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 explores the reception of historical feature films in history education. It is concerned with how pupils experience the films as well as the significance of the feature film for their understanding and interpretation of history. The study incorporates empirical data from classroom projects in two different Swedish upper secondary schools where film was used as an educational tool. Observations of classroom activities were made and interviews with twelve pupils and their history teachers were conducted. The study applies a phenomenological approach. The lifeworld of the pupils is in focus, specifically the aspect of the lifeworld they live and experience in history class when film is used as a means of understanding the past. The phenomenon studied is thus how the pupils experience the film, and through the film, history itself. Theoretical notions from film reception studies and history didactics are used as analytic tools. The study shows how emotional and cognitive processes converge in the pupils’ meaning making of the films. The embodiment of the films’ narrative is an important factor that contributes to both the understanding of the film as well as of history. The pupils experience the films emotionally, feeling both empathy and antipathy for the various characters, physically through sight and sound as well as embodied reactions, and cognitively through an understanding of the film’s narrative. Embodied experience is fundamental for history to become materialized. The audiovisual portrayal and materialization of the past becomes embodied in the pupils so that the experience of the film and of the historical lifeworld presented therein becomes part of their lifeworld. Generally, pupils consider the films to be trustworthy, though this perceived accuracy depends on how authentically the narrative is performed and the pupils’ previous store of historical knowledge.  A didactic dilemma to consider when using historical feature film in the classroom is the contradiction between the aesthetic experience of a feature film and its use as a tool for understanding the past. The captivating character of feature film evokes empathy and engagement with the films’ characters regardless of the degree of historical accuracy. This is a critical issue for teachers; there needs to be balance between respect for the pupils’ aesthetic experience of the film and the need to guide them to develop for example the skills of historical empathy, where distance is necessary for the pupils to be able to consider different perspectives.