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This research deals with Anorexia nervosa disorder in the novel ʾIjāṣat Mīlā, that portrays the impact of modern-day materialism and its effect on the emerging and spreading of some disorders to such an extent that it has become a phenomenon needing investigation. Because of a number of social and materialistic factors, this disorder deeply affects young people, who easily fall under the influence of social media.

This research examines both the background of the disorder and the suffering that the main character of the novel goes through. It further investigates the effects of social media platforms and fora on young people, together with the role of literature in portraying the damages caused by their usage. The novel is examined through critical cultural theory, which searches for the hidden cultural significance of the phenomenon. The result of the study shows that ʾIjāṣat Mīlā can be seen as a sphere, comprising all the social changes that communication technology causes in the new generations.

Lärarhandledning i arabisk didaktik – litteratur, grammatik och bedömning 

Boken är ett läromedel avsett för modersmålslärare i arabiska och består av åtta kapitel som behandlar didaktiska frågor rörande grammatik och litteraturundervisning samt bedömning.

‘Abd al Salām Al-‘Ujaylī was one of the most productive and versatile literary figures in twentieth century Syria. His experiences both as a medical doctor and a politician fed into his fictional output, which is most often characterized as realism. Al-‘Ujaylī is considered one of the earliest writers of fiction in Syria. Among his over forty publications are novels, poetry collections, theatre plays, travelogues, essays and auto-biographies. His preferred genre however remained the short story.

Catrin Gersdorf and Sylvia Meyer (2006) state that ecocriticism is a methodology which investigates different ways to contextualise nature and its function ideologically, aesthetically and ethically in literary texts. Through a close reading of three novels by the Syrian authors Fāris Zarzūr, ‘Abd al-Salām al-‘Ujaylī and Jān Aliksān this paper will investigate how they, in their literary texts, engage with one of the biggest human interventions in the natural life of Syria, namely the dams built along the Euphrates. By an examination of the characters’ relationship with the river – and later the dams and their drowned villages, the paper will show that the novelists make use of nature and its destruction to discuss ideological stands as well as ethical dilemmas. Although the three novelists reach different conclusions, they all aesthetically utilise water and its innate force which is forcibly tamed, to examine interaction between humans and nature, tradition and modernity, and individuals and the state apparatus.     

Salīm Barakāt is one of the most prolific modern Arab writers. He published his first poetry collection in 1973 and has since produced several more in addition to novels, essays, and autobiographical works. Despite living outside the Arab world since 1982, Barakāt’s literary output is closely connected to his Kurdish roots, and the culture and traditions of his birthplace in northern Syria. Barakāt’s inventive language, original narrative style and fantastical plots have placed him in the forefront of Arab literary modernism. His unconventional technique and mixture of styles and genres have at times made critics unable to describe his work in common literary terms, which in turn has given him the reputation of a renovator of the Arabic novel.   

This literary study examines the formulation of masculinity in Syrian novels authored by women. The thesis covers the period between 1959 and 2000, corresponding to both the development of the female-authored novel in Syria and the creation of the modern Syrian state. This research engages with studies of masculinity in general and literary masculinity studies in particular. Drawing on the seminal work of Raewyn Connell as well as engaging with studies on masculinity and feminine narratology in Swedish, English and Arabic, the thesis analyses the formulation of  literary masculinity through the fictional societies’ ideal masculinity on the one hand, and the female characters’ views and reactions to masculinity on the other. From a general survey of the field, 34 novels undertaking the formulation of gendered relations were identified and chosen for this study.  From this selection, five themes emerged, forming the foundation of this thesis’ main chapters.

The five themes explore, in turn, how stereotypes are utilised to critique gender roles, ways in which male and female characters collaborate to formulate gender norms, how female characters capitalise on patriarchy in order to enhance their lives, male characters as symbols for social and political change and finally, the difficulties included in the performance of masculinity. Each theme is exemplified through one novel, which is analysed in detail. Throughout the five chapters, the main novel chosen for analysis is put into conversation with other novels with similar themes but from different decades. This allows for an examination of changing ideals of masculinity in addition to the theme itself.

The first theme, how stereotypes are utilised to critique gender roles, is studied through a close reading of al-Ẓahr al-‘ārī (The Naked back) by Hanrīyit ‘Abbūdī. The analysis illustrates how the expected normative behaviour of men and women is utilised in order to comment on the formulation of gender roles. The chapter further demonstrates ways in which what is seen as gender specific behaviour can be appropriated by the opposite gender. This is further developed through the examination of female writers taking over the male voice through a first person male narrator. The second theme, ways in which male and female characters collaborate to formulate gender norms, is discussed through a close reading of the novel Khaṭawāt fī al-ḍabāb (Steps in the fog) by Malāḥa al-Khānī. This chapter illustrates the similar expectations that both male and female characters have on their sons and fellow male characters.  This includes taking on the role of provider and protector, even in the cases where the female characters are able to look after themselves.

