<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>What children count as their favourite things tell us not only about children but also about their social and cultural experiences. This study,* based on the outcomes of a children’s drawing competition organised by the Estonian National Museum and applying a combined framework of visual sociology and participa-tory research, proposes an innovative angle to using the museum’s experimental approach to contemporary collecting of cultural heritage. This large-sample (n=926) content-analytical study of children’s favourite gifts gives a rich ethno-graphic and sociological perspective on children’s life-worlds. On the one hand, the children’s wishes reflected contemporary global trends in technology and commercialisation. On the other hand, the children’s prevailing dream of having a pet shows loneliness shaped by societal changes, including urbanisation and changing family models and time regimes.</p></abstract>

What children count as their favourite things tell us not only about children but also about their social and cultural experiences. This study,* based on the outcomes of a children’s drawing competition organised by the Estonian National Museum and applying a combined framework of visual sociology and participa-tory research, proposes an innovative angle to using the museum’s experimental approach to contemporary collecting of cultural heritage. This large-sample (n=926) content-analytical study of children’s favourite gifts gives a rich ethno-graphic and sociological perspective on children’s life-worlds. On the one hand, the children’s wishes reflected contemporary global trends in technology and commercialisation. On the other hand, the children’s prevailing dream of having a pet shows loneliness shaped by societal changes, including urbanisation and changing family models and time regimes.

Mapping Children’s Life-Worlds: A Content-Analytical Study of Drawings of Favourite Gifts

Institute of Social Studies University of Tartu

Institute of Social Studies University of Tartu Lossi 36

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

What children count as their favourite things tell us not only about children but also about their social and cultural experiences. This study,* based on the...

Mapping Children’s Life-Worlds: A Content-Analytical Study of Drawings of Favourite Gifts

Publié en ligne: 21 déc. 2020

Pages: 123 - 141

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2020-0019

Mots clés
life-world, gifts, child-centric research, draw-and-write method, societal changes

© 2020 Kristiina Kruuse et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mapping Children’s Life-Worlds: A Content-Analytical Study of Drawings of Favourite Gifts

Publié en ligne: 21 déc. 2020

Pages: 123 - 141

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2020-0019

Mots cléslife-world, gifts, child-centric research, draw-and-write method, societal changes

© 2020 Kristiina Kruuse et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
life-world, gifts, child-centric research, draw-and-write method, societal changes