Abstract
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (1906–1907) by Selma Lagerlöf and Scouting for Boys (1908) by Robert Baden-Powell are characteristic of their time and their respective national and cultural contexts—the Swedish nation state of the early twentieth century and the British Empire. Taking its cue from recent theories on citizenship and education, the article discusses ways in which these two classic children’s books relate to citizenship, nation and education. Ultimately, both books point to ways in which education—in and out of school—can be used to promote individual growth and a peaceful and durable society for world citizens.
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Notes
In this article I will use The Wonderful Adventures of Nils as a collective appellation for the two books about Nils. The work was originally conceived of as a whole; both as a school reader and in homes the two books have been read as one. When a distinction has to be made, I will refer to book I and book II, respectively. In the case of Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship Through Woodcraft I will use the accepted short form, Scouting for Boys.
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Björn Sundmark is Associate Professor of English in the Department of Culture, Languages and Media at Malmö University, Sweden. Teaching includes the course “Children’s Literature in a Global Perspective.” Research is mainly oriented towards children’s literature and literary fairy tales. Publications include Alice in the Oral-Literary Continuum, “Yeats and the Fairy Tale” and “Hockey Fictions.”
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Sundmark, B. Citizenship and Children’s Identity in The Wonderful Adventures of Nils and Scouting for Boys . Child Lit Educ 40, 109–119 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-008-9081-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-008-9081-9