The third theme, how female characters capitalise on patriarchy in order to enhance their lives, is elaborated through a close reading of Ayyām ma‘ahu (Days with him) by Kūlīt Khūrī. This theme demonstrates how the female character constructs herself and her world around the idea of a perfect male, whom she thinks will save her. The analysis examines what is seen as ideal traits in a man. It further discusses the change of the female character and how her initial utilisation of patriarchal structure transforms into a critique of the same structure.

The fourth theme, male characters as symbols for social and political change, is seen through a close reading of Dimashq yā basmat al-ḥuzn (Damascus, o smile of sadness) by Ulfat al-Idlibī. The chapter connects between changing social ideals and ideal masculinity. Through Bayrūt 75 (Beirut 75) by Ghāda al-Sammān, the fifth theme, the difficulties included in the performance of masculinity, is studied. The problematic masculinity presented is then put in contrast with what appears to be a suggestion that a performance of femininity could be an alternative to unsuccessful masculinity.

Whereas the novels differ in their presentation of masculinity and the utilisation of ideal masculinity, they agree on a set of core traits summarised in a hegemonic ideal of masculinity as an ability to provide and protect. The ways in which this should be performed is however closely connected to the female characters’ ideas of emancipation and women’s rights. The female writers’ formulation of masculinity can hence be said to mirror the development of the female characters and their awareness of women’s rights.  

The thesis hopes that its original contribution to knowledge is the identification and examination of constructed masculinities in Syrian female-authored fiction. Moreover, this thesis studies a body of Syrian fiction previously largely unstudied in Western academia, and in a framework of Swedish, English and Arabic secondary sources. 

Walīd Ikhlāṣī has become known as one of Syria’s most productive dramatists and novelists. Since his first short story collection in 1963 he has produced over 50 pieces of work including novels, plays and short story collections. A well-known modernist and surrealist writer, he has introduced his own distinctive style in his writing for the theatre and in his fiction. He has also been involved in work with the Arab Writer’s Union and in the editorial committees of several Syrian literary magazines, and influenced the cultural scene in Syria and the Arab world. Among Ikhlāṣī’s many plays al-ṣirāṭ (The Path) is often brought out as an example of his seemingly action-less plays which on closer examination are filled with sharp criticism of the social and political Syrian landscape. His short story collection, ma ḥadatha li-‘Antara? (What Happened to Antara?), shows his engagement with Arabic cultural heritage and the use of historical references in his work.

What can novels tell us about masculinity in Syria? In this book, Lovisa Berg explores over 20 Syrian novels covering the last 50 years of the 20th century. Uniquely, she examines only female writers in order to gauge the changing ways in which Syrian women perceived the function of masculinity, and the impact certain attitudes towards masculinity have on men, women, children and Syrian society, from a female perspective. The works of writers from Kulit Khuri to Usayma Darwish are analysed to explore changing attitudes to gender in Syria and the Middle East, as well as the political upheavals within the country and region. We see the idealistically portrayed men in the novels of female authors in the 1950s give way in time to a more critical depictions of patriarchy. Above all, we see through the use of novels a plethora of critiques of masculine hegemony in Syrian society, the authors of which are able with the use of fiction to reorganise and question maleness in a way denied to them in reality. This book will be of interest to scholars of Contemporary Syrian and Arabic Literature, Masculinity Studies and Women's Studies.

This article discusses the connection between power and sexual activity as seen in the novel Rā’iḥat al-qirfah (The Scent of Cinnamon) by the Syrian author Samar Yazbik. It addresses how the fictional society constructed in the novel sees sexual prowess as an instrument of power and how the author uses this connection to analyse and critique the power structures found in Syrian society. This is done through all the characters but in particular through the development of ‘Alyā, who transgresses gender norms and adopts what is coded male sexual behaviour in an attempt to obtain power. The article argues that her actions at the same time validate and violate the gender order since not only do they show that male sexual performance is linked to power, but also that a female can perform the same actions. Alyā’s conduct further illustrates the mechanisms of power structures built on fear and violence as found in the novel.

أدخل الباحث لورنس فينوتي مصطلحي "توطين" وتغريب" إلى علم الترجمة كطريقتين مختلفتين للتعامل مع النص.  ينطبق المصطلحان على عناصر عدة ومنها بناء الجمل وصياغتها وهذا ما سنركّز عليه في بحثنا هذا.

