The aim of this discourse study has been to analyse how the concept of bibliotherapy in connection with hospital librarians’ work is presented in theses written in the field of library and information science. The theory is based on the work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. The main picture presented is that bibliotherapy is difficult to define. Most of the hospital librarians have heard about bibliotherapy, and they strongly believe in the concept. At the same time, the respondents are hesitant to label their work ‘bibliotherapy’. Biblio-therapy is presented in the research mainly as a practice. Among hospital librarians, bibliotherapy is associated with the reading of fiction. There is no consensus among them on how to define the term. A number of descriptions of how bibliotherapy can help patients with mental issues, bring joy and even save lives are mentioned, but no hard evidence is presented for this. Two central subject positions are discussed in this study. Hospital librarians are described as a group who need to claim their rights in the large hospital organisation. At the same time they are seen as a highly competent and reliable resource. The patient is scarcely represented in the empirical material.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hb-14369 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Källvik, Gustaf |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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