By using Austen’s and Bushnell’s two novels as my primary sources I hope to find out whether what has been seen as typically female themes, plots and settings are perceived as less important from a canonical viewpoint. Do the terms “chick-lit” and “women’s literature” determine the status of a novel? I hope to find out what made Austen an esteemed writer and if the same criteria of evaluation can be applied to Bushnell. Are there any similarities between today’ most famous “chick-lit” author who gained her fame by writing about women and their sex lives in an unromantic and shocking fashion, and a pre-Victorian author whose works are part of the literary canon?

The aim of my thesis is to unveil orientalistic powerstructures in the new national curriculum for religious studies in Swedish upper secondary schools. Western imperialism and modernistic ideals has formed the Swedish perception of what constitutes as Swedish, this perception also influences the Swedish religious understanding. This understanding is imbedded in the national curriculum for religious studies which enables a western hegemony to prevail.