The dilemma of indexing. Analysis of the conditions for subject indexing of fiction in the relationship between the indexing and its object.

This thesis analyses the conditions for subject indexing of fiction by studying the relationship between the nature of fiction and the properties of subject indexing. The analysis is founded on a reading of a recently published Swedish subject headings list and uses a theoretical framework of Adornos theory of modern reason. The study is conducted through a qualitative text analysis in three steps. In the first step the subject headings list is analysed by examining how it provides subject access to fiction by the aspects of form, frame and subject. In the second step of the analysis these aspects of subject access are analysed and discussed by relating them to relevant research of subject indexing of fiction. The third, and final, step in the analysis is a discussion of the conditions for subject indexing of fiction with the aid of Adornos theory. Through this theoretical framework the conditions for subject indexing of fiction are discussed and the problems associated with subject indexing of fiction are explained. The conclusions drawn from the study are that subject indexing of fiction is a very problematic enterprise. The nature of fiction causes severe problems for subject indexing and the properties of fiction are not very well adjusted to the nature of fiction. The value of fiction, according to Adorno, is that its contents are fundamentally different from the social rationality and thus are likely to be diminished, or lost completely, by getting subject access and thereby being rationalized and made easily recognized and familiar.Uppsatsnivå: