Greta Thunberg and «the child»

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In a new short essay published in Salongen, Kyrre Kverndokk discusses how 16-year old Greta Thunberg has been ascribed and also has taken the symbolic position of “the child” to authorize her message. The essay explores very different aspects of this rhetorical trope. Thunberg talks from the positionof a time-traveler, coming from the future to tell the truth about a climate-changed future to contemporary political leaders. While in media representations, she is not only presented as a representative of future generations, she is also depicted as a modern “Pippi Longstocking” -  the strongest girl in the world and the eternal child. On the other hand, right-wing media emphasize the vulnerability of “the child”, claiming her to be an “innocent” victim of cynical lobbyists. The essay is in Norwegian.