Hur karaktäriseras genus i barnlitteratur? : En kvalitativ och kvantitativ genusanalytisk studie

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to examine how gender is characterized in children's literature in the Swedish preschool. The research question is of great importance to investigate because the Swedish preschool operates as a social institution. The gender debate has exploded in the last decade, which means that preschools need to approach gender pedagogy in education. The Swedish preschool's curriculum also includes requirements on gender-pedagogically based education. It also includes norm-critical and equal values (Skolverket 2018). Since children's books are a big part of the preschool's education, it is of great importance to examine gender patterns in children's literature. The study is based on qualitative and quantitative analyses which highlights gender patterns in children's literature. The credibility of the literature study can be considered as valid because the research is based on two different supplementary gender analyzing schedules. The result that is prominent from the analyzing method is a male-dominant norm in the main and secondary characters of the children's books. The result showed that the characters who performed norm-breaking actions were more often performed by masculine characters. This result may not be considered surprising as the majority of the analyzed children's books have masculine main characters. The feminine characters who performed norm-breaking actions were for that reason not discovered as often as the male equivalent of the same phenomenon.  The conclusion of the study implies higher demands on preschool teachers' awareness when handling children's literature. The consequences of the lack of awareness contain two main grounds that were identified in the study. Firstly, there is a cultural heritage in already existing children's literature that needs to be preserved. Secondly, it may be considered financially unjustifiable to exclusively replace existing literature with new gender awareness books.