<p>The purpose of this study has been to analyze the image of Strindberg in today's upper secondary school. How is the author portrayed in the textbooks and teaching aids, and which parts of the authorship does the textbook and teaching aids authors choose to focus on?  </p><p>This work has been implemented in the form of a textbook and teaching aids survey where eight textbooks for the upper secondary school from 1989 to 2008 has been analyzed with focus on the sections that consider Strindberg and his authorships.</p><p>What emerges when studying these textbooks and teaching aids is that they give a rather synonymous picture of the man and the author Strindberg. Big focus is aimed on private life and the scandals that the author more or less voluntary became a part of. The majority of the textbooks treats matters as ”the misogynist” and ” the critic of society” and the so called Inferno crisis, and also when one discusses the literary works it is done in the light of the author's own life and accomplishments.</p><p>When it comes to the author's literary production it is a very limited selection that is presented to the students. It is mainly two works that are mentioned, <em>Röda Rummet</em> and <em>Hemsöborna</em>, and these two novels gets to symbolize the author's revolts in the first case and his greatness as an author in the last mentioned case.</p><p>Main focus in these eight textbooks lies on the prose, but also Strindberg’s drama gets a lot of attention with titles such as <em>Fröken Julie</em> and <em>Ett drömspel</em> most frequently mentioned. Strindberg’s greatness as a playwright is also mentioned, often together with longer extracts, but the geniality of his work is never explained or justified in a pedagogic way.</p><p>Strindberg is already seen as an icon in Swedish literature, an image that is only strengthen by the telling of his versatile artistry such as painting, photographing and guitar playing. Moreover, it is mentioned in connection with that one recurs to the author's permanent outcomes and attacks on the establishment. It is in other word the image of the great artist that is presented. The artist who’s ability admittedly passes the common people, but at the same time permanent is misinterpreted and is being forced to fight for his right.</p><p>This myth around the author is however a relatively late invention. In the textbooks that were used during the early 1900´s for example a lot of criticism was aimed at Strindberg both for lack of correctness in his historical works and in connection with his society critical attitudes.</p><h1> </h1>

The purpose of this study has been to analyze the image of Strindberg in today's upper secondary school. How is the author portrayed in the textbooks and teaching aids, and which parts of the authorship does the textbook and teaching aids authors choose to focus on?   This work has been implemented in the form of a textbook and teaching aids survey where eight textbooks for the upper secondary school from 1989 to 2008 has been analyzed with focus on the sections that consider Strindberg and his authorships. What emerges when studying these textbooks and teaching aids is that they give a rather synonymous picture of the man and the author Strindberg. Big focus is aimed on private life and the scandals that the author more or less voluntary became a part of. The majority of the textbooks treats matters as ”the misogynist” and ” the critic of society” and the so called Inferno crisis, and also when one discusses the literary works it is done in the light of the author's own life and accomplishments. When it comes to the author's literary production it is a very limited selection that is presented to the students. It is mainly two works that are mentioned, Röda Rummet and Hemsöborna, and these two novels gets to symbolize the author's revolts in the first case and his greatness as an author in the last mentioned case. Main focus in these eight textbooks lies on the prose, but also Strindberg’s drama gets a lot of attention with titles such as Fröken Julie and Ett drömspel most frequently mentioned. Strindberg’s greatness as a playwright is also mentioned, often together with longer extracts, but the geniality of his work is never explained or justified in a pedagogic way. Strindberg is already seen as an icon in Swedish literature, an image that is only strengthen by the telling of his versatile artistry such as painting, photographing and guitar playing. Moreover, it is mentioned in connection with that one recurs to the author's permanent outcomes and attacks on the establishment. It is in other word the image of the great artist that is presented. The artist who’s ability admittedly passes the common people, but at the same time permanent is misinterpreted and is being forced to fight for his right. This myth around the author is however a relatively late invention. In the textbooks that were used during the early 1900´s for example a lot of criticism was aimed at Strindberg both for lack of correctness in his historical works and in connection with his society critical attitudes.

<p>This study examines in which way literature is presented in four schoolbooks for the Swedish senior high school of today, compared to descriptions and selections in Swedish universities. The study covers two basic schoolbook categories used in the teaching of Swedish and comparative literature: anthologies and textbooks.</p><p>The four anthologies structures and their joined canon are presented, and the text canon of 12 common writers is studied and compared to the corresponding text canon in the universities selection of texts to main courses in comparative literature. The four textbooks are analysed by close reading of the presentations of four different writers and their works, where the textbooks for the Swedish senior high school are viewed through the glass of literary guides used in Swedish universities.</p><p>The study also analyses what literary perspective is present in the Swedish school principles for education in literature and display, through earlier didactic studies, a sketch of the classroom reality of education in literature.</p><p>The study finds that the examined schoolbooks for the Swedish senior high school tend to, not only shorten the text length and amount of texts but also, simplify the selection and presentation of the writers production. This leads to certain fixed and, in some cases, almost stereotyped ‘roles’ that are assigned to the writers and limits their production. The examined schoolbooks also tend to focus on the themes and meaning of the texts, while neglecting the structure, language and form. Further more, the view on canon is often fairly uncomplicated and seemingly unaware of the many years of canon debates.</p><p>The selection of the four examined anthologies and textbooks for the Swedish senior high school, Ekengrens svenska, Svenska spår 2, Den levande litteraturen and Möt litteraturen, were based on popularity on the market. The corresponding material for Swedish universities was based on the selection in main courses in comparative literature from four of the largest universities: Göteborg, Lund, Stockholm and Uppsala. The selection of the four different writers and their work was based on a study on the canon of school editions of complete literary works in senior high schools of Stockholm.</p>

This study examines in which way literature is presented in four schoolbooks for the Swedish senior high school of today, compared to descriptions and selections in Swedish universities. The study covers two basic schoolbook categories used in the teaching of Swedish and comparative literature: anthologies and textbooks. The four anthologies structures and their joined canon are presented, and the text canon of 12 common writers is studied and compared to the corresponding text canon in the universities selection of texts to main courses in comparative literature. The four textbooks are analysed by close reading of the presentations of four different writers and their works, where the textbooks for the Swedish senior high school are viewed through the glass of literary guides used in Swedish universities. The study also analyses what literary perspective is present in the Swedish school principles for education in literature and display, through earlier didactic studies, a sketch of the classroom reality of education in literature. The study finds that the examined schoolbooks for the Swedish senior high school tend to, not only shorten the text length and amount of texts but also, simplify the selection and presentation of the writers production. This leads to certain fixed and, in some cases, almost stereotyped ‘roles’ that are assigned to the writers and limits their production. The examined schoolbooks also tend to focus on the themes and meaning of the texts, while neglecting the structure, language and form. Further more, the view on canon is often fairly uncomplicated and seemingly unaware of the many years of canon debates. The selection of the four examined anthologies and textbooks for the Swedish senior high school, Ekengrens svenska, Svenska spår 2, Den levande litteraturen and Möt litteraturen, were based on popularity on the market. The corresponding material for Swedish universities was based on the selection in main courses in comparative literature from four of the largest universities: Göteborg, Lund, Stockholm and Uppsala. The selection of the four different writers and their work was based on a study on the canon of school editions of complete literary works in senior high schools of Stockholm.