Meg Cabot’s young adult (YA) novel series The Princess Diaries (2000-2009) is one of many modern-day examples of attempts to redefine what Western society considers the classic princess narrative: the story of a beautiful princess passively waiting for Prince Charming. As critics such as Kay Stone and Sarah Rothschild emphasize, the fictional princess is traditionally linked to notions of ideal femininity which, in turn, makes princess stories interesting texts from a feminist perspective. Rothschild notes a surge in YA princess novels in recent years, with YA writers such as Cabot aiming to challenge the traditional image of the princess as a passive feminine stereotype in their re-workings of the princess story. Previous feminist research on The Princess Diaries series celebrates the main character Mia as a symbol of third wave feminism and as such, a positive role model for Cabot’s predominantly young, female readers. Mia’s characteristic Dr Martens boots are frequently cited as an example of how greatly Mia differs from her princess predecessors. However, these critics ignore important changes in Mia’s personality over the course of the series. By the end of the series, the Dr Martens-wearing heroine introduced in the first book has replaced her combat boots with high heels. In my thesis, I will argue that Mia’s transformation in terms of appearance and preoccupation with mainstream fashion, from quirky outsider to stereotype girly girl, complicates the idea of The Princess Diaries series as feminist texts. Moreover, previous feminist research largely ignores diary writing’s prominent role in the series, and the ways in which the diary format influences the reader-narrator relationship in the novels. In my feminist reading of The Princess Diaries series, I therefore use Mia’s diary writing and the diary format of the series as my starting points. I argue that while Mia’s diary writing is portrayed as empowering, and thereby inspiring, the diary format as a narrative structure creates a rather ambiguous tone and effect; questioning but simultaneously conforming to traditional, restricting notions of femininity.

Detta är en kvalitativ aktionsforskningsstudie utförd i förskolan. Studiens syfte är att bidra med kunskap genom ett praktiskt exempel visa hur pedagoger aktivt kan medverka till pedagogisk kvalitetsutveckling genom aktionsforskning. Metoden för undersökningen har främst följt Rönnermans (2012) aktionsforskningsprocess. I processen har reflektion, loggboksföring och filminspelning ingått. Ur pedagogernas reflektioner och resonemang hämtar studien sin empiri som sedan tolkas med stöd av Timperleys (2013) kunskapsbildande cykel, som använts som en teoretisk tolkningsram i studien. Studiens frågeställningar:•På vilka olika sätt upplever pedagoger i en förskola aktionsforskning som ett arbetssätt för ökat kvalitetsmedvetet arbetssätt?•Hur resonerar och reflekterar pedagogerna kring en egenvald frågeställning, med intention till att utveckla sin praktik? •På vilka sätt har föreliggande aktionsforskning lämnat spår av pedagogisk kvalitetsutveckling?Resultatet visar att aktionsforskningens huvudverktyg, kollegiala samtal med handledning och dokumentation, kan ha en motiverande effekt för pedagogerna. Kollegiala samtal ger pedagogerna en lust och positiv energi att vilja utveckla sin praktik mot en högre pedagogisk kvalitet. Hur tiden organiseras på förskolan är en avgörande faktor för en lyckad utvecklingsprocess. Detta visar sig ur flera perspektiv i studien; hur pedagogerna planerar för sina aktiviteter, hur reflektionstid är organiserat i förskolans utbildning, hur mycket tid som förskolechefen har för att delta i studien och vilken tid som är avsatt för kvalitetsarbete. Även pedagogerna själva upplever viss tidsbrist till de moment som ingår i aktionsforskningsprocessen. Slutsatserna i studien är att pedagogerna har upplevt aktionsforskning positiv för verksamhetsutveckling och att handledningen i processen visar sig vara av betydelse ur ett utvecklingsperspektiv. Den positiva motivation som pedagogerna får genom aktionsforskningens process kan sägas vara en drivkraft att vilja utveckla sin egen praktik. / This is a qualitative action research study in preschool. The aim is to understand how preschool pedagogues can participate in school development in an active way using action research. The research method has followed Rönnermans’ (2012) steps for an action research process. Reflection, diary writing and filming are methods which are included in this process, and are also used in this study. The empirical data is collected from reflections and dialogues between the pedagogues and are analysed by Timperleys’ (2013) cyclic knowledge process wheel. This has been the theoretical frame for the study. The research questions in this study are:- to find out in which ways pedagogues experience action research as a way to reach higher quality awareness.- how pedagogues reflect upon an own research question, with intentions to develop their own practise.- in which ways this action research does leave prints of pedagogical quality development.The results indicate that the main tools in action research, collegial dialogues with mentoring and documentation, can be motivating for the pedagogues. The collegial dialogues give the pedagogues positive energy to develop their own practice towards higher quality. How the time is organized for a successful quality development turns out to be a crucial factor in the studied preschool viewed from several perspectives. Pedagogues’ time for reflection and for planning activities are difficult to organize for. It also seems difficult for the preschool director to participate in the action research meetings. The conclusions of the study are that action research process seems to give pedagogues positive energy and motivation for willing to develop the preschool education. In summary, this study indicates that pedagogues can find empowerment in action research to make pedagogical quality development successful.

Cette thèse a pour but d’étudier l’écriture du journal chez Annie Ernaux à partir de sept textes diaristiques : Journal du dehors, « Je ne suis pas sortie de ma nuit », La Vie extérieure, Se perdre, le « photojournal » d’Écrire la vie, L’Atelier noir et Regarde les lumières mon amour. Ces journaux se différencient par leur forme et par leur fond : journal intime, journal externe, journal d’écriture et photojournal. Ils entretiennent également des liens avec les textes littéraires de leur auteur. Nous nous sommes intéressé tout d’abord à leur poétique, en partant du cadre théorique de la forme journalière pour analyser leur transcription du temps, leur structure fragmentaire et la figure de la diariste. Puis nous avons étudié le rôle triple joué par la pratique diaristique chez l’auteur : le besoin de conserver une trace du vécu et du fait social, l’aide psychologique au quotidien et la découverte de soi. En dernier lieu, nous avons analysé les résonances des journaux dans les différents textes de notre corpus, les liens les unissant aux extraits intimes parus dans des revues littéraires, de même que les rapports entre journaux et récits, tant par leurs thématiques que par leur conception et le recours à la photographie. Notre étude montre ainsi toute l’importance jouée par le journal dans la vie et le travail littéraire d’Annie Ernaux. La forme diaristique lui est en effet indispensable pour retracer son existence, garantir sa vérité et accompagner ses projets d’écriture. / This thesis aims to study the diary writing of Annie Ernaux from seven diaristic texts: Journal du dehors, “Je ne suis pas sortie de ma nuit”, La Vie extérieure, Se perdre, “photojournal” in Écrire la vie, L’Atelier noir and Regarde les lumières mon amour. These diaries are differentiated by their forms and their contents: intimate diary, impersonal diary, literary diary, and photojournal. They also have links with the literary works of their author. We were interested first of all in their poetics, based on the theoretical framework of diary form in order to analyze their time transcription, their fragmentary structure and the diarist’s figure. Then we studied the triple role played by her diaristic practice: the need to keep a record of personal experience and social facts, the psychological assistance in daily life and the self-discovery. Finally, we analyzed the resonances in the texts of our corpus, their links with diary fragments published in literary journals, as well as the relationship between diaries and literary works, in their themes, their conception and the use of photography. Thus our study shows the diary’s importance in the life and the literary work of Annie Ernaux. The diaristic form is essential for her to trace her existence, guarantee her verity and accompany her writing projects.