Att gestalta en normbrytande kvinna : En genus- och didaktisk analys av Ett jävla solsken av Fatima Bremmer (2017)

This thesis examines how gender and norm-breaking femininity are represented in Fatima Bremmer’s biography Ett jävla solsken: En biografi om Ester Blenda Nordström (2017), as well as the work’s didactic potential within upper secondary school Swedish education. The study is based on a qualitative text analysis and draws on an intersectional perspective, Yvonne Hirdman’s theory of the gender system, and the concept of didactic potential. The analysis focuses on how Bremmer portrays Ester Blenda Nordström as a woman who challenges the gender norms of early twentieth-century Sweden through her professional life, travels, and personal relationships, while simultaneously being constrained by societal expectations related to gender, sexuality, and class. Particular attention is paid to Bremmer’s narrative strategies and how they shape the reader’s understanding of norm-breaking femininity as both enabling and limiting. The results show that Ett jävla solsken presents Ester Blenda Nordström as a complex and ambivalent figure whose independence and agency coexist with vulnerability and compromise. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the biography holds significant didactic potential, as it enables discussions of gender, norms, power structures, and critical reading practices, making it a valuable resource for promoting gender-aware and reflective literary analysis in the upper secondary school classroom.