ABSTRACT
Introduction In 2006, the world marked the 100th anniversary of the death of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Despite his continued popularity worldwide, recent curriculum debates in Norway reveal some concern that students may leave school without having read any of his works.ere are even some claims that students in China read more Ibsen than Norwegian students! (Engelsen and Karseth, 2007). e Ibsen discussion emerges from an important and recurrent question pertaining to curricula: ‘what knowledge is of most worth for the millennial citizen’? (Muller, 2000, p. 41).is issue is at the heart of every curriculum that is devised and the answers depend on the responses and claims that gain legitimacy within and beyond the national context.
