Förhandlingar om genus i skolan: En interaktionsanalys

Abstract

This study examines how gender is constructed in a student group discussion of a literary text. The paper aims to show how the students negotiate gender identities and the ways in which this negotiation is related to their stance toward the literary text. I also demonstrate how the text’s representations of masculinity and femininity are used by the students to position both themselves and each other. The study is based on the video recording of a short sequence in which eight students in eighth grade and their teacher discuss Mats Wahl’s novel Vinterviken. Their discussion raises the issue of masculinity and femininity, which leads to a tension between different gender positions in the group. The analysis highlights the interactional means by which the speakers attempt to authenticate their respective positions in relation to the norms of both gender and literature.