Trädet stod och tänkte : En bilderboksanalys av Viveca Sjögrens vi blåste bort ibland med stöd av ekokritiken

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to do a picture book analysis of Viveca Sjögrens vi blåste bort ibland (2013), focusing on the tree, and to deepen the analysis assume an ecocritical perspective. The questions I asked were; how is the tree portrayed? What does the relationship between the characters and the tree look like - whether it is celebratory or problematizing towards nature and whether the characters express an anthropocentric or ecocentric towards the tree? Finally, what function does the tree have for the intrigue as a whole? To perform the picture book analysis, I primarily make use of Maria Nikolajeva’s Bilderbokens pusselbitar (2000) (The puzzle pieces of the picture book) and as a theoretical analysis tool I use the NatCul matrix developed by the research group NaChiLitCul. As a result, I find that the tree is central to the story and holds a centered position in the pictures. In the verbal text, the tree is shaped with anthropomorphic features, which is in contrast to the figure in the picture. Although there are elements of both a problematization of nature and an ecocentric approach, I nevertheless note that the characters' relationship to the tree aligns closer to the upper left part of the NatCul matrix – towards a celebration of nature and an anthropocentric horizon. The tree turns out to have several functions for the action as a whole; as an indicator time and as a signpost showing the way – but also the function of being just a tree in the material way of trees.