Studia Islandica - 01.06.1976, Side 140

138
heard of. Especially are the good old days in the country shovm as
happy and carefree. No difference can be seen between the two classes
either in wealth or conduct, and the children are shown as good-
looking and bright.
In the few books that deal with working class people the scene is
quite different although little is usually done to analyse this, it appears
as quite natural. Here, the reader meets poor one parent families, too
many children per family, unemployment, poverty, sickness (5.1). In
some of the books the working class children are saved from these dire
circumstances by inembers of the upper classes, but it happens, too,
that the rich seek the poor for salvation (5.5).
Of personal problems loss of a parent is most common, but where
a main character is concemed his problem is always solved, either
througli reappearance of parent, help from others or adoption. Drink
is also a common problem in the books but almost always a minor
character is concemed, so the authors don’t have to deal with the
problem in depth (6.2).
The sex roles are basically traditional in all the books: the father
earns the family’s living by going out to work while the mother stays
at home taking care of the children. From this it follows that mothers
are quite dominant in the stories compared with the vague father
figures (9.1). The girls are usually weaker than the boys, also in
girls’ books. In some stories they are treated contemptuously and in
quite a number of boys’ stories girls do not appear at all. Boys on the
other hand are among the main characters in most girls’ hooks and
thev are treated with much more respect than girls in boys’ books
(9.2).
The mothers who work outside the home are usually either un-
married or have been forced out by financial problems at home. Mar-
ried women who work either full-time or part-time appear in 10% of
the books which take place after 1950. During the period of 1960—
1970 married women’s participation in the labour market went up in
Iceland from 36% to 52.4%. This development is not shown in the
children’s books.
Moreover, the jobs tlie women do are almost always unattractive
and badly-paid which leave the women bored and tired. In a few
stories the mother’s job has bad effects on her child, who then starts
stealing or committing other minor delinquancies (9.4).
Adventure stories where the children pursue criminals, mainly
thieves and smugglers, became more and more common during the
period under review. They were about one a year up to 1967, but
3y2 a year on the average during the last foirr years (12.3). The
most common group of grown-up people outside the family whom the