Rena rutinarbetet!

Litteratur som kilde til kløkt og dannelse i Astrid Lindgrens Kalle Blomkvist-trilogi

Abstract

Mere Routine! Literature as a Source of Ingenuity and Education in Astrid Lindgren’s Bill Bergson Trilogy

This article investigates the function of literary fiction and reading in Astrid Lindgren’s Kalle Blomkvist trilogy (1946–1953). In the Kalle Blomkvist books – internationally known as the Bill Bergson trilogy – the child characters are very well-read, and the literature they read is significant to the plot of the stories. I therefore examine how the literature they read affects the characters’ way of acting and thinking through a discussion about reading, literary education, and embodiment. The characters embody the knowledge they acquire from reading fiction and apply this knowledge in new situations, both cognitively, verbally, and physically. In this way, the characters model for the actual readers how lessons and facts learned from reading fiction can be applicable in situations outside of literature.