Att forma barns läsning i hemmet

Kontinuitet och förändring i läsningens normer och ideal från 1900-talets första hälft i jämförelse med idag

Abstract

Shaping Children’s Reading at Home: Continuity and Change in the Norms and Ideals of Reading from the First Half of the Twentieth Century Compared with Today

This article explores how ideal reading practices in the home have been shaped in Sweden throughout the 20th century. Previous research has shown that many of today’s ideals regarding children’s reading have their roots in the early 20th century (Hedemark and Lindsköld). This article aims to deepen that understanding by analyzing so-called “reading instructions” published during the period 1916–1933. These instructive texts shaped children’s reading practices through normative guidance rather than formal regulation, thus functioning as a form of soft governance. The analysis identifies two distinct knowledge practices expressed in these instructions: one grounded in a belief in the transformative power of ”good” reading and its positive aesthetic and moral effects; the other based on scientific and professional reasoning, where the right kind of reading was considered a tool for promoting children’s healthy development. A comparative discussion shows that several ideals from the first half of the twentieth century have been preserved and remain influential today. Norms articulated in these historical instructions – such as the emphasis on deep reading, oral storytelling, and parental responsibility, particularly that of mothers – continue to resonate in contemporary debates, policies, and reading promotion practices. By situating these continuities and changes within their historical and ideological contexts, the study contributes to an understanding of how normative expectations surrounding reading persist and evolve over time. While the societal problems that reading is expected to solve have varied over time, the hopes attached to what ideal reading can achieve have remained strikingly constant across decades.