Abusive treatment in adolescent novels : Färglös, Näthat blues and Fjärde riket

This study analyses how abusive treatment is handled in three novels for adolescents, Färglös, Näthat blues, and Fjärde riket, in order to reveal how these novels can be used as a basis for discussions of values in the teaching of Swedish in upper secondaryschool. The three novels were chosen because statistics showed that they were the most frequently borrowed books for young people under the subject heading bullying at a library in southern Sweden. The analysis shows that there are different forms of abusive treatment in the three books. Färglös describes abusive treatment against a social category, where the members of the vulnerable group are forced to protect themselves and each other as a group. Näthat blues is about net bullying, sexual harassment, and gender-related bullying against a specific individual, while Fjärde riket shows how abuse can be used as a strategy to achieve a higher power position. The latter book tells the story from the point of view of both the victim and the perpetrators. The conclusionis that the three novels, in different ways, invite changes of perspective and can function well as a basis for discussions about abuse using fictitious characters