Dagens Rødhette i en flerkulturell kontekst – mulighet for en ny identitet?

Abstract

The starting point for this article is the tendency in recent Norwegian children’s and Ya fiction to thematize cultural encounters in an increasingly multicultural and globalized world. The picturebook Little Miss Eye Flap (Skylappjenta, 2009) written by the Pakistani-Norwegian author and actor Iram Haq and illustrated by Endre Skandfer, presents a modern version of traditional folktales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel. However, the traditional structure of home – away – home gives particular emphasis to the phase of homelessness, not providing any safe return to harmony. This condition of liminal space between cultures is discussed in light of the concepts of reflexive identity (Anthony Giddens), cultural identity (Stuart Hall) and hybridity (Homi K. Bhabha). Written by an author who herself comes from a multicultural background, and who presents the book as partly autobiographical, Little Miss Eye Flap offers a double perspective on questions of cultural identity, including critical views on Norwegian as well as Pakistani tradition. The book ends by showing Miss Eyeflaps in a big open space, where it is more certain what she leaves behind than what the future will bring. The open ending and the focalization of the girl with the multicultural background opens up to a discursive space where new hybrid identities may be explored.