This project’s aim was to examine how the institutionalization of rape and sexual violence becomes problematic if analyzed through the conceptual lens of consent and complicity. After this close reading of consent and sexual violence, the answers are still not clear or easily discerned. A wish would be that the concept of consent is uncomplicated and apparent, but even the theory regarding consent is complex and disagreed upon. Beres stresses this complexity, which in many cases forces readers to rely on assumed definitions of consent (105). These conflicting definitions also need to be considered when examining consent in The Handmaid's Tale. Thus, the discourse regarding the gray area becomes highly important. In reality, it might be challenging to judge and convict a rapist and an abuser, and in the fictional world such as Atwood has created, men are not solely responsible for the victimization of women, which arguably mirrors what happens in the real world. This conflict opens up an array of difficulties regarding complicity and consent. Whether in the context of ‘good girls’ or ‘bad girls’, Handmaids or Wives, this project concludes that the categories which divide women into either victims or accomplices regarding concepts of consent are often shaped and controlled by men, essentially forcing women to operate within a constricted world constructed by a patriarchal society. As discussed throughout this project, the problem concerning consent resides in the gray area, and the inconsistency in Offred’s narrative makes her unreliable as an ideal example of trauma. Instead, she projects traumatic experiences, which at times appear deceptive. Her repeated complicity in aiding a patriarchal government’s continuous oppression against women creates a problematic space where sexual violence becomes debatable. However, after analyzing the novel, a conclusion could be made that the focus should not be on whether sexual violence occurring in a gray area of consent is harmful or not, and although we can distinguish unfair sex from sexual assault, this does not negate the fact that it is a socially destructive phenomenon (Cahill 758). Instead, what has been examined here and what should be further examined in the future are the structures and ideologies that problematize consent theory, such as Atwood does with Gilead’s theocratic ideology. Another valuable insight when reading Atwood’s novel is the revelation of complex structures and hierarchies within the feminist movement. Offred, along with other women in19the novel, challenges an often-stereotypical feminist image of women united to fight sexism and unequal rights. Thus, these characters represent a more accurate view of how men and women contribute to female oppression. In the novel, the commanders appear almost omniscient, their presence shaping and controlling the world that women inhabit, but they do their work from the shadows. Instead, women play an integral part in forming the misogynist structures and views that uphold female oppression, the Aunts perhaps the most. What is essential then to discern is why and how. Atwood herself, in an interview with PBS News Hour, refers to her novel as “speculative fiction” rather than science fiction, stating, “‘[i]t’s not me who has come up with it, it’s the human race over the past 4,000 years’” (Atwood). In The Handmaid’s Tale, the why and how are presented in an arguably hyperbolic way, but still, it strongly resonates with what has happened repeatedly throughout history and what was presumably happening during Atwood’s writing process. These conflicted strains within a movement as important as feminism are also vitally connected to the discourse surrounding consent. Suppose women do not comply or fall in line with patriarchal ideologies. In that case, the stigma surrounding rape might become reduced, and the parameters regarding consent might also be discussed more extensively since it profoundly affects how sexual violence is approached and handled. Lastly, as mentioned in the beginning, Cixous firmly states, “[w]oman must write woman” (877), and just as the fictional Offred writes her own story and becomes the voice for thousands of silent women, so must “real women” in order to reshape patriarchal structures and reevaluate what parts females inhabit when oppressive ideologies are taking over instead of remaining silent. It is silence, which makes Offred complicit in Janine’s abuse. It is silence, which makes her pursue a relationship with Nick, despite the threats to her safety, and it is silence that fuels the false sisterhood. Although readers are aware that women have little to no power in this novel, it is the silent culture in Gilead that serves as an example of the complex discourse surrounding consent, and it is how this concept is defined that remains highly important and invaluable when examining trauma narratives and sexual violence. No means no, and yes means yes, is the ideal definition of consent, but in Offred’s world, just as for many non-fictional women, this definition is simply a construction. It is in the gray area, in the gaps between stories, that consent and complicity shape the outcome of sexual violence. / <p>Slutgiltigt godkännandedatum: 2022-01-16</p>

