”Skriv fritt och av hjärtans lust!”

Maktförhållanden och barnboksideal i Astrid Lindgrens verksamhet som förlagsredaktör

• Helene Ehriander Linnéuniversitetet

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74953

Abstract

“Write freely and of your heart’s desire!” Power Relations and the Good Children’s Book in Astrid Lindgren’s Work as an Editor

This article offers insight into Astrid Lindgren’s work as an editor of children’s and young adult literature. Lindgren is famous for her children’s books, but she also worked as editor at Swedish publishing house Rabén & Sjögren during the years 1946–1970. In this position, her views on the good children’s book – written with respect for the young reader and with literary quality – influenced a whole generation of Swedish authors. She also used her position to improve the status of children’s literature as well as the status and working conditions of the authors in the field.

Yet there were obvious power relations affecting the relationship between the publishing house, represented by Astrid Lindgren, the book market, and the authors. This article focuses on these power relations with the correspondence between Astrid Lindgren and the Finland-Swedish author Kai Söderhjelm as an illustrative example. The letters concern Söderhjelm’s manuscripts, which Lindgren commented on and edited, but also the terms for children’s and young adult literature in general. The correspondence clearly reflects the power relations affecting their collaboration and the ideals and interests Lindgren and Söderhjelm shared as well as their disagreements.