JOURNAL ARTICLE

Challenging time, age and power relations: The child figure in Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata.

  • Published In: Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, 2024, v. 14, n. 1. P. 7 1 of 3

  • Database: Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Janson, Malena 3 of 3

Abstract

This article examines the figure of the child in Ingmar Bergman's 1978 film *Höstsonaten* (Autumn Sonata) through an interdisciplinary approach combining childhood studies and cinema studies. It argues that the film's portrayal of mother-daughter relationships problematizes fixed notions of childhood and adulthood by revealing age categories as socially constructed and fluid rather than strictly chronological. The analysis highlights how characters shift between child and adult roles, exposing power dynamics within the generational order and suggesting a queer temporality that challenges normative, linear conceptions of time and age. This reading expands understanding of Bergman's child figures as complex, subversive agents who question societal norms about age and intergenerational relations both on-screen and beyond.

Additional Information

  • Source:Journal of Scandinavian Cinema. 2024/03, Vol. 14, Issue 1, p7
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Biography
  • Publication Date:2024
  • ISSN:2042-7891
  • DOI:10.1386/jsca_00090_1
  • Accession Number:178739108
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