The Place of Madness. A Study regarding the depiction of Insanity in the History of Literature and the History of Ideas in the novels: Arbetare (1912), En herrgårdssägen (1899) and Kejsarn av Portugallien (1914)   

This essay is a study on the construction of, and use of the thematic madness in the two books by the Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf and one book by the Swedish novelist Martin Koch. It seeks to discuss the topic of madness and how it relates to historic use; both regarding literary history and in the history of ideas, and how those apply to society. The historic definition and discussion relates strongly to Michel Foucault's work: Madness and Insanity: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. (1973). The themes of love, hate, work, political ideological perspectives, and more loosely defined subjects such as water and mass are being explored in the essay to show how they contribute to the construction of madness. One of the study's aims is to explore how the authors use these thematics as they build their worlds around their insane characters.