The linguistic, visual and multimodal representation of two-Mum and two-Dad families in children’s picturebooks

Sunderland, Jane and Mcglashan, Mark (2012) The linguistic, visual and multimodal representation of two-Mum and two-Dad families in children’s picturebooks. Language and Literature, 21 (2). pp. 189-210. ISSN 0963-9470

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Abstract

Gender representation in children’s literature is an established area of research, and the representation of sexuality increasingly so. Less established, however, is work on sexuality in picturebooks, in particular (a) the representation of gay co-parents, and (b) work with a linguistic or multimodal focus. Using a dataset of 25 picturebooks featuring two-Mum and two-Dad families, and focusing on ‘explicitness’ about their sexuality, we explore differences in the representation of the gay Mums and gay Dads. We look first at the book titles and co-parents’ names, using van Leeuwen’s Social Actor Network (1996, 2008) categories of Nomination and Categorization. Secondly, we look at the indexing of gay sexuality through the linguistic, visual and multimodal representation of physical contact, starting with van Leeuwen’s (2008) Visual Social Actor Network. Although the co-parents’ sexuality was shown in positive and diverse ways, Mums were more frequently constructed than Dads as co-parents, and Dads more frequently constructed than Mums as partners. Gender appears to interact with sexuality to produce these gendered representations of the gay Mums and Dads.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Language and Literature
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/core/keywords/englishlanguageandlinguistics
Subjects:
?? multimodalityrepresentationsocial actorsenglish language and linguisticslinguistics and languagelanguage and linguisticsliterature and literary theorydiscipline-based research ??
ID Code:
52402
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
26 Jan 2012 09:39
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
15 Jul 2024 12:37