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Mellan himmel och vardag: Teologiska och existentiella uttryck i bilderböcker om döden för barn i förskoleåldern
Dalarna University, School of Culture and Society.
2025 (Swedish)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

This study examines how death is portrayed in three Swedish picture books for children aged 3-6: Adjö, herr Muffin (2002), Min syster ä ren ängel (1996), and Farfar är dum för han är död (2022). Using a narrative and text-centered approach, the analysis explores how existential and theological themes are expressed through text and image. The focus lies on questions concerning relationships, meaning, the afterlife, and conceptions of the divine. The study shows that the picture book functions as an existential arena in which children are given the opportunity to process loss through language, symbolism, and recognition. The results indicate that the selected Swedish picture books approach death in multifaced ways, where religious motifs are integrated as cultural and poetic resources rather than as doctrinal expressions. In this way, children´s literature contributes to meaning making in the face of death and offers a conversational space where both secular and spiritual perspectives can coexist. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025.
Keywords [en]
Picture books, children´s literature, death in literature, theological themes, existential questions, children and grief, postsecularism, spirituality, rituals, religious symbols
National Category
Religious Studies General Literature Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:du-50975OAI: oai:DiVA.org:du-50975DiVA, id: diva2:1986638
Subject / course
Religious Studies
Available from: 2025-08-01 Created: 2025-08-01 Last updated: 2025-10-09

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

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Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • chicago-author-date
  • chicago-note-bibliography
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf