The popularity of vampire novels has come and gone over the years. And the romantic novels seem more popular than ever before. The male vampire have taken the stereotyperole as a sexual object. But what is it that makes the male characters desirable? The vampire genre was developed from defining female vampires as sexual freeand liberal but with a punishment awaiting them. Now the male side has been given thisrole, but without the punishment. Instead it gets involved with human females andpromises them true love forever and ever. This disquisition takes a closer look on thepopular male vampires: Eric Northman from Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse Novelsand Edward Cullen from Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series. Both novels display various sexual norms, two males with different masculinities.In Twilight Series society advocates sexual restraint and intercourse for reproductionpurposes only. While Sookie Stackhouse Novels projects a sexual liberal society wherehomosexuals and heterosexuals are equal in existence and where intercourse is forpleasure and everyone’s private right. By using character analysis and critical discourse analysis regarding to thedisplayed state of the society in the novels, the purpose of this disquisition is to analysehow Eric Northman's and Edward Cullen's masculinity and sexuality are shaped.

Critics of Edith Wharton frequently discuss the material culture that pervades her work, but the trend in doing so has been to rush past the things themselves and engage in abstracted conversations of theory. I would like to suggest that a closer scrutiny of the individual objects being presented in Wharton’s novels can highlight Wharton’s own theoretical approaches to material culture. Working from Bill Brown's distinction between objects and things, I want to argue that Wharton firmly situates the material culture in The Age of Innocence in the background of her characters' lives as objects which they utilize as extensions of the self; but she brings the thingness of material culture to the forefront in Twilight Sleep, where the material culture in the novel alternately stands out and malfunctions, as characters attempt—and fail—to construct coherent and livable identities for themselves in the face of a 1920s New York that Wharton depicts as a paradoxically over-furnished wasteland. I will ultimately argue that things, problematic as they are, become a matter of survival strategy for her characters in Twilight Sleep when they utilize them to reconstruct the social relations that have become increasingly threatened from the world of The Age of Innocence. / text

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The aim of this essay is to examine fan culture’s role in Swedish public libraries. I have interviewed, via email, six librarians who encounter and use fan culture in their daily work. The theoretical elements of my essay are based on a modified set of theories by Dorte Skot-Hansen that identifies six ideal types of cultural political rationalities. My study reveals that fan culture is used in Swedish libraries as a tool in increasing user participation in library activities. As a tool it is used first and foremost to attract young people to the library and to present the library as an environment that is welcoming to all cultures and all kinds of users. Interview responses suggest that there is a high demand for events connected to certain types of fan culture. I also draw the conclusion that the use of fan culture in a public library setting is facilitated by the interactiveness afforded by Library 2.0 tools.

My thesis work and exhibition concerns bicultural issues dealing with gender roles, cultural identity, and class.

The purpose of this essay was to compare the classic vampire narrative, Bram Stoker's Dracula, to a more contemporary vampire narrative using the first book, Twilight, in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series as a prime example.  By looking at the world of the vampire, the figure of the vampire and the interaction between the vampire and the main female characters in each respective story, the goal was to see how much the vampire narrative has evolved.  The argument was that the movement from Dracula to Twilight was from an archetypical, terrifying vampire to a more modern, sexually alluring and romantic vampire, where several aspects of terror have been removed.  What has been shown is that there are many aspects that have changed once terror is not the focal point. In addition, this essay also argued that in a classroom setting one could use a modern vampire narrative, such as Twilight, to activate pupils’ interest in vampires which would naturally segue into meaningful discussions, comparisons and analyses of the prototypical vampire narrative found in Dracula. As a result, this activity would also encourage students to read literature and explore new worlds

The popularity of the Twilight saga, enhanced by the film adaptations of the books, sparked a series of interesting reactions of fans. One was the creation of “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob,” in which fans aligned with one or the other character and argue about which one of them could be a better romantic partner. This study explores the messages the movies are sending to young girls around the world about what are the traits of the “ideal” male romantic partner as portrayed through the characters of Edward and Jacob. A textual analysis of the first three movie adaptations of the saga, Twilight (2008), New Moon (2009), and Eclipse (2010) was conducted. Based in social cognitive theory and using a feminist critical approach, I argue that these messages might be teaching young girls lessons about relationships that are up to certain degree dangerous, some of them perpetuating patriarchy.

