Creating Life

A deconstructive reading of Mester Ester with play-cultural reflections

Abstract

In this reading, I deconstruct Kathrine Assel’s children’s book Mester Ester (2019) to isolate the text’s binary systems and rhetorical figures. The deconstruction is not an end but assists in qualifying the book as poststructuralist literature. The analysis takes place in a critical hermeneutic framework, where the close reading is actualized in the interpretive practice. In order to achieve full recognition of the work as far as possible, I continuously assess how the deconstruction is applied in the reading or is inherent in the text. Based on the results of the reading and with the inclusion of cultural-didactic reflections, I also discuss how children’s books as a genre can be described as deconstructive literature, and how deconstructionism can specifically contribute to the understanding of children’s literature.