The Clanless : A Study of Minor Publishers on the Swedish Market of Fantastic Fiction

The aim of this thesis is to study the market for fantastic fiction in Sweden, focusing on the minor publishers and their relationship with the three major publishing groups. The fantastic fiction in Swedish today are generally dominated by bestselling anglo-american authors, especially at the major publishers. The selection of fantastic fiction that is not originally in English and that diverges from the classic, epic high fantasy is often provided by minor publishers. By researching the range of fantastic fiction in Sweden today, and combining that research with qualitative interviews with informants from five minor publishers and Sweden's largest book shop for fantastic fiction, I wish to examine if the minor publishers provide an important alternative for Swedish readers of fantastic fiction. I also intend to investigate whether those publishers actively try to broaden the Swedish market and if they see themselves as a complement and an alternative rather than competing with the major publishers. This is a study in sociology of literature, focusing on a literary genre that is generally regarded as popular or trivial literature. Therefore, this thesis also discusses the curcuit of popular literature and the position and conditions of fantastic fiction in Sweden today, using the french sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's frameworks and terminology regarding economical and cultural capital. Fantastic fiction is a genre normally associated with economical rather than cultural capital, a notion that greatly affects its position and status in the world of literature