Examining the Value of Literary Conversations

Abstract

In recent years, researchers and practitioners in the field of Scandinavian L1 literature education have devoted considerable attention to literary conversations. In the Scandinavian countries, research into literature education has traditionally been characterized by qualitative studies. These tend to be published in various genres and are often written in a local language. This publishing pattern makes it challenging to obtain an overview of the field and its subfields. Hence there is an obvious need for a systematic review to map out the landscape of existing research into literary conversations. To that end, the present study investigates the characteristics of qualitative research into literary conversations in the Scandinavian L1 school subject with regard to key research approaches used, to the characteristics of the conversations studied, and to the pedagogical value ascribed to literary conversations. The findings show a joint belief in the value of literary conversations as a community for students’ learning in Scandinavian research. Multiple pedagogical gains are accounted for, both from the collaboration within the community itself and as a result of such collective work. In addition, the wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches mapped out from the studies investigated reveal some interesting challenges and also possible gains if further research is conducted.