Encountering undecidabilities: lower secondary school students’ interpretive work with the picturebook Hemma hos Harald Henriksson

Abstract

Previous research is calling attention to picturebooks as a challenging art form that contains complex themes and sophisticated literary qualities. However, previous studies on picturebooks in educational settings have mainly involved young children. Inspired by extant research on the complexity of picturebooks and the growing interest in using complex literary texts in the literature classroom, this study explores interpretive work among a group of lower secondary school students (aged 13–14) in their encounters with the picturebook Hemma hos Harald Henriksson [Visiting Harald Henriksson] (Brandelius & Dackenberg, 2018). In the analysis, we draw on a thinking with theory approach (Jackson & Mazzei, 2012) as we use the concepts of undecidability (Johansen, 2018, 2019) and negotiation (Derrida, 2002) to explore how the students negotiate with what they find to be undecidable features of the picturebook. The material used consists of video recordings of a group of eighth-grade students and their work with the picturebook. The findings show how the students encounter undecidable features, mainly concerning social and political issues, and how these undecidabilities invite the students to negotiate between different interpretive possibilities. The study shows how undecidabilities in a literary text are a central part of a literary education that emphasizes the negotiation of meaning. Consequently, the study contributes to research focusing on exploring complex literary texts in the literature classroom by calling attention to the potentials of picturebooks in secondary literary education, and emphasizes the value of upholding undecidabilities in the literature classroom. Indeed, the use of complex literary texts provides the opportunity to negotiate interpretations, to explore and change positions – in turn, the opportunity to encounter undecidabilities.