A Multimodal Approach to Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Picture Books

Description

This collection offers a thorough treatment of the ways in which the verbal and visual semiotic modes interrelate toward promoting gender equality and social inclusion in children’s picture books. Drawing on cutting-edge theoretical work in multimodality, including multimodal cognitive linguistics, multimodal discourse analysis, and visual social semiotics, the book expands on descriptive-oriented studies to offer a more linguistically driven perspective on children’s picture books. The volume explores the choice afforded to and the lexico-semantic and discursive strategies employed by writers and illustrators in conveying representational, interpersonal, and textual meanings in the verbal and non-verbal components in these narratives in order to challenge gender stereotypes and promote the social inclusion of same-sex parent families. This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars in multimodality, discourse analysis, social semiotics, and children’s literature. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Figures Tables Contributors Acknowledgements 1 Picture Books, Gender and Multimodality: An Introduction Scope and Aims of the Book Picture Books, Multimodality and Gender Theoretical Frameworks Structure of the Book Part I: Stories Portraying Boys Who Challenge Gender Stereotypes Part II: Picture Books Featuring Princesses and Girls Who Do Not Conform to Female Gender Stereotypes Part III: Visual Narratives Portraying and Challenging the Concept of Traditional Family Note References Part I Stories Portraying Boys Who Challenge Gender Stereotypes 2 Julián Is a Mermaid. Challenging Gender Stereotypes: A Qualitative Multimodal Content Analysis Introduction Theoretical Approach A Social Semiotic Approach to Multimodality Gender and Queer Theory Methods Analytical Tool Description of Picture Book Analysis Researcher Positionality Findings and Discussion Theme 1: Inconsistent Representations of Gender Identity and Expression Theme 2: Traditionally Feminine Context in the Story World Information Zones Point of View Theme 4: Modality Promotes Message of Acceptance Contextualisation Brightness and Colour Saturation Conclusion References 3 Ideational Construal of Male Challenging Gender Identities in Children’s Picture Books Introduction Theoretical Framework Gender Identity as Being: Direct Definition of Characters Gender Identity and the Grammar of Experience: Indirect Presentation of Characters Gender Identity as Comparison and Contrast Analysis Contrast in the Construal of Oliver’s Gender Identity: Oliver vs ‘The Boys’ Contrastive Relations in Ballerino Nate: Challenging Gender Stereotyping in Brotherhood The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Pirate: Modelling Male Gender Stereotype Discussion and Conclusion Notes References 4 At the Heart of It: Once There Was a Boy Introduction Theoretical Approach Picture Books as Multimodal Artefacts Local and National Constructions of Identity Through the Portal of the Picture Book Picture Books as the Contact Zone Verbal and Visual Processes of Meaning The Analysis The Heart of the Boy Is at the Heart of It Dismantling the “Hero”: Rebuilding the Heart Conclusion: The Power of Story References 5 Gender Assumptions in Picture Books about Boys in Dresses Introduction Being Transgender and the Innocence of Books for Children Contextual Transgenderism Dresses and Imagination Representing Being Transgender With Gender Stereotypes Boy in Dresses and Animals in Clothes What Girls and Boys Wear and Do Gendered Visual Codes Conclusion Note References Part II Picture Books Featuring Princesses and Girls Who Do Not Conform to Female Gender Stereotypes 6 Queering the Princess: On Feminine Subjectivities and Becoming Girl in Contemporary Picture Books Introduction Theoretical Background Analysis: The Representation of Female Agency Sample Texts Methodology Analysis of Pirate Princess Analysis of The Princess Knight Discussion Conclusion Note References 7 A Clever Paper Bag Princess, a Fearless Worst Princess and an Empowered Little Red: A Critical Multimodal Analysis Introduction Theoretical Background Ideational Meanings Interpersonal Meanings Analysis The Paper Bag Princess The Worst Princess Little Red Conclusion Notes References 8 A Semiotic and Multimodal Analysis of Interactive Relations in Picture Books That Challenge Female Gender Stereotypes Introduction Theoretical Approach Analysis Discussion Conclusion Note References 9 Communicative Functions of Part-Whole Representations of Characters in Picture Books That Challenge Gender Stereotypes Introduction Literature Review: Approaches to Visual Metonymy A Multimodal Social-Semiotic Approach to Metonymy Metonymy From a Cognitive Perspective The Analysis of Metonymic Character Representations Sample Texts Methodology Metonymic Representations in the Picture Books Featuring Female Characters Metonymies in Picture Books Portraying Boys Association Between Character Representations and the Two Types of Picture Books Conclusion and Discussion References Part III Visual Narratives Portraying and Challenging the Concept of Traditional Family 10 Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Picture Books: A Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis Introduction Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Literature SF-MDA Approach to Gender Stereotypes in Picture Books Selected Multimodal Systems Multimodal Analysis Image Software The Data Analysis and Discussion Busy Mother/Busy Father Books Daddies Book/Mommies Book Multimodal Patterns Conclusion and Limitations Notes References 11 Linguistic and Visual Trends in the Representation of Two-Mum and Two-Dad Couples in Children’s Picture Books Introduction Same-Sex Parent Family Picture Books: Trends in Publication Analysing Linguistic and Visual Trends in Picture Books Trends in Picture Books Featuring Two-Mum and Two-Dad Families Collustration Conclusion Notes References 12 The Depiction of Family and Self in Children’s Picture Books: A Corpus-Driven Exploration Introduction Description of the Corpus Awarded Books Subcorpus [AWS] Non-awarded Books [NAWS] Books From the AMULIT Corpus [AMS] Method of Analysis Results Depiction of People Within and Outside the Family of the Main Protagonist Child Depictions of Diversity in the Environment of Main Protagonist Child Depiction of Positive and Negative Physical Contact at Least Once Locations of Depicted Events Depicted Or Suggested Activities By the Protagonist Child and Others in the Family Depiction of Real/Imagined/Toy Animals Other Issues Worth Further Consideration Virtually All of the Books Depict “Windows” Mirrors Demand Looks Are Relatively Rare Foregrounded Elements in the Written Text Pervasiveness of the Journey Metaphor Creative Pictorial/Visual Metaphor Intratextual Visual Cohesion Visual Intertextuality Colour Slowing Down Actions First Person and External Narration Limitations of Our Exploratory Analysis Conclusion Acknowledgements References 13 The Moomin Family: An Elastic Permeable Multi-Dimensional Construct in Semiotic and Social Space Introduction The Family as an Institution The Moomin Family The Moomin Corpus: A Selective Sample Composition of the Moomin Corpus Some Basic Counts Characters in the Moomin Corpus Family and Friends Overview of Interaction Among Characters Moominmamma and Moominpappa Moominmamma and Moomin Moomin and His Friends “Outsiders” Included in and Welcomed to the Family Overcoming Fear and Loneliness The World of the Moominvalley Conclusion Notes References Index