Frankenstein; or, A Multimodal Strategy to Teach Othering in the Context of Swedish Upper Secondary Education : An Analysis of Othering in the Story About Frankenstein and His Creature, from a Multimodal Perspective

Abstract: The curriculum for Sweden’s upper secondary schools emphasises that specifically exclusion should be prevented, and that equality between all humans should permeate the education. This essay maintains that the post-colonial concept of othering, with help from Mary Shelley’s story about Frankenstein and his monster, could be used to educate upper secondary school students about these important matters. More specifically, the essay analyses how othering becomes concretised when Shelley’s original novel is used multimodally, through its graphic adaptation. The analysis shows that othering, through the discourses of racism and exoticism, becomes more visually palpable in the graphic novel. However, this also shines light on the importance to teach with ethical didactics, as othering otherwise could be reproduced. That is, the aim to make pupils more aware of how to prevent othering in real life could be inhibited if the didactic approach does not teach the students how to think constructively about the processes of othering. The study concludes that Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel could pose as a qualitative tool to teach about the importance of an inclusive world, if taught with ethical didactics.