Graphic World of Children | International Symposium

Graphic World of children International symposium

June 6th - 8th 2022

Rhetoric, Department of communication and media

Organiser: Dr Lisa Källström

Ever since there have been books and playthings aimed at children, pictures but also the combination of text and pictures have played a significant role. The multimodal character of print media and other objects in the child’s surrounding has gained momentum with the development of new printing techniques and the application of other materials for the use by children’s hands. Owing to the surge of material studies, children’s literature scholars show an increasing interest in the material aspects of children’s media on the one hand and the interactions stimulated by the different material qualities on the other hand. However, this field is still in its early stage, with a focus on materiality in picturebooks, while other print media are hardly explored yet, let alone ephemeral products addressed to children, such as magazines, fanzines, coloring books, and advertising books. Pictures or picture-text combination even occur on games, dishes, clothes, and other everyday objects for children. These media and objects are seminal parts of children’s everyday world, thus establishing a separate children’s culture.

The symposium aims at bringing together scholars interested in all kinds of graphic aiming for children. The conference’s specific concerns include, but are not limited to, picture books, illustrated books, comics, and magazines for children. It also examines ephemeral products, for instance, advertisements and posters or graphic art on clothes, dishes, and toys. Focus is the interaction of the child readers with these variegated graphic art forms and products.

Contact
Dr. Lisa Källström, senior lecturer in Rhetoric at the Department of Communication and Media
lisa.kallstrom@kom.lu.se