Representation of Women’s Literature During the Implementation of the 2011–2022 Lithuanian Language and Literature Secondary Education Curriculum

Abstract

The article examines how women’s literature was presented in the Lithuanian language and literature curriculum during the period of 2011–2022 and how it was linked to certain thematic and value-based assumptions. The study was conducted in two stages: first, a qualitative content analysis of textbooks for high school students (Kanišauskaitė et al., 2011–2012; Daujotytė et al., 2009–2012) was conducted with the objective to explore the topics that are related to women’s writing and their alignment with the questions dealt with in the curriculum. The second stage looked at how the depiction of women’s literature in these textbooks influenced the interpretation of such works in students’ essays in the 2020–2024 state exams (a.k.a. matura examination). The findings of the research have revealed that, in their maturity exam essays, students often mirrored stereotypical views found in the textbooks, such as depicting women as mothers, self-sacrificing, and emotional. Furthermore, female authors were significantly underrepresented in both the textbooks and student essays, with the analysis of their works often being one-dimensional and stereotypical.