Niceville för en demokratisk grundsyn -en analys hur ett skönlitterärt verk förhåller sig till skolans uppdrag attförmedla en demokratisk grundsyn

Sammanfattning: The Swedish school system rests on the same democratic values as the Swedish society. It is also known that the school shall reflect the society and mediate the same values to the student. This means that Swedish schools has an important mission to mediate democratic values through the education. The aim of this study was to analyse if the literary work Niceville by Kathryn Stockett can be discussed in relation to this democratic mission, and if the book’s theme and motifs can be used in the Swedish education to mediate democratic values. Two questions were developed to answer the aim of the study: • What theme and motifs does the literary work Niceville contain and how do they relate to the school’s mission to mediate democratic values? • What didactic inputs are suitable in the aim to, through the literary work, mediate the democratic values to the students? The method I used to answer these questions was close reading. This means that I did a close reading of the literary work to analyse what theme and motifs it contained. I also used the theory intersectional to more easily find out the theme and motifs. My results show that the literary work Niceville can be used in Swedish education to mediate the democratic values of Swedish society. The work gives the student examples of how nondemocratic values affect individuals in a negative way which indicate that democratic values are preferable. Earlier studies show that reading fiction also trains the human in democratic thinking which means that it trains the reader to empathize and understand other people. This however needs to be problematized since teachers serve a significant role in making sure that every student understand the book´s message by its theme and motif. Also, the students motivation can affect the aim to mediate democratic values.