Nordic Journal of Childlit Aesthetics is an international open access journal. The aim of the journal is to develop cross-disciplinary discussions on children’s literature and its interaction with other art forms. We are currently seeking contributions to a discussion on children’s literature and critical thinking.
This special issue aims to analyze how children’s literature may enhance modes of critical thought. We invite papers focusing on agency, power structures, perspective-taking and the voice of the child (e.g. Beauvais, 2015; Christensen, 2011; 2018; Gubar, 2013; Rudd, 2005). Central to the idea of critical thinking is the role of the child reader and how narrative imagination may contribute to understanding the lives of others and to developing democratic citizenship (Nussbaum 1997; 2008). Furthermore, critical thinking may be encouraged as the reader moves in and out of the fictional text, thus facilitating a critical distance (Langer, 1995; 2011).
Topics could cover, but are not limited to:
- The role of children’s literature in critical thinking
- Art, aesthetics and critical thinking
- Children’s literature, critical thinking and Bildung
- Children’s literature and the implied critical thinker and reader
- Children’s literature, agency and democratic citizenship
- Diversity in children’s literature and critical thinking
- Children’s literature and critical pedagogical approaches
Editors:
Ruth Seierstad Stokke, Associate Professor, Oslo Metropolitan University
Ingvill Krogstad Svanes, Associate Professor, Oslo Metropolitan University
Hilde Tørnby, Associate Professor, Oslo Metropolitan University
We invite abstract submissions of 350 words including references, outlining the article’s central problem statement and its core theoretical underpinnings. A short list of the core bibliography may be added to the abstract.
Abstract submission deadline is December 15th, 2021. Submit your abstract or your idea for an article as an e-mail attachment to: russ@oslomet.no, inksva@oslomet.no and hildet@oslomet.no. Notification of acceptance will be e-mailed to submitters by January 15th, 2022. Do not include any contact information in the abstract itself. Please send the title of the article and a brief presentation of the author in a separate file. The deadline for the submission of the full article (30.000–35.000 characters including spaces) is June 10th, 2022.
Nordic Journal of Childlit Aesthetics accepts articles in Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and English. Look here for more information.
The journal uses double-blind review and publishes articles continuously. The journal is designated scientific level 1 in NSD (Norway), the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science’s Authorization list for serials (Denmark), and in Publication Forum (Finland).