Litteraturdidaktikk

Abstract

This thematic issue of Skriftkultur is about literature and literature didactics. Researching how we teach literature requires taking into consideration the changing circumstances for literature and reading: Students read less now than they did before, and they prefer to read short texts both at school and in their free time, according to several PISA and PIRLS surveys. This has led to a marginalization of reading longer, often complex, texts that require endurance and cognitive patience. At the same time, governing powers and policymakers are concerned with prioritizing reading, and initiatives to stimulate more long-form reading and subsidize schools’ purchase of physical textbooks and literature in schools have been implemented. Against this background, discourse within teacher education and schools on the position of literature and teaching literature, past and present, and how teaching can also stimulate creativity, as well as motivation for and the joy of reading, is vital. The place-based nature of literature is also central to the work of creating relevance and meaning, both analog and digital, and across national boundaries and educational institutions, while the school library can be a literary arena for fostering a vibrant reading culture in schools.