This essay, called Like a dry, dead tree on the bog, examines how the identity-bearing aspects of the dialects in fiction can be applied in teaching literature in the Swedish subject. The method used is a qualitative analysis and close reading of three works made by authors from the same area, Västerbotten and Norrbotten. The works used are The Tar Still (1953) by Sara Lidman, I Went Down To Brother (2018) by Karin Smirnoff and So Fucking Cold (2019) by Lova Lakso. The results in the analysis show that how the characters use their language, either if it is dialect or a standard variety, affects and implies their identity in relation to others and the region of Norrland, mostly in the form of affiliation or distance to a community. The discussion focuses mainly on how the dialect and its effect on identity that is shown in the works can be used in literature teaching in Sweden. Based on theories by Louise M. Rosenblatt and Lars-Göran Malmgren it suggests using the works as an opportunity for reasoning and discussing dialect and the identity-bearing aspects of it in the classroom.

Syftet med min uppsats har varit att undersöka mitt författarskap, dess litterära språk och plats i den samtida litteraturen, genom att analysera min novell ”När hedningen kom till byn”. Undersökningen består av översikter över de genrer jag tycker min text passar inom: magisk realism, norrländsk litteratur och skräcklitteratur; undersökning av författares verk som har influerat mig och varit representativa för den genre de skriver inom; mina kurskamraters och handledares reaktioner och konstruktiva kritik på novellen. Resultaten av genreundersökningarna visar hur jag använt eller inte använt mig av respektive genres olika särdrag och markörer samt hur min text förhåller sig till dess samtida författare. I undersökningen av skrivprocessen framgick textens styrkor och svagheter. Mina slutsatser är att genrebestämningen av novellen är beroende av med vilken blick man väljer att läsa texten. Jag upptäckte också att jag delvis följer de traditionella skrivmönstren inom respektive genre samtidigt som jag har min egen särprägel och ton samt sätt att framställa en text. / The aim of my thesis is to examine my authorship by making an analysis of my short story ”När hedningen kom till byn”. The literary language and its placement in contemporary literature is what I focused on while examinating. My analysis consists of overviews of the genres in which I think my short story fits: magical realism, Swedish northern literature and horror literature. Analyses of other authors’ essays in these genres have been done, as they influence the story in different ways. Constructive criticisms from my fellow students and supervisors have improved the examination. The result of the investigation of the genres shows whether I have used their different characteristics and markers or not. It also presents where the text remains in relation to other contemporary authors. The analysis of the writing process reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the text. I reached the conclusion that the genre of my short story varies, depending on the perspective with which it is read. Another conclusion is that, although I have followed some of the traditional writing patterns in each genre I have my own distinctiveness when it comes to creating, writing and designing a text.

What’s Hiding in the Woods of the Swedish North? – About nature, humans, and exoticism in three contemporary northern Swedish novels – This essay aims at exploring the use of nature and the supernatural in contemporary northern Swedish literature, in the light of the long historical exploitation of the area and the conflicts this caused. The novels that are being examined are Stallo by Stefan spjut, Glupahungern by Andrea Lundgren and Ett föremåls berättelse om obesvar by Mikael Berglund. The essay is underpinned, first and foremost, by theories of ecocritisism and postcolonial ecocritisism in order to explore the relations between humans and environment. In addition to this, theories of time-space relations and movement as well as theories of human-animal relationships and transformations are used. The analysis focuses on movement in time-space, the relationship between bear and child, and human-bear and troll-bear transformations in the novels. The different paths that are chosen by the characters in the novels reveal varying ways in which humans relate to nature, and as a result also relations to, and ideas about, the Swedish north. For example, the nomadic people in Ett föremåls berättelse om obesvar moves according to seasonal change, while the crowns men from the south establish their settlements close to the natural resources they are exploiting, in this case silver, and adjust nature to their own needs. These relationships are also made visible in relation to the non-human animals as well as non-human animal transformations in the novels: for example the troll-bear transformations in Stallo elaborates the idea of northern Sweden as a wilderness, whilst Glupahungern rather use this idea of northern Sweden in order to criticise the anthropocentric norm. In conclusion, all three novels relate in different ways to the history of, and ideas about, the Swedish north, which in turn are closely connected to stories about nature and the supernatural. The novels display a critical relationship towards historical events, as well as present day ideas and approaches to northern Sweden, nature and animals.