Frihet och gemenskap : En undersökning om hur väl TV-serien Unorthodox lämpar sig i religionskunskapsundervisningen utifrån ett variationsteoretiskt förhållningssätt till lärande

Sammanfattning: This paper aims at answering how suitable the Netflix show Unorthodox is in Swedish religious education. The paper examines how the Variation theory may be used to implement the show into the syllabus. In order to answer how the show may be implemented, an analysis of how religion, sex and gender is portrayed in the TV-show is necessary. A semiotic tool of analysis is used to analyze all four episodes. The result shows that issues regarding religion, sex and gender contains various contrasts between religious and secular values. The religious context is characterized by collective values, piety, and the importance of a community. The secular context on the other hand underline the liberation and autonomy of the individual. But also, some sort of loss of community. A contrast is also shown in how these two contexts relate to issues of sex and gender. In the religious context it is expected for women to be loyal, not only to their religion but also their husbands. Various scenes show that loyalty is more important than a woman’s own desire. In the secular discourse the norm is a free and autonomous woman. As a consequence, individual desires are more important. This means that the view on sex differs from the religious context where the only purpose of sex is reproduction. In the secular discourse, sexual relationships begin more sporadically and often out of wedlock. The study shows that it is possible to work with these contrasts found in the show, by using Variation theory as a teaching method. However, it is expected that the teacher separates the objects to generalize them in order to create a fusion among the pupils. One conclusion is that the process contains some risks. For example, that Hasidism can be seen as representative for Judaism or religious values in total. By being aware of these risks, as well as the shortcomings with integrating popular culture with teaching, these risks may be bridged.