The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine librarians attitudes and values when it comes to the question if a new media, video games, should be introduced at the library or not. Video games are here seen as media primarily for youths. In our study we also wanted to study the discussions of quality and purchase, when computer games were introduced at the library. In order to answer our questions we conducted nine interviews with librarians working with children and youths, in eight libraries. By analysing their statements, using Maj Klassons theory where she defines the librarians role in three different strategies, we could demonstrate how the librarians reason when it comes to video and computer games, youths, quality and purchase.

The aim of this thesis is to expand the understanding of 16th century Flemish art by approaching paintings by artists Pieter Aertsen (1508-1575), Joachim Beuckelaer (1533-1574) and Pieter Bruegel (c. 1525-1569) from a different perspective. This is done by extending the discourse of art history, into a discourse of literary history and primarily 16th century novels by authors such as François Rabelais and Miguel de Cervantes. The paintings are studied in relation to these 16th century novels, by comparison and as a testament of this specific time period. A widening contextualization is also constructed in which a connection to the expression of the carnivals ambivalent form, as well as the notion of lower classes is explored.

The aim of this master thesis is to examine readers? advice in weblogs - frequently modified web pages with a series of archived entries. We have chosen to study a specific kind of entry that contains information about a book of fiction- not for children and young adults - and the bloggers? comments regarding that same book. The entries are published in ten weblogs that all deal with literature and reading.

This study analyses five different picture books from the last few decades. The aim of the analysis was to investigate how relations between children and adults are presented in the picture books. One way to achieve this has been to focus on the adults? presence or absence in the narrative, and also what kind of authority the adult(s) can have in the action and how it can affect relations between children and adults. The idea is that this degree project can be adapted for practical use in school.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the impact that clothing has in Margaret Atwood?s novel The Blind Assassin from 2000. The essay begins with a brief overview of how clothing has been acknowledged in different areas of research. The overview leads up to the conclusion that fashion, as well as clothing in large, has been overly ignored as a potentially fruitful subject of academic status. This is much due to the fact that fashion is traditionally regarded as being a classically feminine subject, as well as it can be said to be a result of fashion?s very elusive character.

The aim of this study is to examine the collection One Thousand and One Nights (also: The Arabian Nights) from a european perspective, by comparing different european translations. The study focuses on three translations into Swedish from different periods of time and how the tales have changed in the translation process - depending on the prevailing line of approach and Western perceptions of Eastern standards. The thesis of the study is that Eastern culture, from a Western perspective, has been seen as exotic and different but not as a high literary culture and that this view has affected the translations into european languages. The study shows, among other things, that Western culture is many times considered normative in the translations and that the translators often give their own voices a prominent role, also that common Western notions of the East affects the translations.The word ?orientalism? is used frequently in the study and it refers primarily to the image of the Orient as it is described in Edward Saids' book Orientalism: as a Western construction whose main purpose is to strengthen its own conception of the Orient and thereby strengthen the Western identity as better than the Orient.

The purpose of this paper is to study the image of Strindberg that is conveyed in four different textbooks for the upper secondary school. How do the teaching authors choose to portray Strindberg? Do they focus on any one particular aspect of his writing? Adjacent to this a subsidiary aim is to see if teaching authors highlight the fictional nature of Strindberg?s works or choose to encourage a biographical interpretation. The work consists of a study of four literary history textbooks in the subject of Swedish for the upper secondary school, from 2000 to 2012. In the selected material the sections focusing on Strindberg and his writings are closely read and critically analysed.

This thesis explores the validity of feminist poststructuralist theory in relation to gender and culture. Within the theoretical frame¬work of Judith Butler, combined with insights from the field of post-colonial theory, different perspectives of the dilemma of universalism are discussed. Primary sources for the study are policy documents from the Swedish government, literary texts and newspaper articles. The results show a number of paradoxes which need to be continually and critically kept unsolved. This does not mean an end to feminist engagement in other contexts than one's own but rather the need for theoretical awareness and self reflection.

This essay analyses the existence of a literary tendency in Sweden the last decade, which shares many similarities with magical realism. The study includes the work of three writers: Majgull Axelsson with Aprilhäxan; John Ajvide Lindquist with Hanteringen av odöda and Låt den rätte komma in; and finally a short story of Alejandro Leiva Wegner, ?Elixir?.Focus for this work is to expose how these writers use supernatural events/people as a strategy to create a new identity and to effect social criticism, strategies that are common to magical realism.The aim of this work is therefore to clarify generalities about magical realism as a genre and give it a place in Swedish literature and in a changing Swedish society. Furthermore this essay defines a unique term for the genre as adapted to the Swedish reader and with some characteristics of its own: ?övernaturlig realism? (supernatural realism)..

The purpose of this paper is to study the image of Strindberg that is conveyed in four different textbooks for the upper secondary school. How do the teaching authors choose to portray Strindberg? Do they focus on any one particular aspect of his writing? Adjacent to this a subsidiary aim is to see if teaching authors highlight the fictional nature of Strindberg?s works or choose to encourage a biographical interpretation. The work consists of a study of four literary history textbooks in the subject of Swedish for the upper secondary school, from 2000 to 2012. In the selected material the sections focusing on Strindberg and his writings are closely read and critically analysed.

This thesis is structured as a combined empirical and literary study. The aim is to investigate how children at the age of 11-12 years reflect on their readings of fiction and how these reflections relate to the librarians' perspective of a child's reading ability and reading development. Qualitative interviews with children and librarians constitute the empirical part. Research and theories are compared to the empirical part then placed into a more extensive context. How do children at the age of 11-12 years old reflect upon their reading of fiction and how do librarians relate themselves to this age? An analysis using interviews, research and theories is used to answer these questions.

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the methods used by teachers and childrens' libra­rians concerning their work with fiction at the junior school level. Based on a series of qualitative interviews and by compiling a list of short summaries of literature relevant to our thesis we wished to reflect on the manner in which the respondents see themselves in their teaching roles.We also wanted to discover what problems they had in their work and what visions they held for the future. The methods used by the teachers were mainly: reading- both aloud and individually, process-oriented writing, use of fiction in thematic studies and dramatization. The teachers' aspirations for the future included a centrally situated school library and further education in children's literature. The teachers take the needs of their pupils as a starting point and build on these needs - using many years of literary teaching experience as a foundation."Booktalks" for the children and intermediaries (teachers ...)and education in books and library systems are the childrens' librarians main literaturepedagogic methods.

As public libraries in Sweden receive the bulk of their budget from local government funding, which has stayed static or, at best, seen small increases, libraries have been faced with inadequate resources with which to satisfy increasing expectations from users. As few libraries are over-funded in the first place, ways may have to be found to combat this situation. The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine alternative sources of funding for Swedish public libraries, and my main focus of interest is that of sponsorship. The method used is a literature study combined with an empirical study, in which interviews were conducted with five persons each with long experience of working with public libraries. The literary study deals with the concept of sponsorship, and the motivations for companies to sponsor are also examined.

Sara Lidman?s second novel Hjortronlandet (1955) unfolds in the north of Sweden in the early 20th century. It describes the progress of modernity and the conflicting interests of an old local culture and a new more ?civilised? one. The two cultures are constituted by different value systems and in the novel they are represented by two neighbour communities.

How do we perceive literature? In our times computer games and Internet have made us grow more comfortable to the usage of non linear storylines. But how does this apply to printed literature?In this essay, called ?From a to b through d h and o. Non linear storytelling in our time? I have focused on nonlinear literature from different time periods and I have studied novels such as James Joyce?s Ulysses as well as works by William S.