English title: Is a literary canon necessary? A comparative study based on seven senior high school teachers´ different approaches towards the place of canon in the education of Swedish. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze how seven senior high school teachers relate to a literary canon in Swedish while teaching literature in senior high school, identifying similarities and differences among the teachers? view and opinions about an outspoken formal literary canon and a silent, informal canon.The earlier research opens the door slightly to the American debate and gives insight about the complexity of the concept of canon. The study continues with exploring possible relations to postcolonial theory and didactics.    The study reveals that the majority of the concerns against canon are that too much centrally governed education may decrease the motivation and commitment of the teacher. In addition, the dominant canon passivizes a certain variety of literature, thus various points of views. On the other hand, views on the equalizing effect of canon on the level of education and its benefits in increased knowledge of the history of the literature are salient. .

In this thesis, we have analyzed the Swedish debate about whether to impose a national canon, and make it compulsory in school curricula. Cecilia Wikström, a Liberal MP in Sweden, made the suggestion in July 2006, and the focus of our analysis is the subsequent debate during July and August 2006. Our materials are polemical articles from three Swedish newspapers, which we have examined to find the main ideas and arguments behind the various standpoints. Three issues have been our main focus; first, we have analyzed which concepts of culture the various debaters have used, where we have seen a difference between an anthropological and an aesthetical concept, but, surprisingly, found that there isn?t a very strong correlation between an aesthetical concept of culture and being pro-canon, or between an anthropological concept of culture and being anti-canon.

This essay examines the debate that arose in connection to the sale of Carl Larsson?s monumental painting Midvinterblot in 1987. My main purpose is to examine which meanings the debaters ascribed Midvinterblot and in which way the debate influenced the paintings significance as cultural heritage. I will therefore argue that the debate initiated a renegotitation of the paintings meaning as cultural heritage. In the debate the debaters emphasized the National Museum?s responsibility over cultural heritage, Midvinterblots aestethic, the paintings economic value and its national implications.

This master thesis deals with computer game classics and a possible computer game canon. It looks closer at four computer game genres - adventure, RPG, action and strategy - in order to discern which games are considered classics and what characterizes them. To answer the first question a quantitative research method was used. 675 computer game reviews from 5 Internetsites were examined in order to see which games are mentioned most often in this context and therefore might be considered classics. To answer the second question a qualitative research method was used.

Is there an unwritten art canon in Swedish schools? This work is about the art displayed and used in Swedish schools. The study examines whether there is an art canon in Swedish schools, or not. Through my profession, as an art teacher at a secondary school, I have come to take an interest in this issue. When I use art images in my own teaching it often strikes me that many of the pictures I use are the same as the ones my colleagues use.

Literary debates about canon occur regularly. In the summer of 2006 such a debate took place in Sweden. The aim of this Master thesis is to examine the debate to identify the different discourses and what they reveal about ideas concerning the role of literature in society. The empirical material used for the analysis consists of 46 debate articles from three important newspapers. The combined theory and method applied is the discourse analysis described in Ernesto Laclau?s & Chantal Mouffe?s discourse theory.

This essay examines the decline of reading comprehension in Swedish schools, and also aims to provide insight into the debate concerning a literary canon and its usage in schools. While some claim that the literary canon is only a list of irrelevant white dead men which only serves to perpetuate feelings of alienation in, for example, female students, others see it as a means to bring society together using the only literature that stood the test of time. This essay will look to studies concerning reading comprehension, and questions regarding reading habits which our own students answered. It will also explain the different viewpoints of both sides of the Canon debate.There are several studies that show this decline in reading comprehension, PISA and PIRLS being the foremost of them. They point to a trend where the reading skills of boys are much worse than those of girls, a trend which still has not panned out.Bloom and the different researchers who are the basis for Verhaest's thesis are of the opinion that canonical literature serves a purpose in that it teaches students aesthetic literary values.

Our theatre tradition has a long history where men have written most of the plays. If we want that the theatre should be a place, which should be built as much around womens experience as mens experiences, how can we relate to the canon? This is a study based on questions around our theatre tradition. Three women dramatists have been asked questions like: What do you think about the classics? About the women roles? Do the classics inspire you, in your writing? Is there a difference in being a female dramatist than being a male dramatist? Femi-nist theatre- theories have been used to guide us through the canon.

