System of Ethics and Artistic Methods in Tove Jansson’s Stories on Moomintrolls

Abstract

The focus of the article by Agneta Rehal Johansson is on the analysis of the system of ethics that was incorporated into the series of Moomintroll novels. Johansson investigates the interconnectedness of Tove Jansson’s relationship toward her characters and the principles she uses in depicting them in the text. The analysis is based on the final addition of eight Moomintroll novels that was completed by Jansson during the period 1969-1970. Based on those texts, Johansson suggests that the relationship between the author and her characters could be identified as “emotional-axiological” (Bakhtinian term). It means that Jansson does not favor any character over another, based on their competing characteristics and attitudes. This scholar noticed the typical destruction of the traditional hierarchy of values that is expressed through this lack of preference and she stresses the employment of grotesque, as well as, author’s voice of naїve narrator as the most important devices employed by Jansson.   Keywords: Tove Jansson, Moomin series, ethics, grotesque, Bakhtin, naїvaté.