A new research center for comics is set to increase children and youth's reading interest.

New center for comics to boost children and youth's reading interest

Today, the government presents a new literature action plan as part of the fight against declining reading interest. According to the plan, comics are set to make a comeback among children and young people.

On March 1, 2019, the Danish Anders And comic book celebrated its 70th anniversary, and according to the expert group behind the recommendations for a new action plan, which aims to save Danish literature, comics are a way to reignite the reading interest among children and young people. (Photo: © Liselotte Sabroe, Ritzau Scanpix) 47 minutes ago

We are in a reading crisis, where children and young people have swapped books for fleeting and visual media.

So reads the grim diagnosis from Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt in a new literature action plan, which aims to restore young people's reading interest.

- We are currently experiencing a reading crisis, where many children have difficulty concentrating on reading a book, and where unfortunately few experience the magical moment when the imagination takes flight, and literature becomes so captivating that one just turns the page from one side to the next until the book is finished, says Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt.

The action plan includes a series of measures aimed at strengthening Danish literature and reading interest among children and young people. And comics play a central role in this.

As part of the new action plan, the government will establish Comics House - a new national research center that will develop and share knowledge about how illustrations and comics can create more reading interest among younger readers.

Comics House will, among other things, advise schools and libraries and develop educational materials and methods that can engage children and young people in voluntary reading.

The Danish Comics Council will be responsible for establishing the center with five million kroner in funding. The ambition is for Comics House to eventually be able to operate without state support.

Forperson in the Danish Comics Council, Matthias Wivel, sees "great opportunities" for comics to have "a positive impact" on children's reading interest.

- It is actually a very sophisticated expression form, but it is therefore that many will remember comic book reading from their childhood, says Matthias Wivel to DR.

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Danish literature against the wind

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The new literature plan originates from a series of recommendations from the so-called Literature Working Group, which has looked at how young people can be encouraged to read more books.

And the arrow has pointed from the start towards illustrated books, says Marianne Eskebæk Larsen, who is a lecturer at the Copenhagen Professions College and a member of the working group.

- We can see from among other things reading habits surveys and other data that children are very happy to read literature with pictures in, including comics.

The same pattern can be seen around the Danish libraries.

- When we look at loan statistics, we can see that literature with pictures in is very, very popular among children and young people, she says.

Even though picture books are being taken off the shelves, there are still many parents and researchers who think that comics are less appropriate than the text-heavy books, says Marianne Eskebæk.

- I think this initiative can help support the fact that of course it is not that, and we take children's reading interest seriously, she says.

Also lecturer and ph.d. at the Institute for Culture and Linguistics, Sarah Bro Trasmundi, is enthusiastic about the plan.

- There are really many advantages to bringing comics into play, and I think it's the first time in many years that comics have been so explicitly prioritized in a literature action plan, she says.

Research points to the fact that comics on several parameters can be better than the classic book, she says.

- When children and young people read a comic, they take many more pauses and use their imagination more creatively and differently than when they read only the written word in a book.

Therefore, Sarah Bro Trasmundi also hopes that comics will eventually find their way into the classroom.

- I think there is a great potential in bringing comics into the classroom, also when it comes to history and all possible subject literature.

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