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INTRODUCTION “Learning is not a trajectory, but a slowly ascending spiral” Lynda Barry My final major project creates a 32 picture book for readers aged 3-6. As an animal advocate, I have aimed to recast the picture book wolf within the classic tale of Red Riding Hood, as ‘not the baddie’ and to address the use of visual stereotypes and anthropocentric descriptions of the human-animal relationship. Furthermore, I have considered how to question those traditional descriptions of that relationship within the minds of readers. Research Goals Through analysis, practice, review and reflection, I investigate the problem of the stereotyped wolf and reflect on that research in context of my aims, values and ambitions. I am motivated by the animal rights movements, that is, the aim to see the end of oppressive dominance of animals and nature by humans. I wish to be part of the creative, cultural and activist voices that are bringing about redress of the way humans think of and treat non-human animals. As noted by Mikhail Bakhtin, particular ways of speaking in a novel represent worldviews and the ideologies of a culture (Bakhtin 2010, 1981). This unconscious or conscious expression is never innocent, or free from the ideologies in which it was created. As Albert Schweitzer implores us to act, I feel a duty to work toward awareness and change; I wish to take responsibility.
“We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.” Albert Schweitzer I hold firmly the views of Professor Arran Stibbe that we need to rewrite our stories for a kinder, sustainable and greener future. Stibbe does not explicitly mean fictional stories, but all language where we represent the animals and the environment as secondary, objectified in a current view of the modern world as an unchanging norm. Thus, I have taken Stibbe’s ideas and considered them directly in terms of the illustrated picture book story. As authors (Nodelman, Kummerling) state, children’s literature is the foundation of the learning of the ideologies of our society. This understanding motivates my research into illustration, the meaning within it, and to discover more about ecofeminist perspectives on illustration, its messages, media, skills and techniques.
