{"id":132,"date":"2020-10-29T09:29:22","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T09:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/?p=132"},"modified":"2021-03-05T08:20:36","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T08:20:36","slug":"colonial-and-racist-features-in-pippi-longstockings-adventures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/colonial-and-racist-features-in-pippi-longstockings-adventures\/","title":{"rendered":"Colonial and Racist Features in Pippi Longstocking\u2019s Adventures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"https:\/\/www.astridlindgren.com\/de\/figuren\/pippi-langstrumpf\"
\u00a9The Astrid Lindgren Company\/Ingrid Vang Nyman
https:\/\/www.astridlindgren.com\/de\/figuren\/pippi-langstrumpf<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

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Astrid Lindgren\u2019s Pippi is a well-known child heroine who has for the last 76 years inspired many children all around the world and still does to this day. But despite Pippi\u2019s positive influence on children and her unquestionably important role in the gender discourse in children\u2019s literature, Lindgren\u2019s books contain some colonial and racist aspects. I would like to give a brief overview of some of those aspects by showing a couple examples and analysing them from a postcolonial perspective. With this short analysis I want to demonstrate that these aspects have to be seen in their historical context and could be seen as a stylistic device to criticize the hegemonic society.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most obvious racist features in the language of Pippi L\u00e5ngstrump<\/em> is the description of Pippi\u2019s father. When Pippi goes to school with Annika and Tommy, she introduces herself and mentions her father:<\/p>\n

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Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter L\u00e5ngstrump, dotter till kapten Efraim L\u00e5ngstrump, fordom havens skr\u00e4ck, numera n*kung <\/em>[Censored by N.B.[1]<\/a>] (Lindgren, Pippi L\u00e5ngstrump 57). Pippilotta Victualia Rollgardina Peppermint Efraim\u2019s Daughter Longstocking, daughter of captain Longstocking, formerly the terror of the seas, now n*king <\/em>[Translation\u00a0<\/del><\/span>by N.B.].\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The term \u201cn*kung\u201d is highly problematic and would no longer be accepted today. The use of the N-word alone stands in connection with colonialism and slave trade and puts the described people in an inferior position and the describers in a position of power. The combination with the term \u201cking\u201d reinforces this connotation even more. However, the racist term has to be seen in the publication\u2019s historical context. The N-word was not condemned in 1945 the way it rightfully is today. <\/span>Under <\/span>the relevant entry in Svensk Ordbok <\/em>from 2009 one finds the following explanation to the word:<\/p>\n

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N* var l\u00e4nge ett ord som inte p<\/em>\u00e5 n\u00e5got s\u00e4tt uppfattades som neds\u00e4ttande. [\u2026] \u00c4ven om<\/em> anv\u00e4ndning av ordet n* kan vara obet\u00e4nksam b\u00f6r den dock inte utan vidare st\u00e4mplas som rasistisk<\/em> [censored N.B.] (Svensk Ordbok). N* was for a long time a word that was in no way perceived as derogatory. [\u2026] Although the use of the word n* can be inconsiderate it should not just be classified as racist <\/em>[Translation N.B.].\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The entry on the use of the N-word shows that the term was not always perceived as racist. With this background knowledge it can be assumed that the word in the book was a product of its time.<\/span> However, it also demonstrates an unreflected usage of racist language. The term of the original text was later replaced with \u201cs\u00f6derhavskung\u201d (king of the south-sea) and the passage quoted earlier reads as follows:<\/p>\n

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Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter L\u00e5ngstrump, dotter till kapten Efraim L\u00e5ngstrump, fordom havens skr\u00e4ck, numera s\u00f6derhavskung <\/em>(Lindgren, Boken om Pippi L\u00e5ngstrump 25\u201326).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Racist traits can also be found in Ingrid Vang Nyman\u2019<\/span>s illustrations of the original\u00a0<\/span>books (Jung 293). Konstanze Jung examines different drawings of the children of Kurrekurredutt\u00f6n from a postcolonial perspective and notes that they are drawn in a stereotypical, exaggerated way (Jung 296). In the drawing below, one can see Pippi, Annika and Tommy,<\/span> who are sitting together,<\/span> with some children of the island around a fire, eating bananas and coconuts (Jung 296). The typical fruits alone are a stereotype, but the islanders are also wearing jewellery made from animal-teeth. In the discussed picture, there is no significant difference in the depiction of the boys and girls, whereas Pippi and Annika look very different from Tommy (Jung 296). For example, Pippi and Annika have long hair adorned with flowers while Tommy has short hair. The children of the island meanwhile all have similar-looking hair. This type of illustration is racist and shows the children in the stereotypical light of the \u201cuncivilized savage\u201d (Jung 296). The fact that there is no obvious difference between the boys and the girls of the island, while Pippi, Annika and Tommy can easily be differentiated, could be an indication of a colonial point of view. One could say the depiction implies that it is not as important to differentiate\u00a0<\/span>between the inhabitants of the island as it is between the three children from Sweden.<\/p>\n

