The Middle Age Period in Eight Juvenile Novels. This study investigates how the Middle Age is presented in literature for youths. I have taking four questions into consideration: How are the different groups or class in the Middle Age society are presented in terms of their housing, clothing, work assignments and leisure activities? What work assignments, leisure activities did children had and their relationship to adults? How was the religious life of monks, nuns and of the people in general? How are the people in the Middle Age described? The study focuses on youth literature written by Swedish authors. Eight books were read and compared. The results of this study shows that there were four kinds of housing during the Middle Age period: housing in cities or villages, housing on the country side and farms, housing in fortresses and housing in monasteries. The difference between housing conditions of the rich and the poor is that the rich could afford bigger houses, fancier building materials and interial details. Most of the garments were worn by both men and women in all the society classes. The biggest difference in the people´s clothing was the one between the rich and poor. The clothes of the rich were made in the fancier materials silk and velvet. Their clothes also had more ornaments. The work assignment between women in the different society groups differs less than the work assignments between men in the different society groups. Children most often took over their parents work. The leisure activities for children were about the same between the society groups. The relation between adults and children was strainous and the children were totally submissive to the adults. The religious life of the people consisted of actions done daily, weekly, annually and once in a life time. There were also actions that were done once in a while. Monks and nuns religious life was different from the rest of the people. They dedicated their lives to prayer and singing for God, and also to assist their fellowmen. The most common description of the people in the Middle Age period is that they did and thought things that were typical for that time period in question and that can seem strange for today`s readers.

Diss. Örebro : Univ., 2004.

Grafiska romaner har många dimensioner och kan analyseras på olika sätt. Dessa har ofta utgjort föremål för analyser av - och tolkningar kring - genusperspektivet. Gemensamt för ett flertal av dessa analyser är överenskommelsen om att karaktärerna i de grafiska romanerna speglar olika sociala situationer och förmedlar olika sociala budskap.  I vår undersökning genomförde vi en semiotisk analys av utvalda sidor i tre populära grafiska romaner för tonåringar. Detta för att undersöka hur läroplanens mål om att öka medvetenheten kring genusaspekten kan uppnås genom arbete med serier i bildämnet. De undersökta grafiska romanerna är Mörkt album, Maus och Framtidens arab 3. I den teoretiska analysen av materialet utgick vi från socialkonstruktionism och olika dimensioner av genus. Resultatet visade att majoriteten av huvudkaraktärerna i romanerna har framställts av författarna enligt stereotypa könsroller och böckerna förmedlar, i olika avseenden, maktpositioner mellan könen och de förväntningar som ställs på dessa samt illustrerar en tydlig genusordning. Vid analysen hittades därutöver ett snålt inslag av normbrytande beteende i könsrollshänseende. En ytterligare slutsats från studien är att arbetet med genusperspektiv kan bli en del av bildämnesdidaktiken där serier möjliggör för diskussionsområden och övningar som syftar till att aktualisera och problematisera genusfrågor i olika kontexter. / Graphic novels have many dimensions and can be analyzed in different ways. We  concluded from our study that the work with a gender perspective can become part of the didactics of visual subjects, where series enable discussion areas and exercises that show the  cross-gender opportunities for adolescents´s lives. When it comes to gender attitudes, we can learn from comics that they are constantly changing. There have been many different interpretations of gender roles in graphic novels over the years. Some of these explanations are more advanced than others, but they all provide a snapshot of attitudes toward gender at the time of their formation. Therefore this study aimed to investigate whether popular comic albums for young people exhibit limited gender patterns from a gender perspective. The study is conducted through a semiotic text and image analysis of three graphic novels: Mörkt album, Maus & Framtidens arab 3. The theoretical analysis of the material has been based on terms like social constructionism and different dimensions of gender. The result showed that most of the main characters in the books have normative characteristics and that the female characters adhere to the stereotypical gender role. In addition, the books convey prevailing positions of power between the genders and the expectations placed on them, and highlight the kind of gender order that prevails.

<p>By reading three 21st century books am I trying to see how the female friendship is described in literature of our days. The books are Rebell med frusna fötter by Johanna Nilsson, Lutherska badet by Unni Drougge and I närheten av solen by Hanna Wallsten. They are all written by Swedish authors and taking place in Stockholm in the early years of 2000. I am doing a critical reading against the roles of “heteronormativitet” as the word is described by Tiina Rosenberg and Fanny Ambjörnsson trying to see how the characters are following or breaking these roles. The books are also read comparative to each other. I am doing what I call a “väninneläsning” where the female friends are being the narrative engine in the story, helping the main character to construct a new and stronger subjective self. My conclusions by this reading are that the friendship is opening up for a change of the roles of relation(ships) between women and man. It creates a possibility of a life were the women can choose to live in a “vänskapsfamilj”, a friendship family. The power of choice gives her a new strength in demanding equal rights compared to the man.</p>

By reading three 21st century books am I trying to see how the female friendship is described in literature of our days. The books are Rebell med frusna fötter by Johanna Nilsson, Lutherska badet by Unni Drougge and I närheten av solen by Hanna Wallsten. They are all written by Swedish authors and taking place in Stockholm in the early years of 2000. I am doing a critical reading against the roles of “heteronormativitet” as the word is described by Tiina Rosenberg and Fanny Ambjörnsson trying to see how the characters are following or breaking these roles. The books are also read comparative to each other. I am doing what I call a “väninneläsning” where the female friends are being the narrative engine in the story, helping the main character to construct a new and stronger subjective self. My conclusions by this reading are that the friendship is opening up for a change of the roles of relation(ships) between women and man. It creates a possibility of a life were the women can choose to live in a “vänskapsfamilj”, a friendship family. The power of choice gives her a new strength in demanding equal rights compared to the man.

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No description available.

This study examines how the American comic book industry’s output is addressing the issue of Islam and in which manner the portrayal of Islam in the great American comic book universes have changed since 2001. The comic books are examined from the postcolonial perspective as formulated by Chandra Mohanty and the power and resistance-perspective as formulated by Michel Foucault. Examination of the comic books reveals far greater focus on universal values, orthopraxy and inclusive perspectives than it does on dogmatic teachings, orthodoxy and sectarianism while at the same time partly relying on generalizations and archetypes concerning Islam. To change the power balance requires what I call intervention from the objective, that is to say that ambiguity regarding Muslim characters has to be eliminated by the narrative. This reveals the prominence of the so-called white assistance fantasy in superhero fiction. / Den här studien granskar hur den amerikanska serieindustrins produktion bemöter ämnet islam och hur porträtteringen av islam i de stora amerikanska serieuniversumen förändrats sedan år 2001. Serietidningarna granskas genom det postkoloniala perspektivet formulerat av Chandra Mohanty och makt- och motståndsperspektivet av Michel Foucault. Granskning av serierna avslöjar långt större fokus på universella värden, ortopraxi och inkluderande perspektiv än dogmatiska läror, ortodoxi och sekterism samtidigt som man delvis förlitar sig på generaliseringar och arketyper rörande islam. För att ändra på maktbalansen behövs det ofta vad jag kallar intervention från det objektiva, det vill säga att tvetydighet om muslimska protagonister måste raderas av narrativet. Detta avslöjar den framträdande företeelsen av så kallade vit assistans-fantasier inom superhjältefiktion.

Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2005.

Diss. Umeå : Univ., 2003.