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Literary works are read and studied in English across the different parts of the Swedish education system, primary education, secondary education, highereducation and teacher education. This article considers the rationale—the purposes and benefits—for doing so that are implicitly or explicitly pointed to incurricular documents, with special focus on the kinds of engagement withliterature that are authorised by the academic English subject community for the Swedish academic and school contexts. By juxtaposing and synthesising findings from three previous curricular studies, the article identifies substantive justifications and, drawing on linguistic legitimation theory, discursive forms of legitimation that interoperate in syllabi and in other steering documents to claim the validity of engaging with literature in English. It shows that the rationale that remains constant across the education system relies on the links between literature and cultural learning, or analysis, and likewise on the potential of engagement with literature in English for furthering an understanding of the world and for fostering a desired democratic citizen ethos. The cross-educational perspective of the article shows that the interdependence between the different parts of the education system has both thematic and conceptual consequences for the kinds of engagement with literature that are given the status of official legitimations.

Prompted by debates on the role of comedy in the USA after 9/11, the essay explores the use of satire as one important narrative strategy that emerged in the subgenre of the American 9/11 novel. Criticism of 9/11 fiction tends to regard literary satire as a device used to counter governing descriptions of twenty-first century terrorism. By way of Ken Kalfus's A Disorder Peculiar to the Country (2006), I show how literary satire on 9/11 is neither straightforward nor merely a means of political attack. Drawing on recent satire theory that views the satirical mode as unruly, various, and open-ended, I suggest that a closer look to the mixed intentions of this novel presents an opportunity to explore the dynamic between denunciation and comic relief in literary satire on 9/11 and opens the way for a more complex understanding of the operation and affordances of literary 9/11 satire.

Over the past decade, what it means to be an academic teacher of English-language literature in Swedish institutions of higher education has changed. As a result of recent political reforms, many literature staff have come to assume the role as teacher educators. To better understand the implications of this development, the article maps the academic qualifications and research interests of English staff who teach on teacher education (TEd) literature courses nationally and their attitudes to TEd teaching. The article is based on data gathered via a semi-closed questionnaire and analysed using content and discourse analysis. It shows that a majority of the study participants are PhD holders in English with a specialisation in literature. Although few staff are qualified teachers and/or are engaged in literature teaching and learning scholarship, several have school teaching experience. Respondent attitudes to the teacher educator role vary, as do the conditions for TEd teaching at different institutions. The findings suggest that respondent expertise and self-identification and their previous TEd teaching experiences are consequential for their attitudes, as is the matter of whether the role requires that they address areas, such as school-oriented teaching and learning theories and practices, in which they lack competence. These findings, the article suggests, have bearing on future strategic discussions in English studies.