Books as happy objects : on Swedish rural masculine reader identities

• Joining the research that emphasises the importance of the social and cultural context for reading and masculinities, this article focuses on the significance of book collection for a rural working-class man’s relationship to reading. The data consists of a series of life story interviews, conducted as go-along interviews, with a Swedish rural working-class man in his 60s who collects books. Using theories of class, masculinity and place, and drawing on (Sara Ahmed’s [2010]. The promise of happiness. Duke University Press.) theory of emotions and affect, this study illuminates the intersection of reading practices, identity and masculinity while showing how a working-class man’s reading practices align with and deviate from normative conceptions of being a man within the studied context. Highlighting the practices of interacting with books on a physical level – collecting, holding, sorting, viewing covers, and so on – the article also shows how these tactile practices contribute to a rural working-class man’s development of a reader identity.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogiskt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogical Work (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Education

Pedagogik

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)