”Det kunde lika gärna ha hänt idag” : : Maj Bylocks Drakskeppstrilogi och historiemedvetande hos barn i mellanåldrarna

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis, The Historical Novel and Historical Consciousness in ten- to twelve-year-olds - Maj Bylocks Drakskeppstrilogi in Theory and Practice, is to illustrate the possibilities for pupils of the ages between ten to twelve to develop their historical consciousness by participating in classroom work making use of fiction as a central source of knowledge. In the first part of the thesis the three novels in the trilogy about the Viking age by the Swedish author Maj Bylock, Drakskeppet (1997), Det gyllne svärdet (1998) and Borgen i fjärran (1998), are analyzed. The purpose is to show the conditions given by the novels which could promote children’s own historical consciousness and how the characters are portrayed in order for the readers to be able to identify with them. Two functions of the novels are studied: knowledge and analogy. Within the analysis of analogy the concept of empowerment is central to the portrayal of the protagonist. The textual analysis shows that the protagonist’s situation as a migrant above all points to cultural encounters both in the past and in the present time and further highlights the situation of the slaves in the Viking age. The apparent analogy of the present time means that the novels are well suited to discussions about ethics, the value of human beings and cultural encounters. In the second part of the thesis I analyse 11-year-old children’s reading of Bylock’s trilogy. Three pupils’ texts, book talks and interviews and experiences of the novels have been documented during a six week long thematic project on the Viking age. The analysis is conducted amongst others with the help of Judith A. Langer’s concept envisionment building. The pupils’ historical consciousness development and newfound knowledge can partly be related to the analogy and the themes found in the novels. With the assistance of the novels’ “living characters”, the exciting plot and an emotional envolvement the pupils have acquired knowledge and at the same time developed their historical consciousness. Book talks are of crucial importance in this.