In this essay, I employ Judith Butlers theories of gender performativity to examine the construction of the monstrosity in Howard Phillips Lovecraft?s two works The Outsider and The Thing on the Doorstep. Focusing on the character?s monstrous attributes, how they are seen by themselves, by others and not least by the reader, I examine how their monstrosity is created and strengthened by dehumanizing processes. I argue that Lovecraft through his narrative technique complicates the relation between monstrosity and humanity in his characters, the result of which is a reader left to determine how monstrous, or human, the creature really is.

Even though the American author H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) has been praised as one of the most influential writers of horror literature in the 20th century, his style of writing has occasionally been criticized. Lovecraft was using a writing style based on strict scientific language, where the human condition and existence are irrelevant in the narrative. This includes less focus on character development and more on the importance of atmosphere and environments. I am presenting narratological analyzes of what is often considered to be three of Lovecraft?s ?greatest works?: ?The Call of Cthulhu?, At the Mountains of Madness, and ?The Shadow over Innsmouth.? These analyzes are used to highlight Lovecraft?s science-oriented language and narratological techniques, with the focus of studying what methods Lovecraft was using to give his works and his readers a sense of dread, hopelessness, and an alien atmosphere.

Uppsatsen undersöker H.P. Lovecrafts noveller "The Shadow out of Time" och "The Outsider" ur ett narratologiskt perspektiv med syftet att hitta återkommande narratologiska mönster i de två novellerna. .

While the strategy of lending a voice to the monstrous is a well known aspect of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's works, the female monster is a notable exception to this case. In this thesis, I excavate a theory of female monstrosity through a reading of some of Lovecraft's most read stories and the agency of female characters that appears within. Comparing these female registers of monstrosity to their masculine counterpart, I develop a concept of female monstrosity manifested through categories of class, race and gender with the help of Judith Halberstams theories of monstrosity.Rather than treating these women as active characters, I argue that Lovecraft's inability to handle these monsters forces him to literally put them away ? in attics, cellars, or boxes. These are the marginalized positions from which these women elaborate a monstrous form that transcends the boundaries of sex, gender, class and race.

Skolans roll som socialisationsagent är vida omtalad. I ett land som Sverige, där jämställdhet är ett högprioriterat område, borde verksamheten i skolan därför vara präglad av ett genusperspektiv. Gymnasieskolans styrdokument, i form av läroplaner samt kurs- och ämnesplaner, formulerar skolans värdegrund och strävansmål. Däri står att skolan ska fostra eleverna till demokratiska och jämställda samhällsmedborgare som inte räds att uttrycka sina ståndpunkter.I den traditionella kanonförmedling som skolan ägnat sig åt i decennier, har kvinnliga författare sällan lyfts fram, varför kvinnliga perspektiv och livsvillkor inte har uppdagats och diskuterats i klassrummen. Med detta som utgångspunkt har jag sökt finna en förståelse för hur svensklärare i gymnasieskolan resonerar och arbetar med sin litteraturundervisning.Med hjälp av samtalsintervjuer med fyra svensklärare har jag försökt klargöra deras litteraturuppfattningar, gällande synen på litteraturundervisningens syfte, urvalsprocesser för texter och eventuella genusperspektiv i detta sammanhang.Resultaten visar att endast en av de fyra lärarna har en medveten genuspedagogik och aktivt strävar efter att finna en balans mellan kvinnliga och manliga författare i sin undervisning.