Film in Swedish public libraries? A discourse analysis of Swedish government official reports concerning activity goals and media policy of the public library

This Masters thesis examines the position of films in Swedish public libraries. We have, by way of comparing various statistical data, determined that the status of film in public libraries is week. We have completed earlier research by mapping what genealogical, discursive patterns that could be outlined in the Swedish government reports from 1949 until today, focussing on the activity goals and media policy of the public library. We have, on the basis of Foucaults theories on genealogy and archaeology, where text documents are considered to be meta-descriptions giving each other authority, analyzed if there any discursive excluding or contextual formulations exist in the usage of the language concerning the goals and the media attitude of public libraries. We have mapped contextual discursive formulations that to the commissioners have become neutral starting points for their assumptions and conclusions. Our conclusion is that the strongest discursive formulations can be found during the 80s. The promotion of reading and the objectives of the Swedish language in the nine-year compulsory school, is suddenly made a task and objective of the public libraries in the official reports during that period. The view regarding different media is strongly unequal. The book is considered to be superior, threatened by other media. We also find that the official investigations are supporting the academic classification that Bourdieu has pointed out, with the film medium considered an inferior form of culture.Uppsatsnivå: