Written in 1983, the novella Gilles et Jeanne seems to be one of Michel Tournier's simpler works at first glance. Yet, for all of its simplicity, Tournier does not repress his desire to lace the tale with metaphoric and metaphysical symbolism. It is through a symbolic marriage on the battlefield that Tournier links the two characters in a sort of mystical union. All of the crimes following this ritual that precipitated Gilles descent into depravity were in fact an attempt to reunite with the departed spirit of his "spouse", either by mimetically recreating the circumstances of her death, or by metaphysically recreating the location of her eternal resting place. Joan of Arc was not canonized as a saint until 1920. Because she was burned at the stake for crimes against the church, Joan's place in Gilles' mind was in hell. This article focuses on the symbolism of catastrophic marriage in the novel. It traces the literary allusions to marriage that follow and prelude this central moment, and examine Gilles' subsequent deviant behavior through this lens. Once it has been established that this symbolic marriage was present in Tournier's work, this leads to the next important question: If Tournier deliberately employed marriage imagery in describing Gilles de Rais' relationship to Joan of Arc, what was his purpose in doing so? The article then uses the Tournier's own philosophy, the literary theory of Girard and Bataille, and examines the significance of the marriage allegory in a post-revolutionary, secularized France. The trauma of the rupture with the old regime is reflected in the violence and turmoil that is born of the titular characters' failed attempt at sacred union.

Detta är en studie om det går att använda vampyrer som inspirationskälla i undervisningen på högstadiet. Syftet är att besvara följande frågeställningar: Hur kan vampyrtemat motiveras och användas i klassrummet med skräcklitteratur som Dracula (1897) och Om jag kunde drömma (2005), som är första delen i Twilight serien, som utgångspunkt? Vilka modeller inom litteraturundervisning finns att tillämpa för vampyrtemat? För att besvara frågeställningarna har närläsning använts som metod. Resultatet visar att vampyren med all rätt kan användas som inspirationskälla i undervisningssyfte. Studien visar att man måste introducera skräcklitteratur med försiktighet och användandet av olika modeller är viktigt för att nå fram till samtliga elever. I studien presenteras valda modeller för läsundervisning som är applicerbara. Eftersom ämnet bjuder på många infallsvinklar torde man kunna fånga många elevers intresse och entusiasmera till fortsatt läsning. / This is a study on whether you can use vampires as a source of inspiration when teaching at upper secondary school level. Two questions form the basis for the study: How can the vampire theme be used in the classroom with horror literature as Dracula (1897) and Twilight (2005) as a foundation? Which models for teaching literature are available for the vampire theme? In order to answer the questions of the study close reading has been used as method. The result shows that the vampire by all means can be used as a source of inspiration for an   educational purpose. The study shows that you have to be cautious when you introduce   horror literature in class and the use of different models is important due to the fact that you want to reach all students. In the study a few selected models for teaching literature are presented that are applicable. Since the subject invites to a wide range of approaches one should be able to catch most of the student’s interest and inspire with enthusiasm.