This thesis studies three kinds of debate formats. Those are DN Debatt, SVT Debatt and Ring P1. The focus lies in the interrelations between these forums and how they interact with theri audience. Since debate is an essential tool for political and democratic practice, it is vital to study the movements and the realtions between these media formats. Some of the questions in this study are: What happens with a debate topic when it moves between the formats? In which way are the formats democratic and what does their communicative forms mean for political practice and citizen participation? The study shoes how the interpretation of a specific term can expand during a debate.

Huruvida det ska finnas en västerländsk kanon i skolan eller ej är ett omdiskuterat ämne. Från att ha varit en självklarhet i svenskundervisning och sedd som någonting berikande har den kommit att bli uppfattad som elitisk och uteslutande i vissa hänseenden. I den här uppsatsen diskuteras detta vidare genom att undersöka frågor som vad som egentligen är västerländsk kanon och vilken litteratur som ingår i den, varför man ska läsa denna litteratur, samt ta reda på verksamma lärares och elevers åsikter om kanons legitimitet i skolan.Undersökningen är baserad på kvalitativa intervjuer med två verksamma svensklärare på gymnasiet, samt fyra elever varav hälften läser studieförberedande gymnasieprogram, och den andra hälften yrkesförberedande dito. Undersökningen visade att lärarna hade både skilda åsikter men även kunskaper om kanons legitimitet i skolan; den ena var emot den, men använde sig av litteratur ur den, medan den andra förespråkade den. Elevernas kännedom om kanon var mindre, likväl stämde deras kunskaper om varför den är berättigad i skolan väl överens med rådande forskning som menar att den är allmänbildande, för vidare kulturarvet, och mer språkutvecklande än exempelvis populärlitteratur.

This paper discusses normativity in selecting musical phonograms in public libraries. The purpose is to gain an increased understanding of music activity in public libraries. To do this I have interviewed five music librarians about their visions, ideals and goals with their work. The questions discussed concern ambitions with the music activity and how to keep up to date with current record releases. For the theoretical frame I use two kinds of material.

This essay examines the public debate concerning the unemployment of Sweden just before the general election 2005. Its main purpose is to analyse what lies behind the huge differences in statistics, as presented by the two leading factions in the debate. It concludes that these differences are foremost a problem of semantics, and that although the two factions have statistical proof of their claims, it is their use of terminology that is in fact their main weapon in the debate.The key word here is the swedish word for employment ? sysselsättning ? which the two facitons use in entirely different ways, creating a lot of possabilities for interpretation. This has caused a type of debate which is actually about the reinterpretation this word, and those who are to be included in the statistics as being ?sysselsatt?, therefore, it is semantics that affects the number of unemployed people in the statistics..

This study examines in which way literature is presented in four schoolbooks for the Swedish senior high school of today, compared to descriptions and selections in Swedish universities. The study covers two basic schoolbook categories used in the teaching of Swedish and comparative literature: anthologies and textbooks.The four anthologies structures and their joined canon are presented, and the text canon of 12 common writers is studied and compared to the corresponding text canon in the universities selection of texts to main courses in comparative literature. The four textbooks are analysed by close reading of the presentations of four different writers and their works, where the textbooks for the Swedish senior high school are viewed through the glass of literary guides used in Swedish universities.The study also analyses what literary perspective is present in the Swedish school principles for education in literature and display, through earlier didactic studies, a sketch of the classroom reality of education in literature.The study finds that the examined schoolbooks for the Swedish senior high school tend to, not only shorten the text length and amount of texts but also, simplify the selection and presentation of the writers production. This leads to certain fixed and, in some cases, almost stereotyped ?roles? that are assigned to the writers and limits their production.

The aim of this masters thesis is to examine the picture book canonization process in pre-schools. To succeed in this I have examined what pre-school staff believe to be the criteria of a good picture book. Together with an observation of the pre-schools current collection, other factors which can influence the collection of the picture book are included. This constitutes the foundation for a description of the pre-school picture book canon. To pursue this goal, I have used the methodology of focus group interviews with staff from two pre-schools in a middle-sized town.

How is research and science being used in political debate? An idea analysis of the debate about försäkringsmedicinskt beslutsstöd (decision tool in healthcare security)This is a case study on different types of research use (utilization) The aim of this paper is to examine how the politicians make use of expertise and research in the parliamentary debate surrounding the decision tool in healthcare security (försäkringsmedicinskt beslutsstöd). The aim is also to find out to what extent different types of research use are present in this debate. In this case study the qualitative method of idea analysis is being used on the empirical material. The tool of analysis is based upon the theories of research use by Amara et al.