Why poetry? : Twenty interviews with Swedish poetry-readers

This investigation is based on interviews (semi-structured and tape-recorded) with 20 Swedish poetry-readers. who were found at the poetry-shelf at the local library. Data are presented concerning various aspects of their poetry-reading habits; when, where and how do they read poetry, what do they read, and, above all, why do they read it? Their own writing of poetry, their reading in general, and their habits in visiting the library, as well as their opinion of it, are also investigated to some extent. By comparing the results with literature on poetry-reading and -writing, the thesis arrives at the conclusion that the interviewed poetry-readers are oriented towards being. in the Frommian sense of the word, or, differently put, towards an authentic existence, as it is described by Heidegger