The purpose of this study was to examine how graphic novels and comic strips can be used in English education for the grades 4-6. The results of the previous research presented in this study show a wide range of areas, and approaches, where graphic novels and comic strips can be used to further develop several aspects of pupils’ language development. The low participation of this study makes it impossible to make any generalizable conclusions about the use of graphic novels in Swedish schools, but it can give some insight into how individual teachers’ use this resource. The research questions of the study have been answered, based on previous research and the limited group of respondents. The respondents come from different parts of Sweden, and this suggests that the use of graphic novels is not concentrated to a single part of the country but is spread over a large part of it. However, the low participation in this study suggests to me that the use of graphic novels is not so widespread among individual teachers. I believe that the teachers who chose to participate in this study already have a connection to graphic novels. They probably replied because they had a particular interest in this topic, and the teachers who chose not to participate did not find the topic interesting or current for their teaching situation. The fears and prejudice I have raised earlier may be an underlying cause of this, as well as the fact that graphic novels are not specifically mentioned as a way of connecting with literature in the curriculum. What I gather from the previous research and the result of the survey is that graphic novels and comic strips are potentially very useful tools to be used in language development, as a complement to the traditional textbook. The fact that the respondents in my survey have listed several noticed development areas in their pupils, such as vocabulary, reading comprehension, pronunciation, and an increased motivation to read, indicates that graphic novels and comic strips are an excellent tool to use for pupils’ language development. The versatile approaches that can be used to work with graphic novels and comic strips in the language learning classroom points to a broad development possibility. / <p>Slutgiltigt godkännandedatum: 2022-01-16</p>

The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and the figurative meaning senses of out-PVs in two contemporary novels read in Swedish secondary schools. The study was delimited to PVs with the particle out. The aim was further to find out how potential misunderstandings or misinterpretations of figurative meaning sense of PVs by L2 learners of English can be prevented. Furthermore, an aim was to raise awareness of different figurative meaning senses that could make the reading and understanding richer for English L2 learners. There were raised three research questions concerning the frequency of out-PVs and the interpretation of the figurative meaning sense of some selected out-PVs that resulted in three investigative steps concerned with each of the research questions. The hypothesis was that out-PVs can have different figurative meaning senses at the same time in the closer or nearer context in the novels investigated in this study. Therefore, it was seen as important for English L2 learners to learn how to interpret the figurative meaning senses. Furthermore, it was seen important to consider which PVs are the most frequent ones and how the frequency might be a relevant factor for teaching implications. A corpus-based analysis was used to investigate the selected out-PVs. Four different studies, discussed in section 2, were used as models and approaches to investigate the out-PVs in three different ways: the most frequent out-PVs in Gardner and Davies (2018) and Garnier and Schmitt (2016), the figurative meaning senses for some out-PVs listed in Garnier and Schmitt (2016) and Kang (2020) and the six meanings for the particle out in out-PVs in the cognitive approach in Liao (2020). The three approaches were investigated in three steps and were later compared. Furthermore, the study concentrated on the main part, step 2, to analyze the figurative meaning senses of some selected out-PVs. The idea of a metaphor for out-PVs, the movement out of a ‘container’, named by Liao (2020) and Walková (2015), was found to be helpful for many cases with out-PVs, but not for all. In some cases, this metaphor could even cause confusion. Similar to this it was found that analyzing the out-particle’s meaning of an out-PV separately also could lead to a misunderstanding for the L2 learner. Some meanings of the particle out were not found for the six meanings listed by Liao (2020). The present study was limited. Therefore, it would be necessary to make a larger study in order to determine if this approach might be effective or not. The raised awareness that PVs need extra attention and that some PVs are more likely to be used in certain texts can help L2 learners in understanding and producing PVs in different texts and text types. It can also make their understanding of a text richer by finding the right figurative meaning sense of a PV in a certain context. / <p>Godkänt datum 22-03-09</p>

