En studie av barnehagebarns redesign av medieuniverset Ninjago

In this study, a group of kindergarten children’s conversations and linguistic expressions are analysed in a colouring activity with characters from a media universe exemplified by the Lego world of Ninjago. The research question is: How do a group of kindergarten children redesign the linguistic media universe of Ninjago? The article analyses how children construct their understanding of Ninjago and link it to the concepts of semiotic resource, accessible design and redesign. In conclusion, the article discusses issues related to the relationship between physical and fictional reality, linguistic transformation of and interaction with a media text and a media universe as a place for exploration.

The results show that the children redesign Ninjago by trying to recreate parts of what one might call the inventory in Ninjago as close to the original as possible. The children have more or less certain knowledge about this inventory, such as the various characters, who is kind and evil, the attributes of the various main characters, as well as some key events in the stories. Against this backdrop, the children then add new resources, like adding characteristics to certain characters such as few teeth or other colours, or that the characters alternate between being kind and evil and act in new ways in the children’s role play. It is the children’s shared meaning-making in conversation and play, together with a supportive adult, that highlights parts of their recreation, transformation of and interaction with the media universe.

The study is a qualitative case study. The data material was collected at a Norwegian kindergarten in a department for the oldest kindergarten children (four to six years old). Audio recordings were made of eight school starters (six boys and two girls) who sat with a kindergarten assistant and coloured Ninjago figures while the conversation revolved around the Ninjago universe. The researcher conducted a text analysis of the conversation based on social semiotic theory.

Munch, C. B. Ø. (2020). “En studie av barnehagebarns redesign av medieuniverset Ninjago". Barn, 2020(3):23-35.