This essay examines the sadomasochistic relationship between the main characters of the Twilight Saga from a psychoanalytic perspective, and looks at the family and gender roles in the Saga from a post-feministic view. Aspects also considered are the portrayal of female sexuality as something dangerous and negative, recreational sex as something perverted, and the pro-marriage and anti-abortion propaganda in the last two novels. The purpose of the essay is to reveal how the author’s personal, and to some extent religious, beliefs and values are validated through the storyline; how the relationship between the main characters, as well as their personal psychological and physical health, change after matrimony and parenthood.

Through a study of Twilight literary texts, fangirls' online discourse, and cinematic adaptations, I theorize the rhetorical dimensions of "neo-Victorian melodrama," a pervasive mode of discourse in girl culture. These rhetorical functions include the validation of girls' emotional lives, especially affective responses to coming-of-age experiences. Through the confessional revelation of interiority, neo-Victorian melodrama promotes empathy and intimacy among girls and functions to critique restrictive constructions of contemporary girlhood, which has inherited Victorian discourses related to female youth. Theorizing these rhetorical dimensions helps advance an appreciation for girls' rhetorical activities and their cultural preferences. These preferences have often been derided by ageist and sexist critiques of Twilight, a phenomenon initiated by Stephenie Meyer's young adult vampire romance. In order to determine the rhetorical dimensions of neo-Victorian melodrama in girl culture, I use generic rhetorical criticism. Specifically, Meyer's Twilight Saga appeals to contemporary girls through melodramatic moments shared with Charlotte Brontë's nineteenth-century Jane Eyre. Fangirls' online discourse certifies this appeal while also demonstrating how melodrama qualifies girls' own speech practices. Thus, generic criticism is complemented by ethnographic approaches to fandom. In addition, a focus on narrating voiceover, a sound convention with a legacy in girls' media, helps make sense of the Twilight cinematic adaptations' translation of neo-Victorian melodrama from page to screen. The rhetorical dimensions of neo-Victorian melodrama in girl culture are consistent with previous feminist theoretical insights related to the revelation of affect, intimacy, and personal experience for the purpose of community building. While feminist rhetoricians have addressed women's rhetorical practices, they have not theorized girls to the same extent, nor have they used generic criticism to account for melodrama's redemptive or progressive potential. Likewise, while scholars of literature, film, and media studies have advanced an appreciation for women's preferences for melodrama, these feminist scholars generally have not treated girls' preferences for the melodramatic mode. And while feminist critics in girls' studies have theorized girls' productive cultural contributions, as well as their complex reading and viewing strategies, such scholarship has not accounted for girls' preferences for melodrama. My study at once builds on and remedies the gaps in this theoretical foundation. / text

In the Swedish school one of the tasks is to work against gender stereotypes and towardsequality between the sexes. The purpose with this essay is to present ways of looking atliterature that teachers can either implement in their classroom or use to better preparethemselves, ways for both teachers and their pupils to gain a critical view towards literaturethat can strengthen the work towards such equality. The tools used in the essays are 1) readingprevious scholars’ analysis of the text, 2) the Bechdel-Wallace-Test, and 3) the Gender Stairs.My example text will be Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight from 2007. The results shows that thebook clearly presents stereotypes of males and females, since the male characters in the bookare strong, protective, and active, while the female characters are beautiful, dependent, andpassive. The novel also defends, preserves, and amplifies patriarchal structures. This analysisplaces Twilight as a minus three in Edwertz and Lundström’s Gender Stairs. The novel is thusa good book for teachers to use if they want their students to see a classical example of howgender myths are presented in literature. Showing a classical example of stereotypes inliterature may in turn help the students detect stereotypes, which is one step towards equalitybetween men and women, which is one of the tasks of the Swedish schools.