This thesis examines how three nineteenth-century British novels purvey and critique contemporary standards regarding social performance and reticence and the strains such standards place on those whose dispositions disincline them to conform to the regulations for decorum articulated in conduct books of the time. Utilizing the psychological lens of introversion and extroversion alongside the cognitive narrative theories of Alan Palmer and Lisa Zunshine, this thesis investigates the construction of individual character identities through the reading of interactions among multiple fictional minds in Charlotte Brontë’s Villette (1853), Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), and George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss (1860).

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This essay aim to explore how human and nature is presented in Bröderna Lejonhjärta and Ronja Rövardotter, by Astrid Lindgren. It also tries to answer the question how the relationship between the two is shaped; can any hierarchic structures be exposed in the relationship, and how do these, in that case, appear? The essay also problematize words and concepts along the way, such as nature, anthropocentrism and ecocentrism. The method for this study is an ecocritical theoretical base, with thematic analyzes of the books, regarding plot, relationships between characters and their surroundings, and also linguistic narratological techniques, such as the use of metaphorical elements. The different thematic episodes are put in relation to theories about vital materialism, presented in Vibrant Matter – A Political Ecology of Things, by Jane Bennett. I also do a comparative analysis between the two books by Lindgren, with the purpose of highlighting important differences and similarities. The essay ends by discussing how the main characters can be seen as very caring in their relationship to their surroundings, and how one, by applying the theories presented by Bennett, can interpret this caring as a strive towards existing in harmony with, and equal to, nature; a sort of mode or view that Bennett describes as a horizontal position. During the discussion I describe how this strive and position is expressed, and how these are interacting with cyclical systems such as the changes of the seasons and shift between life and death. The books as literature for children, and the main characters as children, is discussed in relation to this, supported by the text “När du är bättre än vi – Jantelagen, skammen och barnlitteraturen” by Maria Jönsson, from the book Du ska inte tro att du är något – Om Jantelagens aktualitet. / Denna uppsats behandlar och syftar till att undersöka hur människa och natur skrivs fram i Bröderna Lejonhjärta och Ronja Rövardotter, av Astrid Lindgren. Den försöker även att svara på hur relationen mellan dessa ser ut; huruvida man kan se hierarkiska strukturer i förhållandet, samt hur dessa i så fall ter sig. Uppsatsen gör det även till sin uppgift att längs vägen problematisera begrepp som bl.a. natur, antropocentrism, ekocentrism. Metoden för studien är en ekokritisk hållning, som går ut på olika tematiska nedslag i de båda verken, där handling, karaktärers förhållande till varandra och till sin omgivning, samt språkliga berättartekniska grepp så som användning av metaforiska inslag, lyfts och analyseras. De olika tematiska avsnitten prövas även mot Jane Bennetts vitala materialitetsteorier som presenteras i Vibrant Matter – A Political Ecology of Things. En komparativ analys görs mellan de båda verken av Lindgren, i syfte att synliggöra viktiga likheter och skillnader. Uppsatsen avslutar med att diskutera hur man kan se ett, hos huvudkaraktärerna, påtagligt vurmande för omgivningarna, samt hur man genom att applicera Bennetts teorier kan tolka detta vurmande som en slags strävan mot att existera likställt med naturen, ett slags läge som Bennett beskriver som det horisontella planet. Under diskussionen lyfter jag hur denna strävan och detta läge yttrar sig, samt hur dessa samspelar med cykliska system, så som årstidernas växlande, samt skiftet mellan liv och död. Verken som barnlitteratur och huvudkaraktärerna som barn lyfts och diskuteras i relation till detta med hjälp av Maria Jönssons ”När du är bättre än vi – Jantelagen, skammen och barnlitteraturen”, ur Du ska inte tro att du är något – Om Jantelagens aktualitet.

This study came forth from a rereading of Ariel (2015) by Sylvia Plath and "The Laugh of the Medusa" by Hélène Cixous. Medusa was there, in the title, in the unsaid, but not so much directly in the text, she is only mentioned a few times in Cixous' works. You could still read Medusa in the works, but take away the title and you probably wouldn't to the extent that you do. That's how the questions arose, what do people do when they use Medusa in their works? Why do they decide to revive her?  The purpose of this study is to analyse, from a feministic perspective, what poets invoke when using Medusa in their works. The poems analysed are ”Medusa” by Sylvia Plath, ”Medusa” by Carol Ann Duffy, and ”Medusa with the Head of Perseus” by Torrin A. Greathouse.  Medusa, the Gorgon, used and abused, is a symbol for the silenced women. A woman is usually seen as an object by the patriarchal society, something they can do whatever they want with, Medusa included. This study is to show that women can take back their own bodies from the men, however many years it takes, however many people it takes.  Medusa is not a monster; she is just another victim of men’s oppression.

This thesis aims to develop a new methodological concept better to understand art and curating in a post-human setting. Departing from a post-humanist ontology, my initial idea was to analyse contemporary artworks dealing with food and trace and substantiate a figuration of the gut/intestinal system (connected to post-human notions as the ideas of trans- corporeality, vibrant matter, etc.) and how it could create a productive reading of these works. During my research on food-related art projects, I realised that the gut-figuration has broader implications and could function as a tool to understand the contemporary art world and curating at large, through a post-human lens. Accordingly, I suggest my thesis to be a contribution to what I would like to name an “intestinal turn”, a contemporary post-humanist, trans-corporeal understanding of art that could change how art is perceived and how the subjectivity of the artist, and curatorial work, could be understood today.