb: 3 Väter – Ein Bilderbuch in der Sekundarstufe. Potenziale und Herausforderungen

2023-12-18T09:39:07+01:00

In his 2019 published Graphic Memoir 3 Väter (3 Fathers), the Swiss author Nando von Arb recollects his growing up in a patchwork-family with three different “fathers”. Not only does he tell the story in pictures and almost wordless from a child’s perspective but he also choses a childlike drawing style and rich background coloring to emphasize the emotional challenges of a constantly changing family system. The mother – portrayed as a huge bird – and the different fathers appear as stereotypical figures, which suggests that a mother and father(s) have to meet many expectations and fulfil multiple roles. Apart from the author’s unique drawing style it is his deliberate way of deconstructing gender roles that make this Graphic Novel extremely interesting for didactical use in a secondary form – where 14–15 year olds struggle to find their own identity in a sometimes challenging discussion about what a typical male or female has to represent.

Zwischen Sonnenscheibe und Babypuder. Künstlerische Annäherungen an religiöse Literatur

2023-12-18T09:39:33+01:00

Podcast: https://radioigel.at/linda-wolfsgruber/

Linda Wolfsgruber has illustrated various religious texts in her extensive body of work, including stories from the life of Jesus, an Islamic hadith, the Old Testament story of Noah’s Ark and a picture book about the miraculous events of Christmas. To what extent are such illustrations to be read and appreciated as interpretations of the text? And how does Linda Wolfsgruber approach historical material in this context? In a discussion with Heidi Lexe, director of the STUBE – Study and Advisory Centre for Children’s and Youth Literature, the special variants of the relationship between form and content will be discussed through which religious text statements are accentuated and retold. The different sources of inspiration, techniques and materials used by Linda Wolfsgruber will be presented and the diversity of thematic and aesthetic approaches will be examined together with the illustrator.

Farbenblindes Bilderbuch? Eine rassismuskritische Perspektive auf ein vielfältiges Medium

2023-12-18T09:40:27+01:00

Regarding both content and form, the picturebook constitutes a diverse medium in which representations of cultural and racial diversity have become a common topic. While themes such as flight and migration are frequently negotiated in versatile and nuanced ways, multiculturalism and intercultural exchange are often celebrated as a social asset under the ideological premise of colorblindness. Moreover, recently, efforts can be observed to counteract the exoticization of cultural and racial diversity by naturalizing it as the norm(ality). In contrast, picturebooks that discuss children’s experiences of racial discrimination, the sociopolitical mechanisms of racism and its ideological underpinnings are scarce. On the basis of selected examples, this paper discusses the different concepts of diversity underlying contemporary picturebooks in German language or translation and investigates how they move between the poles of (idealized) diversity, (normalized) difference and (critically reflected) discrimination.

Bin ich ein (glücklicher) Bär? Über Macht, Ohnmacht und das bleibende Fremde in Prozessen der Ichfindung

2023-12-18T09:40:49+01:00

The following article is about Oren Lavie’s picture book The Bear Who Wasn’t There, which has been congenially illustrated by Wolf Erlbruch. This picture book offers both: a story, that is easy to read, and the very complex and serious narration of someone seeking his identity. This turns out to be a process closely connected to mechanisms of power, as identity is as well something that overwhelms its future possessor from the outside (thereby the „Me“ gets colonized), as something that is created by its future holder himself (from this point of view, it is a process of colonizing the world). In Lavie’s story the seeker of identity seems to gain importance while struggeling to find out who he or she „really is“. Oren Lavies story and the pictures of Wolf Erlbruch let this process keep its ambivalence and doing so, they achieve to tell a cheerful story about something as difficult as identity. The profundity of their way to tell and show the bear’s development allows to read the book also in a Sekundarstufe II-classroom. The article tries to open some different ways to work with this book in a classroom, where literature, philosophy and learning about oneself and one’s way to inhabit this world are thought as closely associated to each other.

Über Lustiges, Ernstes und hoffnungsvolles philosophieren

2023-12-18T09:41:12+01:00

Podcast: https://radioigel.at/leonora-leitl/

Diversity in Leonora Leitl’s work is not only found in the illustrations, but also in the themes and texts. Biographical themes and curiosity play an important role. The fact that the answers to the essential questions posed in her books can remain individual for the viewer is due to the interdependencies between image and text and is as intentional as the resulting interpretation as a personal carrier of meaning. In the conversation with Michaela Reitbauer, Professor at the Pädagogische Hochschule Steiermark, the focus is on the freedom of thought through staged interstices in the artist’s works, on the visual language, but also on controversy as a bridge to dialogue – the funny, the serious, but above all the hopeful.

Un/Doing Dis_Ability in und mit Bilderbüchern

2023-12-18T09:41:37+01:00

The article inquires into forms and functions of un/doing dis_ability in picture books from a literary and cultural studies perspective, drawing on P. Mecheril’s understanding of diversity and the analytical arsenal of literary disability studies. The exemplary analysis of four contemporary picture books which (at least at first sight seem to) address the topic of dis_ability is complemented by reflections on the selection of picture books for diversity sensitive literature classes.