I elementenes favn

Fremstillinger av havet i 70-tallets norske barnelitteratur

Abstract

This article will contribute to the field of critical ocean studies by reviewing how Norwegian children's literature portrays the ocean during a period when its traditional use was being transformed. The selection is limited to the period 1945–89, with a main focus on the 1970s, when industrial fishing was well established and oil activities had commenced, while discussions on the law of the sea also included eco-critical considerations. This period coincides with a significant growth in Norwegian children's book production. 

The article presents a digital analysis of children's literature perspectives with regard to sea depictions and a qualitative analysis of two examples that emerge from the digital material, Alf Kvasbø's Storm (1973) and Arvid Hanssen's Kaldt hav (Cold Ocean 1978). The analytical perspectives are drawn partly from the blue humanities (cf. Johnson & Braverman 2020, Müller 2024, Krefting & Paulsen 2025), and partly from literary studies, with an emphasis on the Robinsonade. 

The article's ambition is to contribute to the development of blue humanities by tracing maritime thinking in children's literature, which so far has mainly been subjected to a terrestrial research perspective.