Justifications for Teaching Literature

Abstract

The role and importance of imaginative literature in L1 education is a topic of continuous debate. In Norway, working with imaginative literature in several genres, and from various linguistic origins, is only one of several components in the L1 subject. In this article, we present the results of a survey aiming to investigate what literature can and should do in school, according to teachers. Using a qualitative hermeneutic content analysis, we analyze and categorize the survey results. We are guided by an affirmative approach to teachers’ competences, discussing the extent to which respondents demonstrate subject matter content knowledge.
 Our analysis enables us to isolate eight categories of justification, many of which show significant overlap with central tenets in literary theory, the curriculum, and L1 scholarship. However, we also find indications that critical literacy is undervalued. Furthermore, the Norwegian curriculum arguably motivates an instrumental use of literature as a way of developing general literacy or adding perspectives to topics addressed in other subjects.
 We propose visualizing the justifications teachers express in a model taking into account two dimensions: 1) whether they imply a primary focus on the text, the reader, or the context including the author; and 2) whether their goal is benefitting the student (e.g., in terms of skills) or promoting societal change. This model is intended to provide a flexible typology which literary educators at any level can use in order to critically assess their practice.

“She doesn’t consider it to be real literature”

“…Secondly, the current emphasis on reading pleasure in literature education leads to more student-centered text selections. Recent studies show that contemporary literature teachers, at least in Northern Europe, consider the development of reading pleasure to be a significant goal of literature education (Ackermans, 2022;Fodstad & Husabø, 2021;Myren-Svelstad & Grüters, 2022). This aligns with findings from diachronic research on curricular changes in literature education.…”

Knowledge of What? Teachers’ perspectives of an L1 Language and Literature subject curriculum document

“…Due to the complexity of L1 subjects, L1 researchers have tended to focus on specific phenomena or aspects of the subject, including literacy (Löfgren & Erixon, 2022), genre writing (Piekut, 2018), grammar (Brøseth & Nygård, 2023;Myhill, 2018), or literature (Johansson, 2021;Kähkölä & Rättyä, 2021;Myren-Svelstad & Grüters, 2022). In some studies, the curriculum document is the main object of analysis: for example, the aspect of rhetoric in the national language subject across Scandinavia (Hogarth et al, 2021) or literature education across the broader Nordic countries (Gourvennec et al, 2020).…”