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SUMMARY:From abecedaria to ABC. The history of the illustrated alphabet - 
 Elina Druker (Stockholm University\, Sweden)
DTSTART:20111109T170000Z
DTEND:20111109T190000Z
UID:TALK31970@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Ewa Illakowicz
DESCRIPTION:In Chris Van Allsburg’s ABC-book The Z Was Zapped each lette
 r of the alphabet is undergoing a strange transformation. One by one\, the
  letters are cut to slices\, bitten\, drowned or zapped by a lightning. Al
 though didactic by definition\, this postmodern ABC-book draws attention t
 o ideas about knowledge and language\, and furthermore\, to the verbal cha
 racter's different levels of meaning. Discussing examples from both the ea
 rly 19th century as well as contemporary ABC-books\, I suggest that the co
 ncept of alphabet books has changed from a model\, in which language is a 
 way to convey knowledge and standards\, to a more performative and deconst
 ructive model\, in which language is considered an arbitrary system in con
 structing reality. The development manifests a lack of faith in a traditio
 nal\, didactic presentation of the world\, and expresses thus\, both motif
 -wise\, aesthetically and ideologically\, a change in the perception of ch
 ildren’s literature. \n\nElina Druker is lecturer at the Department of L
 iterature at Stockholm University and currently working on a post-doctorat
 e project on Swedish picturebook modernism. She is a co-editor for the com
 ing Swedish Children’s Literature History and a jury member in The Astri
 d Lindgren Memorial Award. Her research interests include picturebook theo
 ry\, history of book illustration and intermedia studies.\n
LOCATION:Faculty of Education\, 184 Hills Road\, Cambridge CB2 8PQ\, room 
 GS4
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