The Not-Quite Child: Colonial Histories, Racialization, and Swedish Exceptionalism (New Directions in Scandinavian Studies) - Softcover

Roos, Liina-Ly

Softcover

ISBN 10: 029575382X ISBN 13: 9780295753829

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 2025

Synopsis

Examines Swedish depictions of childhood that expose the country's colonial past and racial hierarchies Figures like Pippi Longstocking and Greta Thunberg exemplify an ideal mainstream Swedish childhood: they are autonomous, competent, and the voices of moral truths. In this innovative work, Liina-Ly Roos analyzes the figure of the “not-quite child”—children who, while appearing white, have been marginalized due to historical racialization and colonialism—to challenge this established ideal. Through analyses of films and literature that portray Indigenous Sámi, Tornedalian, and Finnish-speaking children, The Not-Quite Child reveals how these figures disrupt the normative understanding of growing up in Sweden. These cultural texts are filled with tensions of assimilation, invisibility, and the struggle to grow in a society that demands conformity to a specific “Swedishness.” The children in these stories are both minoritized and, at the same time, have the privilege of passing, and share a long cultural history with and within the dominant culture. Through nuanced attention to these important narratives, The Not-Quite Child contributes to dialogue on the complexities of identity, race, and the hidden colonial legacies that continue to shape understandings of childhood in Sweden.

About this title

About the Authors

Liina-Ly Roos is assistant professor in Scandinavian studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Andrew Nestingen is series editor for the New Directions in Scandinavian Studies series. He is professor and department chair of Scandinavian studies at University of Washington. He is the author of The Cinema of Aki Kaurismäki (Columbia, 2013) and Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia: Fiction, Film, and Social Change (Washington, 2008).

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 029575382X
• ISBN 13: 9780295753829
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 184