Moomin, how will it go on?

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Moomin, how will it go on? A book with Mymla, Moomin and little My (original title: Hur gick det sen? Boken om Mymlan, Moomintrollet och lilla My ), also called Moomin sucht die Kleine Mü , is the first picture book by the Finnish-Swedish writer Tove Jansson . It takes place in the fictional world invented by Jansson Moomin . The book was published in 1952 and set standards in picture book art thanks to its innovative design. Tove Jansson received the Nils Holgersson badge for this in 1953 .

layout

The illustrations consist mainly of clear, monochrome areas in black, white and gray and a maximum of two or three other colors. Many pages are designed in bright, high-contrast colors such as blue and red or purple and orange. In some pictures Tove Jansson drew details in the style of the ink drawings typical of her novel illustration.

The calligraphic text is part of the images. Due to their different size and shape, the letters reflect the size of the figures, moods, volume and movement.

Different shaped holes are punched in each side, which allow a view of a section of the next page. They give an outlook on what will happen next. The text also invites speculation, as each page ends with the verse: “Moomin, how will it go on?” However, the image sections shown through the punched holes are often deliberately misleading.

Moomin, how will it go on? set standards in both modern picture book art and graphic art in general. The then new idea of ​​peepholes was taken up in many later picture books. Another new idea by Jansson, which has since established itself in picture books, was the inclusion of all book pages including title, intent and bibliographical information in the design concept. On one page, children are asked to help design the book by adding a missing illustration themselves.

Plot and narrative

The book, written in verse, tells the story of Moomin, who strays on the way back from shopping, gets lost and finally finds his way back home. The adventures that Moomin experiences on the way are episodically strung together. They merge into one another, but are not always in a logical sequence:

The Moomin mother sent Moomin to buy milk. He's on his way back home with the milk can full. He meets Mymla, who has lost her sister, little My. Together they go looking for her. In the process, they meet other beings who are known from the Moomin world: First, a gafsa scares them, and they get into a dark cave. There they are accidentally sucked up by a Hemul with a vacuum cleaner, from which she frees little My again. While escaping from the vacuum cleaner, they inadvertently frighten a Filifjonka so much that she escapes from her house and loses her dress in the process. Moomin, the Mymla and My enter a tree house, but discover that it is inhabited by tea-drinking electric Hatifnatten. They quickly leave the house through the back entrance. Outside they get caught in a downpour. When the storm clears, they recognize the Moomin mother from a distance, who welcomes them at home. Although the milk has turned sour in the meantime, everyone is celebrating Moomin's return together.

The focus of the story is on the storytelling itself, not the course of the plot. The book itself is the subject of the book, for example an illustration at the beginning showing the publisher cutting holes in the book with scissors and thus mixing reality with the plot of the book. In the course of the story, too, there is no doubt that these are characters in a book: Filifjonka tears out of her book page in shock and flees to the next page. Finally, the characters consider leaving the book through a small hole, but realize that even little My would not fit through. This makes the book a space in which the characters live.

Figures and themes

The main character of the story is Moomin, accompanied by Mymla and little My (known from other Moomin books as "little Mü"). Other characters in the book - a Gafsa, a Hemul, a Filifjonka and the Hatifnatten - are known from the Moomin novels. Their background is not explained in the picture book and is therefore either assumed to be known or considered immaterial. The Moominmother appears only on the last pages, but is still present throughout the story. She is the reason for Moomin's trip; and the milk can, which stands for Moomin's fulfilled mission, can be seen in every picture. When Moomin and Mymla get lost in the cave, Moomin thinks of his mother. His biggest worry is that he might never see her again.

The central themes of the picture book are separation from the family, searching and finding again and overcoming external dangers. In the reunion with the caring Moomin mother, the story finds a happy ending, which is typical of the early Moomin books.

The journey through unknown, dangerous terrain is a recurring theme in the Moomin books. It already played a central role in the novels Moomin's long journey and Comet in Moomin Valley .

Awards

Tove Jansson received for Moomin, what's next? 1953 the Nils Holgersson plaque , which was awarded for the fourth time that year. It was Jansson's first literary prize.

Publication history

Moomin, how will it go on? was translated into Finnish in the year of its publication. It brought Jansson the breakthrough in her home country Finland, where she was little known outside of the Swedish-speaking minority. Despite his artistic importance, his sales success and the prestigious literary award, Moomin, how will it go on? Not translated into German for a long time. The first German translation appeared in 2003 in a verse poetry by Samar Lennart, Michael Strehle and Claire Singer by leiv Verlag. In 2017 another new translation by Birgitta Kicherer was published by Arena Verlag under the title Mumin sucht die Kleine Mü .

Adaptations

Under the title Hur gick det sen? An eleven-minute animated film was released in 1993 , produced by the Swedish Film Institute under the direction of Jaromir Wesely . The narrator is Tove Jansson himself, from whom an older sound recording was made. The music was composed by Erna Tauro .

An “interactive picture book” appeared as an app for iOS and Windows .

literature

  • Elina Druker: Picture Book as Conceptual Space. Spatial Transformation in Tove Jansson 'Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My. In: Lance Weldy (Ed.): Crossing Textual Boundaries in International Children's Literature. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne 2011, ISBN 978-1-4438-2679-2 , pp. 298-221.
  • Tuula Karjalainen: Tove Jansson. The biography. From the Finnish by Anke Michler-Janhunen and Regine Pirschel. Urachhaus, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-8251-7900-7 , pp. 213-215.
  • Lena Kåreland, Barbro works master: Livsvandring i tre akter. In analyzes of Tove Jansson's picture book Hur gick det sen ?, Vem ska trösta knyttet ?, Den farliga resan. Hjelm, Uppsala 1994, ISBN 978-9-1879-2253-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Elina Druker: Picture Book as Conceptual Space. Spatial Transformation in Tove Jansson 'Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My. In: Lance Weldy (Ed.): Crossing Textual Boundaries in International Children's Literature. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne 2011, ISBN 978-1-4438-2679-2 , pp. 298-221.
  2. ^ A b c Kimberley Reynolds: Radical Children's Literature. Future Visions and Aesthetic Transformations in Juvenile Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke / New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-2302-3937-1 , pp. 35-37.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Tuula Karjalainen: Tove Jansson. The biography. From the Finnish by Anke Michler-Janhunen and Regine Pirschel. Urachhaus, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-8251-7900-7 , pp. 213-215.
  4. ^ A b c Mareike Jendis: Moomin's miraculous adventure in Germany. To the reception of Tove Janson's Moomin books. Dissertation 2001, p. 53.
  5. ^ Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić: The Anatomy of Design. Uncovering the Influences and Inspirations in Modern Graphic Design. Rockport, Beverly, Massachusetts 2011, ISBN 978-1-5925-3212-4 , pp. 38-39.
  6. ↑ List of award winners on the website of the Swedish Library Association, accessed on January 2, 2017.
  7. ↑ Hur gick det sen? in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  8. ↑ Film adaptations on the website "Moomin Research", accessed on July 15, 2017.
  9. ↑ Moomin apps on the official website moomin.com (English), accessed on June 29, 2017.