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German theologian: Pippi Longstocking is racist
www.thelocal.se ^ | 11/09/2011 | www.thelocal,se

Posted on 11/10/2011 8:05:57 PM PST by WesternCulture

A German theologian has sparked controversy by calling Sweden's beloved Pippi Longstocking children's books racist and demanding additions to prompt parents to skip over or explain certain passages.

Dr. Eske Wollrad from the the Federal Association of Evangelical Women in Germany first made her comments as a speaker at a state conference on anti-discrimination in Leipzig last weekend, stirring debate in the German media.

“It is not that the figure of Pippi Longstocking is racist, but that all three in the trilogy of books have colonial racist stereotypes,” Wollrad told The Local on Tuesday.

The publishers had already changed the original phrase used for her father as king of a South Seas island from Negro King to South Seas King, noted Wollrad, who is advisor for equality and social responsibility at the Protestant women's group.

But other passages in the much-loved books were also problematic, she said.

“The black children throw themselves into the sand in front of the white children in the book,” she said. “When reading the book to my nephew, who is black, I simply left that passage out.”

She said there were many such sensitive areas in the books, which were written by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren in the 1940s.

“I would certainly not condemn the book completely – on the contrary, there are many very positive aspects to the book, as well as being very funny, it is instructive for children as it not only has a strong female character, she is against adultism, grown-ups being in charge, and she is fiercely opposed to violence against animals – there is a very strong critique of authority in the book.”

But Wollrad would like to see additions made in the books to guide readers at such points where the original text was racist. “The question to ask yourself is whether you could read a certain passage out loud to a black child without stopping or stumbling,” she said. “Only then can you say whether it is okay or not.”

Footnotes for such passages could be a helpful aide to those reading the books – either to prompt discussions or to help readers put racist terms into context.

Wollrad said literature for young children was woefully lacking in any characters that are not white – meaning that many white children do not encounter children of other heritage until they start kindergarten – and worse, that non-white children do not find any characters similar to them in pre-school books.

“It simply isn’t helpful if we want to help our children find their place in a multicultural society,” she said.

“A third of children under the age of five in Germany are from a migration background,” she said. “Publishers seem to think it is only white, middle-class women buying these books. We as consumers have to show that this is not good enough.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: germany; leipzig; pc; pippilongstocking; racism; sourcetitlenoturl; sweden; theology
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1 posted on 11/10/2011 8:06:00 PM PST by WesternCulture
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To: WesternCulture

Pippi Longstocking: - Most German Feminist theologians are morons.


2 posted on 11/10/2011 8:07:16 PM PST by WesternCulture
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To: WesternCulture; Gamecock; F15Eagle; ReneeLynn

ELAINE: Who was Pippi Longstocking?

KATY: Pippi Longstocking? (thoughtful) Hmm, I don’t don’t know.

ELAINE: Did she have anything to do with Hitler?

KATY: Hitler? (thinks) Maybe.


3 posted on 11/10/2011 8:09:16 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: WesternCulture

Where’s the “Oh, Geeze, not this shit again.” pic when you need it?


4 posted on 11/10/2011 8:10:10 PM PST by Thane_Banquo
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To: Larry Lucido

“ELAINE: Did she have anything to do with Hitler?”

Sounds like Seinfeld..

A show for homosexual Jews living in NYC.


5 posted on 11/10/2011 8:12:28 PM PST by WesternCulture
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To: WesternCulture

You have got to be kidding me. I read that book when I was younger and practically memorized it.

I am Pippi Longstocking
If you say it fast its funny
Pippi Pippi Longstocking
How I love my funny name.

Not remembering anything offensive or racist.

It truly is a mad, mad, mad, mad world.


6 posted on 11/10/2011 8:18:04 PM PST by Cowgirl of Justice
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To: Thane_Banquo
Would this be the one you are looking for.....

Aw Jeez

And to those morons that actually agree witht he author of this article......

STFU

7 posted on 11/10/2011 8:18:14 PM PST by verga (I am not an apologist, I just play one on television.)
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To: Thane_Banquo

“Where’s the “Oh, Geeze, not this shit again.” pic when you need it?”

- You really have a low esteem of the nature of European cultural and intellectual debate of today, don’t you?

In fact, we invented Mona Lisa, the automobile, the locomotive and hard Techno music.


