Bullying in literature - now and then : Differences and similarities in the description of bullying today and 60 years ago

Abstract This essay is a comparative study of two youth novels with bullying as a motif. The novels are Vi kallar honom Anna by Peter Pohl and Gilla Hata Horan by Johanna Nilsson. Bullying at school is an ever present problem for students, teachers, parents and school management. The society is obliged to provide a safe and equal environment where every student is included. The school system of today take actions to prevent bullying. I believe literature could play a part in that work. The purpose of the essay is to examine similarities and differences between the texts in how bullying is described 60 years ago, and the bullying that exists today and often takes place on the Internet. I also plan to use the result in literature classes. I have in my analysis used a comparative method, and biografic science where focus lies on what the author wants to say with the text. My analysis shows that the texts displays many situations that relates to science. There are many similarities and differences between the texts, but the biggest difference is the description of how teachers and management looked at bullying in the 1950s, compared to today. Another difference is the description of how bullying today takes place around the clock, compared with how bullying mainly took place during school time 50 years ago, differences that clearly is stated in the novels. Back in the day you knew who the persons that performed bullying was. Today you can be anonymous, which makes it hard to know who is behind it. Both authors have their own experiences from bullying with a time difference of 40-50 years. Despite the time gap bullying is described with essentially the same universal components in cause and effect. Keywords: Bullying, study of motifs, comparative, intertextualit