This master thesis constitutes a study into the history of reading. The object is to illustrate how reading practices of a few girls and young women were molded during the early decades of the twentieth century. By studying how reading was expressed in a specific historical situation, the prerequisites and changes of reading can be understood as part of a wider historical perspective. The primary material consists of 33 retrospective interviews that were recorded during the 1970s and 80s, wherein female respondents articulate their recollections of books and reading in their childhood and adolescent. The theoretical framework draws inspiration from the field of the history of reading, with influence from scholars such as Roger Chartier and Robert Darnton. The comprehension is that reading practices are shaped and limited by social and cultural factors, but the practices are also shaped by the liberties readers take within the prevailing limitations. The analysis shows that the home environment played a decisive role when it comes to the prerequisites for reading, and is closely intertwined with factors such as the parents' level of education, occupations and financial assets. As many homes suffered from a lack of reading material, the libraries connected to schools, religious communities or popular movements became valuable sources. Public education efforts, such as the emergence of public libraries and the spread of new, cheaper reading materials, had great significance for many of the girls, and made reading more varied and free. The overall picture shows that reading practices varied between different individuals. Different modalities of reading are closely intertwined with distinct individual prerequisites and the various opportunities which allowed the respondents to be active readers and tailor their reading practices to meet their own specific needs.

The object of this master thesis is to study the reading practices offive women as they themselves remember them from theirchildhood and youth in the middle of the 20th century. The study inparticular targets the respondents’ reading in relation to the normsfor girls’ and young women’s reading at the time. The thesis takesas its starting point the presentation of the respondents´ readingmemories, based on motifs, preferences and experiences. Equallyimportant is the presentation of the relationship between thesememories and the social discourse their reading practices were partof. The qualitative interview is the method used to collect theempirical material. Theoretically, the analysis is inspired by theconcept of the history of reading and by the sociology of literature.The analysis shows that the respondents grew up in homes withpartially dissimilar conditions for the forming of reading practices.The differences seem to be linked to social standing, material andeconomic situations, levels of education and geographicallocations. They are mirrored in both access to literature, choice ofbooks, reading environment and in the way the respondents lookupon reading and its importance. Nevertheless, there aresimilarities between the respondents in so far as reading was apleasurable activity, giving them freedom to create their ownseparate worlds. Reading was also a step in the process ofbecoming women. This is reinforced by their mothers´ role inintroducing books and keeping the girls’ reading interest alive. / Program: Bibliotekarie