02/07/2020 10:00 Room 1 #narsls
Humans live in a world full of narratives. They
concern and affect us not only in textual forms, but also in terms of our
identity. Who we are and what we make of life, is constructed in the form of
narratives that we tell ourselves and others. My research project takes an
ecocritical approach to Norwegian comics for children and young adults to
investigate how fiction functions as a medium for the education of young
readers regarding what it means to be an environmentally responsible citizen. I
combine an econarratological approach, which is a direction in the field of
ecocriticism that pays special attention to narratological questions, with
concepts of environmental citizenship as developed in political sciences to
find out more about how various forms of citizenship are being narrated in
relation to environmental aspects. Using the popular comics character Nemi, I
will discuss different takes on the human-nature relationship and how the comic
strips comment on social and environmental situations today. Nemi’s
unconventional approach to life and society offers new perspectives on some of
everyday life’s problems. Her sarcastic character is attentive of the beauty in
small things. This is especially interesting when we look at what Nemi can
teach us about what is generally valued and what is often neglected in our
society.
Biography
Berit Huntebrinker studied Comparative Literature, Nordic and Latin American Studies in Frankfurt am Main and Bergen from 2009 to 2016. Since August 2019, she has been a PhD Research Fellow at the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway. Her PhD project examines concepts of environmental citizenship in Norwegian picturebooks and comics for children and young adults. She has given several lectures about the topic of literature and the Anthropocene at conferences in Bonn (2018) and Vienna (2019).
