Browsing by Subject "Muumimamma"

My bachelor’s thesis is about Moominmamma as a parent in Tove Jansson’s Moomin-novels. I also analyse what kind of a character she is, what are her values and what kind of a relationship she shares with her child. There are many different views about parenting. I am interested to see what a parent could learn from fiction. Moominmamma is a well-known example of a good parent. Because of that I wish to find out what Tove Jansson’s Moomin-novels could give on the subject. This research was qualitative. The research method was content analysis, where fictional documents were analyzed. The documents were 8 Tove Jansson’s Moomin-novels. The goal of this research was to find out what kind of a character and a parent Moominmamma is. I used Diana Baumrind’s theory of parenting styles. When I analyzed Moominmamma as a parent, I focused on how warm Moominmamma is and how she uses control over her children. As a parent Moominmamma was very warm but her control over her children seemed to be low. However the research showed that Moominmamma’s values and her own example directed her children very much. Moominmamma is a very different character and a parent in the book Moominpappa at sea. In the book even though Moominmamma is depressed she is still a warm and understanding parent who respects her children and gives them a lot of space. With one’s own example, values and warmth a parent can support a child’s development.