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Illustration drawn by Ingrid Vang Nyman in Astrid Lindgren, Pippi f\u00e4hrt nach Taka-Tuka-Land. Hamburg 2005. \u00a9The Astrid Lindgren Company\/Ingrid Vang Nyman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jung argues that while the drawings are racist, they are also very exaggerated and therefore can be seen as a caricature of those racist stereotypes (Jung 298). She claims that precisely these illustrations and the exaggerated stereotypical characters in the books destroy the clich\u00e9s again (Jung 298). Furthermore,\u00a0<\/span>she claims that this can be seen as a way to subvert established power structures and to criticize society (Jung 298). Jung\u2019s approach seems excusatory at first glance but also suggests an interesting analysation of the pictures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With Jung\u2019s<\/span> position in mind, I would like to point out another detail in relation to colonialism. When Pippi, Annika and Tommy play with the children from the island, Pippi talks about the schools in Sweden and multiplication (Lindgren, Boken om Pippi L\u00e5ngstrump 126\u2013127). Pippi wants to play school with the children, Annika and Tommy and explains math and multiplication to her new friends (126\u2013127). Without more information, this scene could be understood as a typical colonial situation, where the colonized are educated by the colonizers. The fact that Pippi does not understand anything about math herself and always says \u201cpluttifikation\u201d instead of \u201cmultiplikation\u201d, however, puts the scene in a comical light. The whole \u201cmath lesson\u201d can be seen as a parody of a real colony and the book can thus be read as taking an anti-colonial stance. In other words, this scene could, with Jung\u2019s argumentation,<\/span> also be seen as an undermining and criticism of colonialism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Certain other scenes in Boken om Pippi L\u00e5ngstrump<\/em> would support this point of view. When Pippi, her friends and her father come to Kurrekurre\u00f6n, there are two thrones waiting for them (Lindgren, Boken om Pippi L\u00e5ngstrump 123). The fact that there is a throne puts the scene in a colonial light and Pippi and her father in a colonial context. At first the two behave like „typical“ colonizers when Pippi and her father sit on their thrones. But when Pippi sees that the children of the island are bowing to her, she leaves the throne and wants to play with the children (Lindgren, Boken om Pippi L\u00e5ngstrump 123\u2013124). When the children explain to Pippi that they bow to her because she is a princess, Pippi refuses to sit on the throne any longer and declares that she does not care about the\u00a0 throne and that she is first and foremost Pippi and not a princess (Lindgren, Boken om Pippi L\u00e5ngstrump 125). This statement does not fit into the colonial setting and questions the division into princess and subjects or colonizers and colonized. Pippi\u2019s reaction shows that the book can not simply be assigned a colonial perspective and it sometimes even questions the established power-structures. However, the book always remains dependent on the colonial discourse. <\/span><\/p>\n

As one can see, the topic of colonial and racist structures in Lindgren\u2019s books about Pippi is not easy to summarize. On the one hand there are clearly some features regarding racism and colonialism in the books. On the other hand, the stories of Pippi also contain aspects, which, through irony and exaggeration, question the established stereotypes and the division into the powerful and the powerless. Therefore in certain scenes an anti-colonial attitude can be identified.<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> Because of political correctness the N-word will always be censored.<\/p>\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Primary literature:<\/p>\n

Lindgren, Astrid. Boken om Pippi L\u00e5ngstrump. <\/em>Eboksproduktion Publit 2015.<\/p>\n

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Lindgren, Astrid. Pippi L\u00e5ngstrump<\/em>. Ljungf\u00f6retagen: \u00d6rebro 1969.<\/p>\n

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Secondary literature:<\/p>\n

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Jung, Konstanze. \u201cPippi Langstrumpf <\/em>und der Rassismusdiskurs. \u00dcberlegungen zur Wirkungsgeschichte im interkulturellen Kontext und zu ausgew\u00e4hlten literaturp\u00e4dagogischen Konzepten. \u201d Astrid Lindgren \u2013 Werk und Wirkung. Internationale und interkulturelle Aspekte<\/em>. Edited by Blume, Svenja et al., Peter Lang GmbH 2009, pp. 287\u2013306.<\/p>\n

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Svensk Ordbok. https:\/\/svenska.se\/so\/?id=35562&pz=7 (03.01.2021).<\/p>\n

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Picture 1: https:\/\/www.astridlindgren.com\/de\/figuren\/pippi-langstrumpf<\/p>\n

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Picture 2: Illustration drawn by Ingrid Vang Nyman in Lindgren, Astrid. Pippi f\u00e4hrt nach Taka-Tuka-Land<\/em>. Hamburg 2005.<\/p>\n

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When one thinks of Pippi Longstocking, the first thing that comes to mind is maybe her strength or her cheeky behaviour. What many people probably do not associate with Pippi is racism or colonialism, even though both can be found in the adventures of the young girl.<\/p>\n

Weiterlesen<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":674,"featured_media":2634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,88],"tags":[115,113,114,76],"class_list":{"0":"post-132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blogposts","8":"category-literature","9":"tag-20th-century","10":"tag-childrens-literature","11":"tag-literature","12":"tag-sweden"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/674"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":82,"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3144,"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions\/3144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/skandinavien-postkolonial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}