<p>This essay analyses the existence of a literary tendency in Sweden the last decade, which shares many similarities with magical realism. The study includes the work of three writers: Majgull Axelsson with Aprilhäxan; John Ajvide Lindquist with Hanteringen av odöda and Låt den rätte komma in; and finally a short story of Alejandro Leiva Wegner, “Elixir”.</p><p>Focus for this work is to expose how these writers use supernatural events/people as a strategy to create a new identity and to effect social criticism, strategies that are common to magical realism.</p><p>The aim of this work is therefore to clarify generalities about magical realism as a genre and give it a place in Swedish literature and in a changing Swedish society. Furthermore this essay defines a unique term for the genre as adapted to the Swedish reader and with some characteristics of its own: “övernaturlig realism” (supernatural realism).</p>

This essay analyses the existence of a literary tendency in Sweden the last decade, which shares many similarities with magical realism. The study includes the work of three writers: Majgull Axelsson with Aprilhäxan; John Ajvide Lindquist with Hanteringen av odöda and Låt den rätte komma in; and finally a short story of Alejandro Leiva Wegner, “Elixir”. Focus for this work is to expose how these writers use supernatural events/people as a strategy to create a new identity and to effect social criticism, strategies that are common to magical realism. The aim of this work is therefore to clarify generalities about magical realism as a genre and give it a place in Swedish literature and in a changing Swedish society. Furthermore this essay defines a unique term for the genre as adapted to the Swedish reader and with some characteristics of its own: “övernaturlig realism” (supernatural realism).

The aim of this dissertation is to explore the functions of narration in Amy Tan’s novel The Hundred Secret Senses. The dissertation is divided into three parts: 1 ‘Introduction’, 2 ‘Analysis’ and 3 ‘Conclusion’. After presenting the writings of Amy Tan and my chosen primary literature, I give a brief survey of terms, theories and previous research. Part 2 ‘Analysis’ is presented in an order that corresponds approximately to the chronology of the primary literature, and will be divided into three chapters: 2.1 ‘Explain, Build a Relationship and Reflect’, 2.2 ‘Influence Thinking and Behaviour’ and 2.3 ‘Remember, Unify and Transmit’. Chapter 2.1 has the first half of the novel as its main focus. It is organised mainly after the clarity of the narrator’s voice, i.e. if the narrator shows (e.g. ‘indirect explanation’) or tells (e.g. ‘explicit explanation’), and analyses how narration functions in order to ‘explain’, ‘build a relationship’ and ‘reflect’ on events and other things. Chapter 2.2 elaborates on the narration that takes place before and after the trip to China, an event that divides the novel into two halves. This chapter deals with the function of ‘influence’, which can be seen as a result of the narrator’s authority and is summarised in the section called ‘Steps of Influence’. Chapter 2.3 delves into the functions of narration most visible in the novel’s second half, which takes place in China. The functions of ‘remembrance’, ‘unification’ and ‘transmission’ have many sub-functions in common, which could perhaps be seen as a result of the blurred perspectives in the novel’s plot. Part 3 aims to summarise the results of the analysis. A theme that recurs through the analysis of functions is the relationship and balance of authority between the two characters/narrators. Sometimes a narrator’s authority, or a shift in this balance, is a prerequisite of a function of narration.

In this essay Murakami Haruki’s novel The Wind Up Bird Chronicle was analysed from the perspective of Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the chronotope. The aim was to explore the concept of time and space as presented in the novel. In particular, the analysis focused on how Bakhtin’s chronotopes can be applied to The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, how the chronotopes can enhance our understanding of the novel, and finally how the chronotope theory can be applied to the concept of ‘magic realism’ that is often used to describe Murakami’s authorship. Four chronotopes, presented by Bachtin, were selected and applied to the novel: every-day life, the road, crisis and the castle. The concept of the chronotope allows analysis of how time and space work together in literature and how they form patterns of correlation in the sujet. Results showed that the four chronotopes were found in the novel, and that they also interacted with each other. The chronotope of everyday-life was apparent throughout the novel, and the narrator was under its control. The narrator also seemed to create every-day life out of the chronotopes of the road and crisis by re-living the crises in the road. These three chronotopes seemed inseparable in The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. Finally, the fourth chronotope, the castle, illustrated how a concrete room in the novel, a house, became a part of time and space through a character who, by his presence, gave the impression of slowing down time. When this character disappeared, time made its way through space, making the chronotope of the castle visible. The essay concludes that the chronotope theory was a relevant way to analyse The Wind Up Chronicle as it provided a concept of how time and space appeared together in a novel where time and space is always present. The analysis helped creating a way of understanding the patterns in the novel, which were not always clear, thereby also increasing the understanding of The Wind Up Bird Chronicle.