Litteraturvetenskapen i Sverige

Abstract

Literary Studies in Sweden: an Analysis of a Confusion of Ideas
 The article addresses questions of disciplinary identity within literary scholarship in Sweden. In the first part it is shown in a number of examples how researchers in the Swedish university subject »litteraturvetenskap« – when debating or mentioning »literary scholarship in Sweden« – are identifying this field solely with their own subject, thus neglecting the existence of literary studies at all levels within several other subjects, i. e. the foreign languages: English, German, French etc. In a second part, statistics on the dissertations presented in the field of literary studies during the years 1999–2008 are presented. The statistics show that the majority of these dissertations were in fact presented not in »litteraturvetenskap«, but in foreign languages. In a third part, the absence of both a Scandinavian Literature subject and a Comparative Literature subject in Sweden is discussed. The Swedish/Scandinavian and the general/comparative components are thought to be combined in the subject »litteraturvetenskap«. However, their coexistence in one subject is insufficiently motivated, and the balance between the two is far from ideal. The Swedish component dominates, especially in research. The hegemonic and, at the same time, essentially unclear name »litteraturvetenskap« for the university subject in fact seems to conceal the problems outlined. In the conclusion, a suggestion is made to split »litteraturvetenskap« into one subject for Swedishlanguage or Scandinavian literature and another subject concerned with more general issues, a sort of Comparative Literature subject.