The aim of this study is to make visible the view held by a few Swedish didactics on what the purposes are of literature within the Swedish school. The contemporary didacticts who’s work have been studied are Bengt-Göran Martinsson, Gunilla Molloy, Anne Heith, Örjan Torell and Djamila Fatheddine.
Reading fiction in school has been an important part of education all through the 20th century, but the purposes of and approaches to literature has varied. Fiction has been seen as characterimproving, but also as degenerating. It has been seen as a way to broaden the understanding of other cultures, but also one’s own nation’s culture and history. In light of this background, and in a time in which fiction no longer primaraly is read this study seek to clarify which approaches to literature a few 21th century didactical och literature researchers holds.
Through a systematical literature study this study shows that in this field of research there are two main approaches to literature. Martinsson, Molloy and Heith has a democratical approach to the purpose of literature within the Swedish school, while Torell and Fatheddine holds a subjectivical approach. These approaches are not to be seen as two poles in a dicotomical relationship – they often work in synergy, which Molloy demonstrates when emphasizing the individual’s subjectivity’s role in a democracy
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