Knowledges of Reading: An Analysis of Swedish Literature Policy 2012-2013
2018 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Other academic)
Abstract [en]
The paper explores problematisations of reading in current Swedish literature policy through a discourse analysis of the Swedish Government Commission report on Literature from 2012 and the following Government bill from 2013. The analysis focuses on problematisations of the reading citizen and the knowledge practices that have made these problematisations possible. A central problematisation is the declining reading literacy of children and youth, threatening children's learning and development; democracy; "the culture of reading"; Sweden's economic competitiveness; and the market for Swedish literature. This problematisation produce dividing practices around problematic non-readers and themore desirable readers. Other dividing practices can be identified around youth/adult, pupil/teacher, child/parent, and son/father where the latter should educate the former about the virtues of reading. Underpinning these problematisations are knowledge practices where instrumental policy actions, based on seemingly rational, objective, and empirical research is paired with humanistic building values.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2018.
Keywords [en]
literature policy, politics of reading, discourse, knowledge practices
National Category
Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified General Literature Studies
Research subject
Library and Information Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-15058OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-15058DiVA, id: diva2:1244758
Conference
The 10th International Conference on Cultural Policy Research (ICCPR2018), Tallinn, 21-24 August, 2018
Projects
Att skapa den läsande medborgaren. Offentlig debatt och politik 1945-2017
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-015422018-09-032018-09-032018-09-06Bibliographically approved