8 posted on 11/10/2011 8:18:57 PM PST by WesternCulture
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To: WesternCulture

“she is against adultism, grown-ups being in charge”

Uh, there’s something wrong with grown-ups being in charge now?

“and she is fiercely opposed to violence against animals”

Shaddup and eat your schweinshaxe, you kook.


9 posted on 11/10/2011 8:20:19 PM PST by DemforBush (Send lawyers, guns, and money. Dad get me out of this!)
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To: WesternCulture

They’d find something wrong with the ingredients listed on a box of Cheerios.


10 posted on 11/10/2011 8:22:36 PM PST by SkyDancer ('If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate ")
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To: WesternCulture
she is against adultism, grown-ups being in charge

Sounds as if Pippi is probably now demonstrating with OWS.

11 posted on 11/10/2011 8:23:27 PM PST by hellbender
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To: WesternCulture
I am constantly intrigued by the way some human beings feels they have to control everything. Pippi Longstocking was one of my favorite characters growing up, as was the case with many of the people I went to school with. This was around 1st through 2nd grade (standard 1 and 2), and in Kenya. Thus, if a bunch of African kids would get to love Pippi then it is a little weird for me to read of some older European woman saying how 'harmful' the books are. Actually, the only authors more popular than Astrid Lindgren (the writer of the series) when I was in first grade were Enid Blyton (author of the Famous Five, Secret Seven, Mr Twiddle and a lot of other popular books for children), and Willard Price (author of the Adventure series about two brothers, Hal and Roger, who would go around capturing wild animals for zoos in all these exotic locales). Anyways, Pippi, her horse, her monkey, her house, and her friends were always popular when I was young, and may still be popular now (although sadly most of the younger generation use the internet more than they read books).

Oh, another popular series in Kenya was the Three Golliwogs. I believe that is another book that was 'harmful' to our young minds as well. Oh, and Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby used to make us laugh.

Anyways, as I mentioned I am always surprised when some people feel they need to 'protect' others from 'harmful' influences. Just because Pippi's father was 'king of the negroes' didn't make us feel bad or weak or anything. It was just a simple (but good) story.

Thanks for posting this thread W.Culture. Brought a lot of good memories back. Always wanted to name my house Villa Villekula. :) Thanks.

12 posted on 11/10/2011 8:23:33 PM PST by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: DemforBush

“A third of children under the age of five in Germany are from a migration background,”

Germany is screwed.


13 posted on 11/10/2011 8:24:17 PM PST by ibytoohi
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To: WesternCulture

Clearly that monkey is racist!


14 posted on 11/10/2011 8:25:02 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius.)
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To: WesternCulture
“A third of children under the age of five in Germany are from a migration background,”

That means that in only a generation, no one will be able to get a bailout from Germany any more. The place is doomed.

15 posted on 11/10/2011 8:25:23 PM PST by hellbender
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To: WesternCulture

Why don’t they forget the references to the Pippi story and just come out and just say what mean to say and that is that the rotten people of European extraction are the only true racists.


16 posted on 11/10/2011 8:28:42 PM PST by oyez
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To: DemforBush

It’s the second time today I’ve seen that word.

http://www.hopeworks.org/mentoring/adultism-what-is-it-and-how-do-we-avoid-it/


17 posted on 11/10/2011 8:30:15 PM PST by scrabblehack
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To: verga
And don't forget the well deserved............


18 posted on 11/10/2011 8:31:58 PM PST by ChildOfThe60s ( If you can remember the 60s....you weren't really there)
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To: Cowgirl of Justice
“If you say it fast its funny”

- In an episode of “Dallas” (featuring a cattle auction or whatever it is called) there is this guy speaking English really fast.

But in general, Americans speak slower than Europeans.

I like true Americans (otherwise I wouldn't be posting here), but Brits display a way more impressive vocabulary range.

Sweden is a country where many speak decent English and also good German, French and often some Spanish and Italian on top of it as well.

Si, Io sono proprio un maestro della lingua italiana. Veramente!

In Sweden, the average IQ is way over 110. In most nations on this planet it is probably 76 or something like that.

19 posted on 11/10/2011 8:32:26 PM PST by WesternCulture
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To: spetznaz

“Thanks for posting this thread W.Culture.”

- I read your post with interest, fellow freeper.

Sincere thanks for your response.


20 posted on 11/10/2011 8:35:39 PM PST by WesternCulture
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