Sanna av-slöjanden eller ren dikt? - BADA

Svensk titel Sanna av-slöjanden eller ren dikt? En analys av fyra självbiografier
ur ett postkolonialt perspektiv.
Engelsk titel True un-veilings or pure fiction? An analysis of four autobiographies
from a postcolonial perspective.
Författare Kristina Folkesson, Anna Lundberg
Kollegium 1
Färdigställt 2008
Handledare Lena Waldau
Abstract The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to investigate the descriptions
of characters and settings in four autobiographies. The main
question is: What picture of women and men, of the West and the
Orient do these books provide? To answer this question we have
formed three sub questions, which are: In what ways are main and
minor characters described? In what ways are the key settings, and
the Western and Oriental societies described? Which themes are
dealt with, and from what points of departure?
The theoretical framework is based on a postcolonial theoretical
perspective, where the concept of binary opposites and Edward W.
Said’s ideas about orientalism are crucial. The method used is a
textual analysis. To analyze the material, a number of analysis
questions were designed with the main question, and its sub questions,
as a basis.
The result shows that descriptions of characters and settings have
dramaturgic functions of forming a background to the story. Accordingly,
the same features may be described in either negative or
positive terms, due to what aspect of the story the book currently
deals with.
The conclusion suggests that colonial stereotypes are evident today
in popular literature, such as these autobiographies, in fact, they
are even stronger than they used to be.
Nyckelord Slöjböcker, postkolonial teori, orientalism, den Andre, binära motsatser,
självbiografi, faktion, litteratursociologi