Strengthen democracy through citizenship education has been a common goal in European countries since the wake of World War II and is still a prioritized educational goal in the EU policy as well as in individual European countries (see i.e. Euridice, 2012). During the last decades, philosophers and researchers in the field of literature didactics have emphasized that the teaching of literature should have a central role in citizenship education. They have argued that reading and discussing literature, both in and out of school, comprise a democratic potential (i.e. removed for review, 2024 a,2024b, 2024c; Sundström Sjödin, 2019; Nussbaum, 1998; Alkestrand 2016; Rosenblatt, 1995). The democratic potential of literature has often been derived from literature itself, as literature often has instigated discussions on pressing political and social issues in society (Nussbaum, 1998; Alkestrand 2016; Rosenblatt, 1995). Furthermore, discussions on literature in school, where students may explore different interpretations of the literary texts, have also been pointed out as a possible democratic practice in school  (removed for review, 2024 a and 2024b; Rosenblatt, 1995). Additionally, it has been accentuated that meeting fictitious worlds and characters may offer the reader recognition, empathy, and understanding of other human beings’ different life conditions (Nussbaum, 1998; Rosenblatt, 1995; Alkestrand, 2026). Thus, this study is placed in this research field of literary didactics focusing on citizenship education. We anchor our theoretical understanding of citizenship education in Gert Biesta’s writing on citizenship education’s three functions: qualification, socialization, and subjectification (2010). Qualification refers to the preparation for further studies and work life. Socialisation focuses on the preparation of citizens-to-be for the successful entering into an already existing socio-political order, whereas subjectification concerns the way that democratic subjectivity is developed by engagement in political processes.

The aim of the study is to explore how textbooks on literature, from different European contexts, encourage teachers and students to democratic approaches to literature readings and discussions in school. The guiding research question of the study is: What democratic functions can the analytically discerned democratic approaches in the textbooks be understood as?

With this textbook study, we also want to widen the European field of literature didactics focused on citizenship education as such studies are scarce there. One exception is Caroline Graeske’s study on democratic values and gender in literary textbooks, where she shows how a heteronormative discourse is dominant in the textbooks (2010). Otherwise, textbooks studies in literature didactics have rather focused on other issues as the writing subject in literary texts (Pull, 2019), legitimations of the study of literature in textbooks (Dahl, 2015), and conceptions of knowledge and literature in textbooks for vocational students (Lilja Waltå, 2016). It also lacks studies with a European perspective on literature textbooks, which this study will contribute with.

Of interest are also some textbook studies of other school subjects. Eilard (2008) has examined how primary school reading books in social science since the 1960s have represented gender, ethnicity and age. She shows how some texts position the reader as passive while others open up for active reader subjects. Bronäs (2000) examines Swedish and German textbooks and shows how students are positioned as ignorant, passive, irresponsible and disengaged (cf. Wicke, 2019). Other studies in the same field have focused power and ideological discourses in textbooks. (Nordmark, 2015, Johnsen ,2001, Apple, 1991).

Theoretically, we draw on Curriculum Studies  and Biestas notions on the three functions on citizenship education (see above). Curriculum Studies offers an understanding of textbooks as a contextual factor that, together with other contextual factors, constitute conditions for pedagogical and policy enactments in the classroom (Ball et al, 2012).  

In the study we make use of a qualitative text analysis method to examine literature textbooks from different European contexts, focusing on the analytically discernable democratic functions. We conduct the qualitative text analysis in three steps. Step one, which is inductive, consists of a familiarization with the material (textbooks) and discerning passages of meaning that can be related to democratic values. Step two is deductive where we analyze the result of step one using Biesta’s functions (qualification, socialization, and subjectification) as analytical foci. In the first and second step, we analyze every textbook separately. In the third step, we analyze the results from the second step in comparative terms, in order to visualize similarities and differences regarding democratic functions in the textbooks. The following textbooks are part of our material: German and Austrian textbooks Deutsch auf einen Blick! Epochen der deutschen Literatur by M. Hille, published 2023, 602 p. Königs Lernhilfen: Epochen der deutschen Literatur by M. Yomb, published in 2018, 95 p. English textbooks GCSE English. Language and Literature – for the Grade 9-1 Exams by C. Boulter, E. Crighton, and J. Perry, published 2016, 220 p. International A Level. English Literature. Oxford University by A. Beard, P. Bunten, and G. Elsdon, published 2016, 256 p. Swedish textbooks Svenska 1,2 och 3 – En komplett handbok by E. Hedencrona and K. Smed-Gerdin, published 2022, 374 p. Metafor – Svenska för gymnasiet 1, Metafor – Svenska för gymnasiet 2, and Metafor – Svenska för gymnasiet 3 by J. Edvardsson, published in 2017-2021, 256 p. (1) , 416 p. (2) , and 142 p. (3). The textbooks have been selected by following criteria. Firstly, the textbooks should target literature education for students between the years 16-19. Even though the textbooks meet this criteria, we are aware of the differences in the school systems between the countries. The English students at that age are more specialized at that stage of education than the students in German or Swedish schools. Literature education in senior highschool in German and Austria is profiled towards theoretical programs whereas literature education in Swedish senior highschool is directed towards both vocational and theoretical programs. Secondly, the textbooks should include instruction and not only a selection of literary text (at least questions related to the literary text). Thirdly, their publication year should not be older than ten years.

Firstly, the analysis shows that the Swedish and English textbooks contain literary and narratological concepts and analytical approaches and make use of both contemporary literature and canonical, historical literary texts. The Swedish textbooks also have sections of literary history (Epochs and historical canonical texts), which is the main part of the German textbooks. Secondly, the analysis shows that qualification and socialization are the dominant functions in all textbooks. All textbooks deal with so-called core content of literature science (as literary concepts; advanced analytical approaches; valued and at times canonical, literary texts), and thereby offer the students qualifications for further studies or work life. At the same time the textbooks’ content can be understood in terms of socialization as they socialize the students into society’s cultural heritage and into the literary practice of literature science. The thereby offered democratic functions are discernable in the content itself but more specifically in how the students are addressed in the books through tasks and questions. Only the German textbooks contain examples of questions that may open for subjectification, as the students are asked to explore the literary texts in terms of their political, aesthetical, and social value of today. However, socialization and qualification are dominant even in the German textbooks. In conclusion, all textbooks include advanced, relevant literary knowledge that offer opportunities for the students to socialize and qualify; at the same time, they lack offers to subjectification for the students. Biesta stresses the importance of a citizenship education that balances the three functions, as education without subjectification may end up instrumental without room for students to explore their own interest, preferences in the subject-matter but also in society. Therefore, the textbooks analyzed do not encourage teachers to enact a balanced citizenship education through the literary studies in school.

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