Att närma sig ett kontroversiellt ämne – En analys av elevfrågor om en bok om hedersförtryck

Abstract

Honour-based norms can be a sensitive issue in the classroom and in the schoolyard. Since 2022, Swedish schools have been required to address issues concerning honour-based violence and oppression. While these issues may be taught across the curriculum, they can also be addressed within the subject of Swedish. Research shows that students want more opportunities to engage with sensitive issues, whilst teachers hesitate to approach ideologically divisive issues since they may lead to conflict. Fact-fiction literature can provide a valuable entry point for discussions of values and moral questions. The aim of this study is to develop knowledge of how young readers engage with a literary work addressing honour-based oppression and with its author within Swedish language and literature education. The study examines Elaf Ali’s book Vem har sagt något om kärlek? Att bryta sig fri från hedersförtryck [“Who Said Anything About Love? Breaking Free from Honour-Based Oppression” (our translation)] together with student questions generated during a thematic school project and a subsequent author visit to a lower secondary school. The results show that this form of encounter between a literary text, a sensitive social issue, an author, and students creates opportunities for critical engagement. Students not only questioned and problematised the narrative and arguments presented in the book but also drew on personal and social experiences in their meaning-making. In this way, literature-based discussions of sensitive issues can support reflection, dialogue, and knowledge development within Swedish subject education.