Litteraturen og forfatteren på museum. Traditionsformidling udfordret af den stigende musealisering

The article discusses the connection between literature and museum and the role of museums for the preservation and engagement with literary heritage. Based on an overview of research in the field and a discussion of definitions, distinctions, typology, and current forms of institutions, new developments in literary theory, i.e. new book history and the literary studies’ theories of geographic place, but also concepts of materiality, presence, performance and literary scenes, are brought in to explain different connections between literature and the museum and the supposedly dialectic relation to the digital society and virtual representation. The role and strength of the author/writer and the importance of place and space in the mediation of literature are enhanced as distinctive for these kinds of museums. It is concluded that the ongoing growth of literary museums is both a result of and an answer to the preservation of literature as cultural heritage. The museum as institution provides the most user-friendly strategy and the clearest answer to a changing situation of language. Much is in progress in this domain, but there is room for new institutions and mediating experiments, e.g. focusing more on the literature than the author