”Har du läst den?” : Hur kvalitet konstrueras i Biblioteket Plays förmedling

Sammanfattning

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how public libraries construct quality through their selection and mediation of literature on the streaming platform Biblioteket Play. This study was conducted by combining a quantitative analysis where the selected literature was mapped out and a qualitative close reading of the literature mediation in the audiovisual material. We constructed a theoretical framework by combining Knut Osterholm’s ideal types of quality, Jofrid Karner Smidt’s mediation roles, Lars Furhammar’s approaches to reading from a reader’s perspective and lastly Jonas Andersson’s approaches to reading from a literature mediator’s perspective. In mapping the literature, the results show that fiction was favored over non-fiction; the picture book was highly represented in the mediation of children literature while the novel was highly represented in the literature for adults; the genders of the authors and illustrators were equally represented; and the Swedish language dominated. The close reading of selected videos on the platform showed that the construction of quality in children’s literature usually focuses on universal themes and the mediation favored instrumental reading, while being both pragmatic and emancipating in their approach. The mediator usually inhabited the mediation role of the “pedagogue”. The mediation of literature for adults also constructed universal themes as a qualitative trait, although the mediation focused both on the themes emotional and reflexive values, which promoted a personal reading experience. The approach to reading was traditional when poetry was mediated and pragmatic when the books’ entertainment value was endorsed. The mediator usually inhabited the mediation role of “ordinary human” and of “critic and connoisseur of literature”. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.