"Det er bare en bok med masse bokstaver" : En kvalitativ undersøkelse om gutters forhold til lesing

Abstract

In this master thesis I have examined three boys with a good relationship with reading and three boys with a bad relationship with reading, and studied factors that can contribute to either a good or a bad relationship with reading. The survey is based on qualitative interviews with the six informants, complementing with information from a reading test named Carlsten and information from the boys' teachers. The main topics studied were reading at home, reading at school, the boys' own thoughts about reading, communicating with others about reading and how the boys develop as readers. I focused on factors distinguishing boys with a good relationship with reading and boys with a bad relationship with reading – primarly among fifth to seventhgrade pupils in primary school. One of the most prominent results in the study is that boys are being socialized into different cultures of masculinity. Which culture of masculinity a boy is socialized in to, depends on his previous experiences with reading and the reading culture that he has at home, in school and in his social environment. The boys with a good relationship with reading are socialized into a culture where reading is normalized and accepted as an activity. The boys with a bad relationship with reading are socialized into a culture where reading is valued inferior to other activities. This is one of the main reasons why boys in primary school have different relationships with reading.