SwedishwriterEvaEkeroth:Grownupsshouldhelpchildrenunderstandbetter"cruel"thingsinbooks_GuangmingOnlineSwedishwriterEvaEkeroth:Grownupsshouldhelpchildrenunderstandbetter"cruel"thingsinbooksRecently,SwedishwriterEvaEkerothtalkedabouttopicslikeherlifeinChinaandhowtohelpchildrenestablishreadinghabitinanexclusiveinterviewbyGMW.cn(GuangmingOnline)EvaEkeroth,Swedishwriter,haslivedinChinaforoverthirteenyearsandhasbeenworkingonculturalexchangesbetweenChinaandSwedenforalongperiod.SheistoleaveofficeastheSwedishculturalcounselortoChina.Herfirstbookisafairytaleaboutastoryoffriendship.Shewritesfairytalesjustforherdaughter’shappinessinsteadofeducation.1.GMW.cn:Eva,sinceyouhavelivedinChinaformorethanthirteenyears,Iwouldliketoaskwhatthemostjoyfulpartofyourlifeishere.Meanwhile,asaSwedishlivinghere,inwhichaspectsdoyouthinkChinacanstillimprove?Justfromyourdailyexperience.Eva:Well,mynicestmemoryfromChinese,actually,isthatIspentnineyearsdancingwitholdpeople.ItwaswhenIlivedinShanghai.Itwasmymostbeautifulmemory.Everyweek,IdancedwiththemfornineyearsevenwithabigbellywhenIwasgoingtohaveachild.Chinaimprovedwhereeverybodytalksabouttheairandsoon.ButIhavesomethingthatmaybenobodyelsehasthoughtabout.Anditisthequoteforarchitectswhodesignwhichwaythedoorsaregoing.Ifyougotoatoilet,thedoorshouldbeout-rollednotin-rolled.Itisnotsafeifitisonfire.ButIthinkeverycountrycanimproveandlearnfromeachother.2.GMW.cn:Eva,I’velearnedthatyourhusband,aChineseprofessor,oncemodifiedthescenarioorimposedsomethingaboutpreachwhentellingastorytoyourdaughter,andyouwerestronglyopposedtosuchbehaviors.ThenIwanttoknow,whatdoyouexpectchildrentodrawfromreading?Eva:Well,actually,Ithinkitwasbadwhathedid.Hechangedtheendingandsaidthenyoushoulddoyourhomework,youshoulddothatoryoushoulddothis.AndIthink,actually,itistherapeofthestoryoveranartwork.Secondly,heimposedhisownideas,soitisnotthewholepieceofabookinitsoriginalvision.Firstofall,Idon’tthinkitissoimportantwhatthecontentis.Becauseaslongasthechildlikestoreadit,itmeansthatthechildwillstartestablishingareadinghabit.Andpeoplewithreadinghabitorchildrenwithreadinghabitwillcontinuetoreadbookswhentheygrowup.Andweallknowthat,actually,peoplecanlearnalotfrombooks,especiallynovels,Ithink,aboutlife,aboutwhatitistobeahumanbeingorbecomeabetterhumanbeing.3.GMW.cn:Thanksforsharing.Iheardthatamongthebooksyoupickedforyourchild,someareactuallyalittlebit"realistic"oreven"cruel"intheperspectiveofChinese,forexample,thestoryabouttheghostofagrandpapassedawayorthestoryaboutachildwhoseparentsaredivorced.ItmaybebeyondimaginationorunacceptableforChineseparentstochoosethesestoriesfortheirchildren.So,couldyoutellusyourreasonsfordoingso?Eva:Well,Idon’tknowreallyifitislikethisanymore.BecausenewgenerationinChinagrowingupbecomingparents,Ithink,theyhavedifferentviewsactually.Butmaybepercentagewisetherearenotsomanyyet,butnumerously,therearequiteafewactually.Imeanchildtheyarenotblind,theyseewhathappensinreallife.Sowhyshouldyouavoidsubjectsinbooks?Itcouldevenhelpthem.Imeanmanypeoplearefacingtheirparentsorfriends’parentsgettingadivorceforexample.AndIdon’tknowhowtodealwithitandnobodytalkstothemaboutit.Andreasonsbehindbecausegrownupthinksitistheirproblemsnotthechildren’s.Buttheythinkalot.Imean,childrenarereallysmartpeople,soIthinkit’sbettertoletthiskindofsubjectsbeingtalkedaboutinbooks.Itcouldevenhelpchildrenunderstandbetterandfeelbetterinside,Ithink.4.GMW.cn:Iknowthatyouhavehadyourfirstbookoffairytales,namedComingacrossahugesandcat.ThetraditionaleducationideasareactuallydeeplyimbeddedinthemindsofChineseparents.ItcanberatherconduciveifyourbookcanopenadistinctivewindowforChineseparentsandchildren,toinspirethemtoseehowforeignersperceiveandthinkaboutthewaytopickbooksforchildren.Doesthisbookembodyyoureducationideasfully?Ifyouaresupposedtouseafewkeywordstodescribethisbook,whatwillthewordsbe?Eva:WhenIwroteit,Ihaveabsolutelynoeducationpurposeatall.Idon’tthinkyoushouldhavethatwhenyoucreatesomethingunlessitisforschoolbooks,Imean,mathematicsschoolbooksorsomething.But,ofcourse,asaperson,Ihavesomevalsueswithme,andunintentionallymaybethosevalsuescomeintothebook.Soofcourseyoucan’tavoidhavingsomethingwithyou,butitwasnotonpurpose.Somewords,maybeonecouldsayfriendship,adventureandmagicrealism.5.GMW.cn:I’mreallylookingforwardtoitthatnewideasfromyourbookwillbringbenefitstoChineseparentsandchildren.Eva,Idon’tknowwhetheryouhaveheardaboutthis.AChinesechildimitatedtheplotofadomesticcartoontyinguptwoofhisfriendstoatreeandroastingthem.Unfortunately,thetwokidswereburntseverely.Ourcourtmadethejudicialdecisionthatthecartoonproducershouldtake15%oftheresponsibility.Asfarasyouknow,isthereanycaseinwhichchildrenhurtthemselvesinimitatingthecartooninSweden?Eva:IhaveneverheardaboutthiscaseandIhaveneverheardaboutthecaseinotherplaceeither.6.GMW.cn:Whatisyouropinionaboutsuchcase?Eva:Well,Idon’tthinkyoucanjustblameacartoonforthatthing,because,intheend,moralcomesfromyourparentsactually,itcomesfromwhenyougrowup.Ithinkmostchildrenarereallynicehumanbeings,andtheywouldnotdosuchathing.Itcouldevenbementalinthis,andIdon’tknowsomethingthatcanbeexplained.ButmoralIthink.Andit’salsoveryimportant,ofcourse,tocommunicatewithyourchild.Soifyouletyourchildwatchsomethingveryviolent,ifyouletthemdothatinthefirstplace,Ithinkitneedstobeacommunicationbetweentheparentandchildtoexplainortalkaboutitatleast.Ican’tsayanythingaboutthiscase,butmyopinionisthatitdoesn’tonlycomefromacartoon,therearesomuchmorebehindit.InterviewedbyZengFanhuaStorybyZhangZhouSincerelythankstoWangJiayiGMW.cnEditor:FanhuaDisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.