This exploratory study examines the use of modal verbs and pronouns in medication packageinserts (MPIs). The study focuses on the translation of MPIs from English to Swedish. MPIsare leaflets that provide information about medications. They are divided into two sections: aprovider section and a patient section. The results of the study show that modal verbs andpronouns are more common in the patient section compared to the provider section. This ismost likely due to the two sections having different main functions. The provider sectionaims to inform, whereas the patient section aims to direct. One of the differences noted in thetranslation of MPIs is that modal verbs are more frequent in the Swedish provider sectioncompared to the English provider section. One explanation for this is that hedging isgenerally more common in English than in Swedish. With hedging, passive constructions andagentless sentences are sometimes used instead of modal verbs (Kranich 2011:80). A seconddifference noted is the lack of one-to-one translation relating to modal verbs. Context andculture become deciding factors when electing which modal verb to use in a translation.Should, for example, has at least three different translations in Swedish depending on themodal verb strength that needs to be conveyed. In regard to pronouns, the main differencebetween English and Swedish is the fact that English MPIs have started to use I in the patientsection of the MPI in an attempt to engage the patient in a fictional question-answer scenario.Swedish MPIs have stayed with using du for a more informal conversation style address.

<p>Godkänt datum 2020-10-01</p>

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The purpose of this study was to investigate why some students are more or less engaged in their ESL studies. Through a socio-psychological lens we investigate how attitudes toward ESL studies are affected and vary between different cultural structures and locations. The study originates in the L2 field explaining whether personality traits and an intrinsic motivation is dominant, or if extrinsic motivational devices can be utilized for progression. Should the variable of context be seen as one of its own or is it, in fact, a key device to create a firmer platform in L2 acquisition. The study shows that specific cultural and social contexts may create conditions in which students are encouraged to build a higher degree of self-determination and willingness to engage in their own development.

“关系”是中国社会特有的一种现象，由于外力的影响，特别是自一九七八年中国改革开放以来，根植于集体主义社会的“关系”正越来越多地进入全球商业市场。了解“关 系”显然很重要，虽然如此，之前的许多研究都因循著名的 Mayfair Yang /Guthrie的观点。“关系”的演变以及它对年轻一代是否仍然重要，却不常被研究。这也是为什么这篇文章研究的目的定为“关系的重要性和实践在现代中国改变了吗?”     多年来，关系在中国社会一直起着作用，在毛泽东时代，许多人会利用关系来获得额外的衣服和食物，在 80到 90年代，关系更多的被用来获取护照或者许可证等等。中国改革开放后的 40年，了解人际关系在中国商业市场中的作用和表现，以及背后的驱动，不仅对西方，而且对所有西方和东方经济体的意义都显得更加重要。     本文的研究分为两部分: 1.关系对年轻一代仍然重要吗? 2. 在商业交往中，关系实践有哪些变化?         为了回答这两个问题，本文采用了定性研究的方法，通过问题设计和深度访谈获取样本进行分析。 在研究中，邀请了来自不同领域的五名管理人员进行访谈， 在选择访谈对象的过程中尽可能提高样本的多样性，因此 5 位访谈的采访对象来自不同的年 龄组/背景/职位。其中一人曾在政府部门工作，另外四人来自于 b2b商业公司。研究结果发现，受社会经济环境和技术等外部因素的影响，年轻一代仍然重视关系，因为关系有可能改善他们的职业发展。然而，关系的变化也是惊人的，关系的概念产生于集体主义社会，但是关系现在的形式正转变为更适合与西方相似的个体主义的商业世界。     现在的关系大多追求短期利益，缺乏信任，更多人开始把关系当作一种资产，对企业或个人的资产。但这并不是说，在现代中国社会没有长期的关系。虽然这项研究尽量做到样本多样化，但也存在一定的局限，其中之一是受访者不多，如果采访的数量更多，可能会有更多的证据，比如可以观察访者不同的人口背景进行分类，然后分类比较不同群体之间的差异。

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