To Örebro University

With the aim of examining how literary texts can be used to reach curricular goals relating to global citizenship education and intercultural understanding, a reader study was conducted with ninety-two high school students around Yasmina Khadra’s The Sirens of Baghdad, a novel about an aspiring terrorist in Iraq. A twenty-seven-item survey was conducted, covering nine aspects of learning and engagement. The results suggest that the novel produced high levels of transportation, contextualized understanding, and identification with the protagonist’s emotions. No significant undesired effects, such as an appetite for violence, were observed. The underlying hypothesis that the studied type of fictional narratives are suitable for upper secondary education was tentatively confirmed, but more research is needed to generalize the findings. The present study has contributed to developing methods for such continued research.

I syfte att öka kunskaperna om hur litterära texter kan användas för att nå läroplansmål relaterade till globalt medborgarskap och interkulturell förståelse gjordes en läsarundersökning kring nittiotvå gymnasieelevers läsning av Yasmina Khadras roman Sirenerna i Bagdad. Tidigare receptionsstudier med vuxna läsare har antytt att romanen förmedlar värdefulla kunskaper om Mellanöstern på ett underhållande sätt. Läsarundersökningen syftade också till metodutveckling. Enkätsvaren visar att eleverna identifierade sig med huvudpersonen och upplevde ökad förståelse för situationen i Irak och för terrorismens drivkrafter. Oönskade effekter som våldsbenägenhet var inte signifikanta. Hypotesen att fiktiva berättelser av det studerade slaget är lämpliga att använda på svenska gymnasieskolor bekräftades tentativt, men mer praktiknära forskning behövs för att dra generella slutsatser. Den genomförda undersökningen har bidragit till att utveckla metoder för ett sådant arbete.

Based on interviews with four teachers who engaged in discussions about Yasmina Khadra's novel The Sirens of Baghdad with a total of 92 students, this article explores the potential of using fictional narratives to achieve Global Citizenship-related goals in upper secondary education. The novel, which portrays the journey of a young aspiring Al Qaeda terrorist in Iraq, emerged as a response to the increasing need in the Western world to mitigate intercultural tensions following the September 11 attacks. The article addresses the novel's capacity to promote intercultural understanding while acknowledging practical challenges such as intense emotions in the classroom, potential trauma exposure, and the risk of radicalization. Despite these dilemmas, the article argues that fictional narratives of this nature can be a valuable tool in upper secondary education, especially when teachers collaborate across disciplinary boundaries. However, further research is necessary to develop and evaluate teaching models which remain effective in varying contexts.

Based on original reader surveys and teacher interviews, the book discusses the risks and benefits of using fictional narratives to teach Western upper secondary students about the Middle East. The possible outcomes of using The Sirens of Baghdad in upper secondary education are discussed after conducting empirical studies with students and teachers from four schools in Sweden. Partially conflicting goals such as socializa tion versus subjectivation and national versus international identity build ing are addressed, as well as potential practical problems, such as heated emotions in the classroom, trauma exposure, and radicalization. It is argued that despite such dilemmas, fictional narratives of the studied kind can be an effective tool in upper secondary education, particularly when teachers collaborate across disciplinary boundaries.

By studying criticism of twenty-first-century literary Nobel Prize decisions, this book identifies and analyzes the reasons why critics engage publicly with a prominent literary prize. Through a detailed examination of professionally published reactions to prize announcements, the study shows that several selections were criticized for not accurately representing various nationalities, genders, and literary genres. The most lengthy and passionate reactions, however, took aim at the laureates’ ways of depicting historical events and cultures. Exiled writers’ representations of their countries of origin were severely criticized, as were writers who had earlier shown support for controversial regimes. The study reveals that the world-famous prize has provided critics with opportunities to reignite and publicize political conflicts. Few of these critics took an aesthetic interest in the awarded works. When commented on by the critics, the literary texts were generally used to support political agendas.

In this article, the critical reception of two of Jean Genet's most political texts is studied and discussed with regards to the theoretical opposition between poetical and political language. While Un captif amoureux had a fairly heterogeneous and confused reception, ‘Violence et brutalité’ was generally rejected and described as pro-terrorist propaganda. This difference is explained as a result of both textual and historical factors. Moreover, the critics’ inability to attach a genre to Un captif amoureux is discussed and explained as a result of the work's innovative style and structure, for example its particular way of assembling political and poetical patterns.

Dans cet article, nous examinons la réception critique de deux textes de Jean Genet qui traitent de la pensée révolutionnaire allemande et palestinienne dans les années 1970–80. En particulier, c'est l'articulation entre les modes de lecture poétique et politique qui nous intéresse. Si la réception du livre Un captif amoureux se montre hétérogène et confuse, « Violence et brutalité » fut rejeté et caractérisé comme pro-terroriste. Cette différence de réception est analysée et expliquée dans des perspectives textuelles et historiques. De même, l'incapacité des critiques d'attribuer un genre à Un captif amoureux est expliquée en raison du style innovateur de l’œuvre, notamment en ce qui concerne l'alliance de figures politiques et poétiques.

This article identifies and analyzes a rhetorical pattern in the Algerian negotiator Hamdan Khodja's responses to the French occupation of Algeria in 1830. In his book The Mirror, published by a Parisian editor in 1833, Khodja sophistically and obliquely builds anticolonial critique on expressions of sympathy and identification with France, a manoeuver that makes him appear relevant. Speaking from an ethical vantage point that is shared by the French reader, Khodja's criticism becomes credible and influential. In other words, Khodja's appreciative judgments permit him to attack the opponent from within enemy lines: his argument is grounded in his opponent's ethical pretentions. By the same token, Khodja displays that the inhabitants of Algiers that he represents are morally and culturally mature; they are not the uncivilized masses that colonial discourse will often have them look like. By carefully decontextualizing Khodja's anticolonial tract, and reading it not just as a historical document but also as an articulation of personal themes and desires, as well as sympathy for the colonizer, the study contributes to our understanding of early anticolonial expression as more intricate and heterogeneous than it would appear when studied from a purely politico-historical or rhetorical perspective.