TY - CHAP
T1 - Integrative Model of Children's Representations of God in Drawings
AU - Brandt, Pierre-Yves
AU - Robert, Zharagalma Dandarova
AU - Dessart, Gregory
AU - Muthert, Hanneke
AU - Schaap-Jonker, Hanneke
PY - 2023/1/4
Y1 - 2023/1/4
N2 - When confronted with being asked to “draw god”, children have to solve a problem; they are being asked to produce a visual representation of an entity that they have never seen. Resources for solving this problem are available within the child’s cultural context: The shape of the figure itself may be based on various religious representations of gods, iconic figurations of supernatural agents in fictional artefacts (paintings, movies, cartoons even in advertisement), various valences may be attributed to colours or to different parts of an image composition, etc. The drawings produced by children depend also on their cognitive abilities to grasp the concept of god, their emotional abilities to express the accompanying feelings, their creativity and artistic skills. In representing god, children have to solve additional problems. For example, connotations of the concept of god can awaken attachment bonds to parental figures; religious prohibitions against representations of god can be in conflict with the task of drawing god. The purpose of this work is to integrate the results presented in parts II-V of this book, and to articulate the different factors in an integrated model that outlines possible strategies used to carry out the project of drawing god.
AB - When confronted with being asked to “draw god”, children have to solve a problem; they are being asked to produce a visual representation of an entity that they have never seen. Resources for solving this problem are available within the child’s cultural context: The shape of the figure itself may be based on various religious representations of gods, iconic figurations of supernatural agents in fictional artefacts (paintings, movies, cartoons even in advertisement), various valences may be attributed to colours or to different parts of an image composition, etc. The drawings produced by children depend also on their cognitive abilities to grasp the concept of god, their emotional abilities to express the accompanying feelings, their creativity and artistic skills. In representing god, children have to solve additional problems. For example, connotations of the concept of god can awaken attachment bonds to parental figures; religious prohibitions against representations of god can be in conflict with the task of drawing god. The purpose of this work is to integrate the results presented in parts II-V of this book, and to articulate the different factors in an integrated model that outlines possible strategies used to carry out the project of drawing god.
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_2
DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_2
M3 - Chapter
SN - 978-3-030-94431-5
SN - 978-3-030-94428-5
T3 - New approaches to the scientific study of religion
SP - 15
EP - 42
BT - When children draw Gods
A2 - Brandt, Pierre-Yves
A2 - Dandarova-Robert, Zhargalma
A2 - Cocco, Christelle
A2 - Vinck, Dominique
A2 - Darbellay, Frédéric
PB - Springer
ER -