Undogmatic Re(ve)lations
Theme: Dog The Swedish illustrator and author Eva Lindström is an explorer of relationships – between human beings, animals, and the outside world. Her relational storyworld is inhabited by a host of humans and animals and things. No essential difference can be seen in her work between human an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Danish |
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Svenska Barnboksinstitutet
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Barnboken: Tidskrift för Barnlitteraturforskning |
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| Online Access: | https://barnboken.net/index.php/clr/article/view/945 |
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| author | Björn Sundmark |
| author_facet | Björn Sundmark |
| author_sort | Björn Sundmark |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Theme: Dog
The Swedish illustrator and author Eva Lindström is an explorer of relationships – between human beings, animals, and the outside world. Her relational storyworld is inhabited by a host of humans and animals and things. No essential difference can be seen in her work between human and animal characters in terms of agency and subjectivity, yet the animal-human nexus allows Lindström to explore relational themes in depth and with great economy. The theoretical framing of my reading of two of her picturebooks – Musse (My Dog Mouse, 2016) and Lunds hund (Lund’s dog, 2013) – derives from Martin Buber’s classic work of relational theology, I and Thou (1923), and from a few passages in Jacques Derrida’s foundational work in Animal studies, The Animal That Therefore I Am (1997). These seminal works in Animal studies are, furthermore, discussed and nuanced with the help of John Berger’s and Donna Haraway’s contributions to the field. My thesis is that Lindström’s visual representations offer a complement and posthumanist corrective to Buber’s and Derrida’s fundamentally human-centered systems of thought. The pictures – as well as the sparse, precise words – decenter the human and focus on animal-human relationships. In so doing, Lindström peels away “the crust of thinghood,” to use Buber’s term. Finally, the animal-human gaze is essential to my discussion; the way in which Lindström’s characters (human and animal) look (or avoid looking) at each other is revelatory. And while the human and animal gaze for both Buber and Derrida is a sign of human power and indicative of self-recognition/revelation, the direction and meaning of the gaze in Lindström’s art also points towards the reciprocity of common creaturehood.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-303f38779b704db18f36be8fb5b7c1e3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0347-772X 2000-4389 |
| language | Danish |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Svenska Barnboksinstitutet |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Barnboken: Tidskrift för Barnlitteraturforskning |
| spelling | doaj-art-303f38779b704db18f36be8fb5b7c1e32025-08-20T03:44:08ZdanSvenska BarnboksinstitutetBarnboken: Tidskrift för Barnlitteraturforskning0347-772X2000-43892025-03-014810.14811/clr.v48.945Undogmatic Re(ve)lations Björn Sundmark Theme: Dog The Swedish illustrator and author Eva Lindström is an explorer of relationships – between human beings, animals, and the outside world. Her relational storyworld is inhabited by a host of humans and animals and things. No essential difference can be seen in her work between human and animal characters in terms of agency and subjectivity, yet the animal-human nexus allows Lindström to explore relational themes in depth and with great economy. The theoretical framing of my reading of two of her picturebooks – Musse (My Dog Mouse, 2016) and Lunds hund (Lund’s dog, 2013) – derives from Martin Buber’s classic work of relational theology, I and Thou (1923), and from a few passages in Jacques Derrida’s foundational work in Animal studies, The Animal That Therefore I Am (1997). These seminal works in Animal studies are, furthermore, discussed and nuanced with the help of John Berger’s and Donna Haraway’s contributions to the field. My thesis is that Lindström’s visual representations offer a complement and posthumanist corrective to Buber’s and Derrida’s fundamentally human-centered systems of thought. The pictures – as well as the sparse, precise words – decenter the human and focus on animal-human relationships. In so doing, Lindström peels away “the crust of thinghood,” to use Buber’s term. Finally, the animal-human gaze is essential to my discussion; the way in which Lindström’s characters (human and animal) look (or avoid looking) at each other is revelatory. And while the human and animal gaze for both Buber and Derrida is a sign of human power and indicative of self-recognition/revelation, the direction and meaning of the gaze in Lindström’s art also points towards the reciprocity of common creaturehood. https://barnboken.net/index.php/clr/article/view/945Eva LindströmpicturebooksMartin BuberJacques DerridaJohn BergerDonna Haraway, |
| spellingShingle | Björn Sundmark Undogmatic Re(ve)lations Barnboken: Tidskrift för Barnlitteraturforskning Eva Lindström picturebooks Martin Buber Jacques Derrida John Berger Donna Haraway, |
| title | Undogmatic Re(ve)lations |
| title_full | Undogmatic Re(ve)lations |
| title_fullStr | Undogmatic Re(ve)lations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Undogmatic Re(ve)lations |
| title_short | Undogmatic Re(ve)lations |
| title_sort | undogmatic re ve lations |
| topic | Eva Lindström picturebooks Martin Buber Jacques Derrida John Berger Donna Haraway, |
| url | https://barnboken.net/index.php/clr/article/view/945 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bjornsundmark undogmaticrevelations |