يتميز أدب الطفل السويدي بجمله القصيرة ولغته البسيطة بينما أدب الطفل العربي في أحيان كثيرة يركّز على سلامة اللغة والمستوى العالي من التعبير فسؤالنا هو: ماذا يحدث عند ترجمة نص يتميّز بلغته البسيطة إلى لغة تتوقع من أدب الطفل أن يكون مصدراً ذا قيم أدبية لتعليم العربية الفصيحة؟ هل يتم توطين اللغة في الكتب المترجمة أي تعديلات في الجمل السويدية القصيرة والمباشرة إلى مستوى أدبي أم هل يحافظ المترجم على المستوى اللغوي ويقوم بنوع من تغريب النص من حيث التعبيرات وتكوين الجمل؟ ناقش اللغويون والنحاة العرب مفهوم الجملة في العربية وقسّموها إلى جمل كبرى وجمل صغرى ومن خلال هذا التقسيم بدأنا بتحليل نحوي ولغوي لنصوص معاصرة للأطفال مكتوبة باللغة العربية وثم نصوص معاصرة للأطفال مكتوبة باللغة السويدية ومترجمة إلى العربية وقارنّا صيغ جملها وتركيبها مع النصوص العربية. كذلك استعملنا نظرية تكرار الكلمات المتداولة وقارنّا الكلمات المستعملة بالنصوص العربية والسويدية. وجدنا من خلال تحليلنا للنصوص أنّ هناك فرقاً بين النصوص من حيث البناء وأيضاً اختيار الكلمات وهذا أدى إلى نوع من التغريب في ترجمات الكتب السويدية.

Eyelight, in the eyes of a human portrayed on film, is a cinematographic means to augment the vividness of expressed emotions. This is used by both cinematographers and stills photographers, and it is also expressed in Anglo-Saxon, Arabic, and Japanese literatures. Here, the effect of using eyelight in the cornea of the human eye on film is examined by eye-tracking individuals on a Swedish university campus, in order to study their perceptual responses to film characters, with, or without, a glimpse of light in their eyes. The participants’ perceived capacity to discern the emotional states of the film characters was also tested. Eye-tracking data were analysed for entry time, fixation time, dwell time, hit ratio and revisitors, while emotional decoding was captured through a self-report survey, and by open questions. Our results demonstrated that film viewers’ attention is captured 49% faster, and 11% less time is used per fixation to film characters’ eyes, when eyelight is used. In addition, 58% of our participants claimed that emotions were easy to discern from eyes in the eyelight condition, whereas only 36% claimed that emotions were easy to discern under the no-eyelight condition. Although our results concern the subjective impression of one’s ability to discern the emotions of each film character, they offer preliminary support for the idea of using eyelight to enhance emotional communication in film and stills photography.

This chapter sets out to give an introduction to the blended language learning (BLL) research domain through an analysis of the most impactful BLL research as measured by Harzing’s Publish and Perish software. After an initial outline of the field of BLL and its development, the chapter discusses the research methods and approaches applied in the selected articles and demonstrates that a majority of the articles use a descriptive approach and the dominating method is interpretative studies. The chapter then goes on to analyse the themes of the articles and divides them in to six sections: students’ readiness for BLL, teachers’ perceptions of BLL, learner autonomy and self-regulated learning, second language acquisition, technology and BLL design. Finally, we offer future research directions in order to increase the sustainability of BLL, both as the field of practice and the research area. Overall the 41 reviewed studies present a substantial case for the benefits of BLL. However, to ensure the sustainability of BLL design and thus the generalisability of the research findings further BLL designers and researchers need to apply firm theories.

The presentation focuses on students’ understanding of collaborative, technology-mediated learning practices. It is based on a case study, conducted in cooperation between one university in Sweden and two in Somaliland. The structurational analysis is applied to interview and survey data from 24 students. The results show that language competence and functional technology are vital for success and that with these prerequisite met the students’ learning practices have switched from individual practices towards more collaborative ones.

This chapter explores relationships between student voice and translanguaging pedagogy in adult education for immigrant L2-learners with minimal or no prior schooling. Material collected over the course of three terms through classroom observations was used. Even though the students in this study do not challenge neither the teacher nor the teaching, they – along with the teachers – do challenge the monolingual norm that prevails in Swedish schools by claiming their voice and positioning themselves with their multilingual competence. We conclude that the use of translanguaging pedagogy gave students voice to express their views and relate the teaching to their experiences, both from their everyday lives in Sweden and from their earlier lives. The way that teachers not only gave room for the use of diverse languages but also themselves took interest in and engaged themselves in learning students’ various languages was positive for students’ engagement and their development of multilingual skills.