Detta examensarbete syftar till att genom enkät och intervjuer undersöka hur elever i skolår fyra relaterar till förr i tiden. Detta görs utifrån en hypotes om att eleverna genom en inofficiell historieförmedling i form av filmer och tv-program med historiska teman har förvärvat ett visst medvetande om historien, och att denna främst handlar om medeltid. Därför undersöks huruvida några spår av den filmatiserade historieförmedlingen går att finna i elevernas kunskaper. Dessutom undersöks elevernas inställning till sina kunskapers källor, bland annat källor i form av film, tv-program och litteratur.Examensarbetet behandlar resultaten från undersökningarna i relation till begreppen historiemedvetande, palimpsestisk historieförmedling och historical film literacy. Den undersökta gruppen visade sig genom enkätundersökningen och i jämförelse med andra studier vara typisk i sin konsumtion av medier. Eleverna uttrycker sig i intervjuer källkritiskt och med tveksamhet inför pålitligheten i mediers innehåll.Undersökningen motbevisar den formulerade hypotesen och finner att den undersökta gruppens föreställningar om förr i tiden först och främst går att härleda till skolans historieundervisning. Få spår av den medierade historieförmedlingen har gått att finna. Utifrån undersökningen går det dock inte att utesluta den medierade historieförmedlingens påverkan på unga elevers historiekunskaper.

The present study addresses what happens when historical feature film is used in history education. The purpose of this thesis is to develop new knowledge of historical film literacy through a study of the feature film's didactical potential in an educa­tional context. This is carried out through an analysis of the historical meaning making among upper secondary students when viewing historical feature films, and special attention is paid to the importance of emotions in the students' meaning making through historical feature film. A focus of the study is the didactical dilemma, previously addressed in historical film research, that arises in the use of feature film in history or social studies education, in relation to educational context, film experience, and historical understanding. The present thesis is an independent continuation of my licentiate thesis History as Fiction (2014). The empirical material consists of interviews with students and teachers from two upper secondary schools in Sweden, as well as documentation from students' assessments and selected scenes from feature films experienced by the students as they were used in history class. The theoretical framework for the study takes an interdisciplinary approach. It is based on Jörn Rüsens under­standing of historical meaning and histo­ri­cal culture, as well as on transaction theory described by John Dewey and Louise M. Rosenblatt. Film reception theory is equally important, represented by theories from David Bordwell and Carl Plantinga. The main research question focused on how the concept of historical film literacy could be developed theoretically. Historical film literacy is understood in this thesis as an advanced consciousness of how historical meaning making is created through the individual's transaction with film's narration in a specific context, and how meaning making ideally links historical disciplinary thinking with practical orientation in life. The core of theoretically developed historical film literacy is an understanding of the individual's emotional and aesthetic experience of historical feature film, and elaborated theoretical knowledge about the close relationship between the affective response and the more distanced cognitive activity during and after watching a film. Also crucial for historical film literacy is an under­standing of the historical film's representation of the past as a conflation of facts and fiction. The knowledge of history that students' gain from historical feature film should be constructed in a synthesis of an aesthetic and an efferent stance in the transaction process. This is because the feature film has the capacity to stimulate both a feeling of empathy and of nearness in the viewer as well as a movement of the viewer away from the narration and towards more distanced cognition. This movement helps the viewer to analyze and interpret the historical meaning making from a critical perspective, when the experience of the feature film is transformed to a reflected experience.

