“Does provocativeliterature have a place in Swedish courses in high school? An examination of the didactic potential of American Psycho”. The essay aims to examine the didactic potential of the novel American Psycho with the support of the theoretical concept of alienation and Rita Felski's four aspects of reading (recognition,enchantment, knowledge, shock). By highlighting the defamiliarizationeffects that exist in the novel's duplications and extremes, the result shows a variety of didactically relevant questions. Among other things, the alienating effects show how the shifts in aspects could arise regarding issues concerning identity, human conditions and the view of society and people. Consequently, the results show that provocative literature, and in particular American Psycho, can be motivated on the basis that it challenges the student to new thoughts and opensnew perspectives, despite controversial and provocative content.