Integrative Model of Children’s Representations of God in Drawings

Pierre Yves Brandt; Zhargalma Dandarova-Robert; Grégory Dessart; Hanneke Muthert; Hanneke Schaap-Jonker

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_2

Integrative Model of Children’s Representations of God in Drawings

Pierre Yves Brandt^*
, Zhargalma Dandarova-Robert
, Grégory Dessart
, Hanneke Muthert
, Hanneke Schaap-Jonker

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	When Children Draw Gods
Subtitle of host publication	A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents
Editors	Pierre-Yves Brandt, Zhargalma Dandarova-Robert, Christelle Cocco, Dominique Vinck, Frédéric Darbellay
Publisher	Springer Nature
Pages	15-42
Number of pages	28
ISBN (Electronic)	9783030944292
ISBN (Print)	9783030944285, 9783030944315
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_2
Publication status	Published - 2023

Publication series

Name	New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion
Publisher	Springer
Volume	12
ISSN (Print)	2367-3494
ISSN (Electronic)	2367-3508

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

Funding

Acknowledgments This research was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Grants Nr. CR11I1_156383 and IZSEZ0_180471.

Funders	Funder number
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung	CR11I1_156383, IZSEZ0_180471
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

Keywords

Anthropomorphism
Child development
Cross-cultural
Drawings
Emotionality
Gender
God representations
Religious education
Socio-cultural influence
Visual research

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_2Licence: CC BY

Persistent URL (handle)

Persistent link

Cite this

Brandt, P. Y., Dandarova-Robert, Z., Dessart, G., Muthert, H., & Schaap-Jonker, H. (2023). Integrative Model of Children’s Representations of God in Drawings. In P.-Y. Brandt, Z. Dandarova-Robert, C. Cocco, D. Vinck, & F. Darbellay (Eds.), When Children Draw Gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents (pp. 15-42). (New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion; Vol. 12). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_2

Brandt, Pierre Yves ; Dandarova-Robert, Zhargalma ; Dessart, Grégory et al. / Integrative Model of Children’s Representations of God in Drawings. When Children Draw Gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents. editor / Pierre-Yves Brandt ; Zhargalma Dandarova-Robert ; Christelle Cocco ; Dominique Vinck ; Frédéric Darbellay. Springer Nature, 2023. pp. 15-42 (New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion).

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Brandt, PY, Dandarova-Robert, Z, Dessart, G, Muthert, H & Schaap-Jonker, H 2023, Integrative Model of Children’s Representations of God in Drawings. in P-Y Brandt, Z Dandarova-Robert, C Cocco, D Vinck & F Darbellay (eds), When Children Draw Gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 12, Springer Nature, pp. 15-42. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_2

Integrative Model of Children’s Representations of God in Drawings. / Brandt, Pierre Yves; Dandarova-Robert, Zhargalma; Dessart, Grégory et al.
When Children Draw Gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents. ed. / Pierre-Yves Brandt; Zhargalma Dandarova-Robert; Christelle Cocco; Dominique Vinck; Frédéric Darbellay. Springer Nature, 2023. p. 15-42 (New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion; Vol. 12).

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic

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Brandt PY, Dandarova-Robert Z, Dessart G, Muthert H, Schaap-Jonker H. Integrative Model of Children’s Representations of God in Drawings. In Brandt PY, Dandarova-Robert Z, Cocco C, Vinck D, Darbellay F, editors, When Children Draw Gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents. Springer Nature. 2023. p. 15-42. (New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion). Epub 2023 Jan 5. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_2

Integrative Model of Children’s Representations of God in Drawings

Abstract

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Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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