Nyttan, lusten och litteraturen : Ett samtal med Sara Mannheimers roman Handlingen

Sammanfattning: This essay aims to problematize the concepts of usefulness and lust in relation to reading and literature. My analysis is based in Sara Mannheimer’s novel Handlingen. The research questions seeks to interpret the character´s understanding of the two ideas usefulness and lust, and further try to analyze how the character's view on literature and abstract thinking is determined by the two concepts. With theories on cleaning, baking and the practical work as well as theories of reading, the discussions with the novel´s character evolved to think further about the concept of literature and what it really stands for in one’s life. The results from the analysis of the novel resulted in a dualistic view between the two concepts usefulness and lust where the entrance to the world of literature is conditioned by having genuine lust for reading. I further problematize this view with a discussion about what it means to be an authentic person and that it does not reject the union of the two concepts. Another central point in the analysis of the novel is how usefulness relates to organization and a clear system whereas lust speaks to the abstract thinking and chaos. My conclusion consists of the union of being open to abstraction and the fact that a person cannot know certain things that will always be out of reach for us, such as existential questions and so on. This could mean that the usefulness and lust are dependent of each other in one’s life, at least that they are not ruling out each other’s existence.