Läkande litteratur? : Diskursanalys av begreppet biblioterapi i bibliotekssektorns branschtidskrifter

Sammanfattning: Bibliotherapy as a concept and method has in recent years become increasingly established where, among other things, courses in bibliotherapy have been started. However, there is an uncertainty about the concept of bibliotherapy where some librarians are reluctant to call themselves a therapist. The aim of this study is to investigate how the concept of “bibliotherapy” is portrayed in the library sector´s journals. To do so I used discourse analysis as a theoretical and methodological foundation. When it comes to the method, I used selected discourse analytical concepts taken from Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe´s discourse theory. The empirical material of the study consists of articles from three library journals that address bibliotherapy and Shared Reading. The results of this study show how the methods in bibliotherapy differ and how this in turn creates various views when it comes to the choice of literature, the role of literature and which participants the bibliotherapy is aimed at. The study also shows that there is an ambivalence among librarians when it comes to the therapy part of bibliotherapy and that they have established different strategies for dealing with this ambivalence. When it comes to the role of libraries and bibliotherapy, the empirical material shows that it is mainly reading promotion that is mentioned as one of the main reasons why libraries should be interested in bibliotherapy. Finally, the study shows that Shared Reading, with its similarities and differences when it comes to library therapy, seems to have created a more stable foundation for its discourse compared to bibliotherapy. In the discourse on bibliotherapy, clarifying what the therapy part entails could be beneficial for those who feel uncertain about bibliotherapy and to work as a bibliotherapist.