Our common interest : a discourse analysis concerning the view of reading in Swedish newspapers during the fall of 2019

The aim of this Bachelor’s thesis is to increase the knowledge of how reading is described in Swedish newspapers. The subject of reading has been a source of debate for a long time but the characteristics of the discussion is changing as new reading practices evolve and as our reading habits change. How reading is portrayed in media is of relevance to the field of library and information science for several reasons, one of them being the public library’s role in promoting the status of literature in our society. To carry out this mission, a deepened knowledge of the discourses of reading is of importance. The research questions asked are: Which discourses of reading can be identified in four Swedish daily newspapers during the fall of 2019? Which subject positions can be identified in the articles, and how are they constructed? The empirical material consists of 40 articles from four major daily newspapers: Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen and Svenska Dagbladet. Three discourses were identified in the articles: the instrumentalistic discourse, the essentialistic discourse and the alarmistic discourse. The main subject positions identified were children and young adults, authors and literary critics. The findings show that reading is highly valued in all of the discourses although described with different repertoires