"Slutten på historien var også litt underlig"

Elevers litterære gruppesamtaler i møte med noveller som kunst

Resumé

This article examines students’ literary group discussions during a teaching sequence in which short stories are read as artistic expressions. The teaching sequence is grounded in Shklovsky’s (1991) concepts of deautomatisation and defamiliarisation and aims to strengthen students’ interpretive competence and their courage to remain in uncertainty. During the discussions, students practise wondering about the texts and exploring possible interpretations without seeking a single correct answer.

The teaching sequence is examined through dramaturgical analysis, which provides an overarching perspective on the teaching, while the group discussions are examined through conversation analysis, offering insight into the students’ reflections. Taken together, the discussions show how the students respond to the task and negotiate meaning. The strict framing of the discussions facilitates a deeper understanding of the texts, but also constrains the participants’ contributions. The study points towards a literature pedagogy that recognises the distinctive artistic qualities of literary texts and gives students the language and space needed to explore what is “a little strange”.