This thesis examines how teachers resonate when they chose what literature to use in the classroom. The focus of the study is how the teachers relate to using literature that have the potential to provoke and cause strong emotional responses. The method used was interviews with six teachers, which were then processed using a thematic analysis. The result showed that the teachers in our study, although initially positive towards the use of provocative literature, had some reservations regarding the actual use of literary texts with the potential to provoke and upset the students, but also themselves. For this, there were several reasons, and among them that the teachers felt the need to protect and care for their students' well-being, but also the fact that the teachers felt that it was hard to talk about morally reprehensible subjects with their students. The thesis concludes with a discussion regarding the provocative literatures position in education, the perceived distinction between “good” and “bad” provocations in the classroom and a short reflection about the didactic implications of the study and possible future research.

“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.