The present study explores the relationships between sociology of literature and society through a meta-perspective influenced by the idiom of co-production hailing from the field Science and Technology Studies (STS). By focusing on events that precedes and follows the inception of the Department of Sociology of Literature at Uppsala University 1965 we trace and investigate how society and sociology of literature are mutually coproduced through changing discoursers, identities, institutions, and representations.  

We can conclude, by studying these complex interplays between literature and society, that sociology of literature not only analyzes how literature is used, valued, and distributed in society but also contributes to the construction of knowledge about the societal implications of literature. Therefore, sociology of literature can be understood as contributing to creating its own research object by engaging in a reciprocal relationship with society and literature itself.

Through its examination of how literature reflects and influences societal structures, norms, and values, sociology of literature shapes its research focus by actively participating in and responding to societal discourses. This dynamic process of engagement with societal issues and cultural production allows sociology of literature to continually redefine and refine its research object, shaping the field's direction and priorities based on ongoing interactions with the broader social context.

I den här rapporten presenterar vi en studie om hur folkbibliotekarier i VästraGötaland använder sig av ljudet, rösten eller samtalet i sitt läsfrämjande arbete.Undersökningen består av intervjuer med folkbibliotekarier och bibliotekschefer.Studien gjordes 2022 av Julia Pennlert och Sirpa Bark vid Bibliotekshögskolanpå Högskolan i Borås.En del av de intervjuade personernas berättelser handlar om att förmedla taloch ljudböcker till enskilda läsare, men undersökningen visar att den största deleni främjandearbetet handlar om den sociala läsningen. För många av folkbiblioteketsmålgrupper finns det ett stort värde i att läsa tillsammans. Shared reading nämnssom ett exempel på en metod för högläsning som blivit populär och spridit sigöver hela världen på senare år.Syftet med rapporten är att skapa en fördjupad förståelse för hur folkbibliotekarbetar med förmedling av litteratur och läsfrämjande där ljudet, rösten ellersamtalet står i centrum. Syftet är också att lyfta fram hur förutsättningarna serut idag för folkbiblioteken i det arbetet och vilka resurser som krävs.

The aim with the article is to trace the use of quantitative methods in literary studies in Sweden. Through the case of Karl Erik Rosengrens’ dissertation from 1968, the articles analyzes the discussions that the thesis generated during the 1960’s and 1970’s regarding questions on how to do literary studies, and how contemporary discussions about methods in sociology of literature can be said to be linked to a wider discussion about the discipline itself.

Audiobooks have in recent years become widely popular. The format accordingly impacts how many contemporary readers use and experience literature. The article examines this tendency, departing from Rita Felski’s theoretical conceptualizations of uses of literature (Felski 2008). Felski represents a new attention within literary studies toward the ways in which so-called lay readers use, experience and form attachments (Felski 2020) to literature and art. Drawing on Felski’s work in combination with Lutz Koepnick’s concept of resonant reading (2019), we study how the medial affordances of the audiobook impact uses of literature among empirical Swedish readers. In this way, we combine the theoretical perspective introduced by Felski with an approach informed by literary sociology (Svedjedal, Murray), in order to draw attention to the importance of considering the significance of media and formats in broader discussions about uses of literature. The article is based on a survey of 1400 Swedish audiobook users, which was published during the fall of 2021, in the Facebook-group Snacka om ljudböcker. We focus on a qualitative analysis of answers to the free-text question “Why do you choose to listen to audiobooks?” Our findings demonstrate that the medial affordances of the audiobook, its mobility and the mediation of literature through sound, impact both why and how readers listen to audiobooks: Respondents report among other things that audiobooks make it possible to integrate literature into everyday life, and that, consequently, it adds value to everyday activities, while the format’s mediation though sound, and especially the voice of the performer “adds a dimension” and “deepens” the reading experience. Thus, while the existing debate often associates audiobooks with distracted or passive reading and, in Felski’s terms, with detachment from the surroundings, and from the text, our findings suggest that the format also helps readers form attachments to and through literature. 

Den kommersiella ljudboken har med stora kliv gjort intåg på den svenska bokmarknaden. Men det faktum att allt fler väljer att tillägna sig litteratur genom en mobiltelefon och ett par hörlurar på samma gång som de pendlar till jobbet, tränar eller lagar mat har också lett till intensiv diskussion. Det är tydligt att ljudbokens framväxt kan kopplas till samhällets digitalisering i en mer generell bemärkelse, samtidigt som den synliggör relationen mellan text och teknologi, litteratur och livspussel.

Men det finns skäl att inte stirra sig blind på dagens snabba teknikutveckling. I "Från Strindberg till Storytel" reflekterar ett antal forskare från olika vetenskapliga fält kring sambanden mellan ljud och litteratur i samtiden och det förflutna. Vad det handlar om är att vidga vårt perspektiv på ljudets betydelse för läsaren, författaren och litteraturen.Här finns närstudier som Cecila Björkén-Nybergs granskning av tre inläsningar av Hjalmar Söderbergs "Den allvarsamma leken" och Malin Nauwercks diskussion av den muntliga poetiken hos Astrid Lindgren, men också texter av ett mer teoretiskt, principiellt och framtidsinriktat slag. Den ”nya muntligheten” befinner sig fortfarande i utveckling och förändring. Hur ”ny” den nu egentligen är – högläsning var normen i många sammanhang ända fram till 1700-talets slut.

"Från Strindberg till Storytel" är redigerad av Julia Pennlert och Lars Ilshammar, vilka också svarar för antologins inledning. Övriga medverkande är Karl Berglund, Cecilia Björkén-Nyberg, Annelie Bränström Öhman, Henrik Fürst Patrik Hedenius, Mats Malm, Jerry Määttä, Malin Nauwerck, Andreas Nyblom, Anders Ohlsson, Tobias Olofsson, Ylva Sommerland, Ann Steiner, Johan Svedje­dal och Sara Tanderup Linkis.

The increasing popularity of digital audiobooks significantly affects contemporary reading culture. As noted by Birgitte Stougaard Pedersen and Iben Have (2015), digital audiobooks make it possible to consume literature anywhere and always, through a smartphone and earphones. The audiobook thus fit well into modern everyday life, and digital audiobooks make up one of the fastest growing fields in contemporary publishing. The paper discusses how this development affects modes and concepts of reading while also making it possible to study reading patterns and processes in new ways. We complicate an established idea of audiobooks as promoting more distracted or passive reading than print books, drawing on theories by Lutz Koepnick, and Matthew Rubery. In this context, we also address the concept of distant reading and computer-assisted methods which have been discussed within Digital Humanities. Specifically, we focus on the usage of born-audio texts: that is, literary narratives produced specifically for audio consumption. Focusing on this emerging genre makes it possible to study the influence of the audiobook format on literary texts: their structure and language, as well as on listening patterns: how readers typically listen, for how long, and when they stop listening etc. Thus, we combine the theoretical discussion of audiobook consumption with quantitative analysis of data provided by the audiobook subscription service Storytel on the usage of born-audio narratives. This allows us to examine the effects of the born-audio format on modes of reading, or listening, while we also contribute to the ongoing exploration of how digital methods can be used to study literary consumption.