In Malin Kivelä?s novel Du eller aldrig (2006) the reader experiences the world through the body of Aija, the narrator; a middle aged woman living in Helsinki. Aija has no family or other social relations. Hers is a life of strict routine: she spends her time reading, cleaning and studying snowflakes. Critics of the novel have stressed that Aija?s way of narrating creates a strong sense of presence in the text, but also that Aija?s atypical social behavior evokes a sense of loneliness and alienation.

The purpose of this study has been to analyze the image of Strindberg in today's upper secondary school. How is the author portrayed in the textbooks and teaching aids, and which parts of the authorship does the textbook and teaching aids authors choose to focus on?  This work has been implemented in the form of a textbook and teaching aids survey where eight textbooks for the upper secondary school from 1989 to 2008 has been analyzed with focus on the sections that consider Strindberg and his authorships.What emerges when studying these textbooks and teaching aids is that they give a rather synonymous picture of the man and the author Strindberg. Big focus is aimed on private life and the scandals that the author more or less voluntary became a part of. The majority of the textbooks treats matters as ?the misogynist? and ? the critic of society? and the so called Inferno crisis, and also when one discusses the literary works it is done in the light of the author's own life and accomplishments.When it comes to the author's literary production it is a very limited selection that is presented to the students.