Children’s Literature and Old Norse Medievalism
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Arc Humanities Press
Published:30th Sep '23
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This book explores the ways in which contemporary authors respond to and rework key aspects of Old Norse history and viking culture for young twenty-first-century audiences. Why are contemporary authors and audiences so manifestly attracted to the viking past? In what ways do writers respond to Norse sources? How do the narratives they tell reflect our beliefs about and desires for the past, our constructions of childhood and adolescence, our anxieties around gender, sexuality, and ethnicity? How do these texts engage with a future occluded by apocalyptic ecological threat? David Clark explores these questions through readings of a rich body of diverse material which retells, updates, and transforms Norse culture. The volume contextualizes Norse medievalism and explores how thematic foci on gender, sexuality, disability, and ethnicity relate to contemporary concerns around these topics, and the construction of childhood.
David Clark’s study of the transformation of Norse mythology in children’s fantasy is a valuable and eminently readable introduction to an expansive topic. Clark ex- plores the methods used by numerous authors to make medieval material relevant to contemporary readers, and examines what this act of reworking says about our relationship with the past. The author unpicks the roles that Norse history and culture play in identity formation for modern readers, paying particular attention to authors’ use of mythic figures such as Thor, Odin and Loki as individuals for young readers to emulate or reject in the process of developing their autonomy and agency.[...]
One of the greatest strengths of this study is its accessibility and interactivity. Clark aims for a ‘dialogic (rather than dialectic) approach’ (p. 16), which he achieves through a non-traditional academic writing style and structure. He pri- oritises primary textual analysis while providing light-touch introductions to core research through references to Open Access material in the footnotes, encouraging discussion with scholars regardless of affiliation with academic institutions. The book dispenses with the linear constraints of a traditional monograph, advocating for a more dynamic reading method. Clark writes mostly in short chapters with regular subheadings and cross-references in the footnotes to allow readers to find the most valuable information. With a writing style that is both eminently helpful for neurodivergent readers and refreshingly honest, Clark permits the reader to skip introductory material that may be familiar to them, to ‘ignor[e] whatever is not of interest without guilt’ (p. 15), and signposts aspects that they may want to return to in time.[...]
Clark’s stimulating critical discussions, especially on the topics of gender and sexuality, are well-timed considering the wider political landscape, which restrictively foregrounds childhood and children’s literature in debates around propriety and censorship. In offering readers a wide-ranging survey of often overlooked sources, Children’s Literature and Old Norse Medievalisms will act as a strong foundation for future researchers engaging in medievalism and children’s literature.
-- Kit Richards * Saga-Book 39 (2025): 152-ISBN: 9781641894944
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
208 pages
New edition