The present study addresses what happens when historical feature film is used in history education. The purpose of this thesis is to develop new knowledge of historical film literacy through a study of the feature film's didactical potential in an educa­tional context. This is carried out through an analysis of the historical meaning making among upper secondary students when viewing historical feature films, and special attention is paid to the importance of emotions in the students' meaning making through historical feature film. A focus of the study is the didactical dilemma, previously addressed in historical film research, that arises in the use of feature film in history or social studies education, in relation to educational context, film experience, and historical understanding. The present thesis is an independent continuation of my licentiate thesis History as Fiction (2014). The empirical material consists of interviews with students and teachers from two upper secondary schools in Sweden, as well as documentation from students' assessments and selected scenes from feature films experienced by the students as they were used in history class. The theoretical framework for the study takes an interdisciplinary approach. It is based on Jörn Rüsens under­standing of historical meaning and histo­ri­cal culture, as well as on transaction theory described by John Dewey and Louise M. Rosenblatt. Film reception theory is equally important, represented by theories from David Bordwell and Carl Plantinga. The main research question focused on how the concept of historical film literacy could be developed theoretically. Historical film literacy is understood in this thesis as an advanced consciousness of how historical meaning making is created through the individual's transaction with film's narration in a specific context, and how meaning making ideally links historical disciplinary thinking with practical orientation in life. The core of theoretically developed historical film literacy is an understanding of the individual's emotional and aesthetic experience of historical feature film, and elaborated theoretical knowledge about the close relationship between the affective response and the more distanced cognitive activity during and after watching a film. Also crucial for historical film literacy is an under­standing of the historical film's representation of the past as a conflation of facts and fiction. The knowledge of history that students' gain from historical feature film should be constructed in a synthesis of an aesthetic and an efferent stance in the transaction process. This is because the feature film has the capacity to stimulate both a feeling of empathy and of nearness in the viewer as well as a movement of the viewer away from the narration and towards more distanced cognition. This movement helps the viewer to analyze and interpret the historical meaning making from a critical perspective, when the experience of the feature film is transformed to a reflected experience.

The purpose of this study is to explore how upper secondary school students relate to popularhistorical stories conveyed via Hollywood films, if they can identify and relate critically to the use of history used in feature films and how it affects their history film literacy. That students gain an understanding that history is used and in what ways it can be used is a fundamental factor within the subject of history. Previous studies show that many students have difficulty distinguishing between what is historical fact and what is fiction.To explore this, a qualitative study was carried out using observations and the participants’ writtentexts. The theoretical starting points are based on Klas-Göran Karlsson’s typology of use of history, Louise Rosenblatt’s efferent and aesthetic reading and Maria Deldéns historical film literacy. Kenneth Nordgren’s model of historical use was also included in the analysis of the results. The results show that the students were able to identify different uses of history in the feature film 300 with the help of Karlsson’s typology. However, it appeared somewhat problematic as they had difficulty distinguishing some of the uses. The results also showed that it is a good idea to combine efferent reading with aesthetic reading to strengthen the students’ historical film literacy. However, if may be beneficial to use a historical feature film that contains fewer fictional elements. The use of feature film in the education also showed that the students became more engaged in the teaching. / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur gymnasieelever förhåller sig till populärhistoriskaberättelser som förmedlas via Hollywoodfilmer, om de kan identifiera och förhålla sig kritiskt till historiebruk som används i spelfilm samt hur det påverkar deras historiefilmslitteracitet. Attelever får en förståelse för att historia används och på vilka sätt den kan användas är engrundläggande faktor inom historieämnet. Tidigare studier visar att många elever har svårt att skiljapå vad som är historisk fakta och vad som är fiktion.För att undersöka detta genomfördes en kvalitativ studie med hjälp av observationer och deltagarnasskriftliga texter. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna tar avstamp i Klas-Göran Karlssonshistoriebrukstypologi, Louise Rosenblatts efferenta och estetiska läsning samt Maria Deldénshistoriefilmslitteracitet. I analysen av resultatet användes även Kenneth Nordgrenshistoriebruksmodell. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att eleverna kunde identifiera olika historiebruk i spelfilmen 300 med hjälp av Karlssons typologi. Dock förefall den något problematisk då de hade svårt att särskilja några av bruken. Resultatet visar även att det är en god idé att kombinera efferent läsning med estetisk läsning för att stärka elevers historiefilmslitteracitet. Dock kan det vara fördelaktigt att använda en historisk spelfilm som innehåller färre fiktiva faktorer. Användandet av spelfilm i undervisningen visade även att eleverna blev mer engagerade i undervisningen.