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Olle Widhe

Professor

Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion
Telephone
+46 31-786 53 12
Mail
olle.widhe@lir.gu.se
Visiting address
Renströmsgatan 6
41255 Göteborg
Room number
C655
Postal address
Box 200
40530 Göteborg

About Olle Widhe

My focus

As a full professor of literature with a focus on didactics, I have approached children's and youth literature from various perspectives. Two overarching questions that have guided my research are how modern children's literature has developed and how the relationship between the pedagogy and aesthetics of children's literature changes over time. These questions are closely linked to more specific issues regarding the historical development of children's literature and how perceptions of children and childhood change.

I have particularly focused on the role of children's literature in shaping our understanding of the child as a subject with its own rights and agency. Recently, I have also turned to literary sociology, studying the role of publishers in children's literature publication. For several years, I have also researched and taught a creative and expressive approach to literature, and how teaching literature can be designed to include all students, being enjoyable and motivating, without losing sight of the literary text.

I hold a teaching degree for grades 7-9, intended for teaching Swedish in the upper years of primary school, earned my Ph.D. in 2005, and have worked as a full professor at the University of Gothenburg since 2020. Previously, I worked at Karlstad University and University West. Between 2020 and 2024, I served on the Swedish Arts Council's working group for children's and youth literature and have collaborated with the Swedish National Agency for Education at various times. Since 2018, I have been part of the editorial board for the scientific journal Barnboken https://www.barnboken.net/index.php/clr

My Teaching

I currently teach the historical context and development of children's and youth literature with a particular focus on image and narrative, as well as on the didactics of Swedish with a focus on questions related to student motivation. My teaching in the teacher education program for grades 4-6 revolves especially around how to design an inclusive literature teaching that promotes dynamic book talk and at the same time emphasizes the literary text.

Funded Research Projects.

My scholarly focus centers on the multidimensional relationship between text, reading, and the reader. In my research, I have explored this relationship through various, yet closely interconnected, areas.

The project “Enabling literature learning in multilingual contexts” investigates how creative, arts-based methods can improve literature teaching for middle school students with Swedish as a second language. It responds to teachers' needs for approaches that balance structure with engagement and literary dialogue. The goal is to develop accessible, research-based strategies for literature instruction that encourage exploration and deepen reading experiences. The project is funded by CULF, University of Gothenburg (2026–2028) https://www.gu.se/culf/forskning-i-samverkan-ulf/beviljade-forskningsprojekt#accordion=4b5bccc2-b947-4437-ada4-c6fb651413e5

In the ongoing project "The Barnbiblioteket Saga Archive: Mapping and Visualizing a Swedish Children's Book Series (1899–1970)," the significance of Barnbiblioteket Saga, one of the largest reading promotion initiatives in Sweden's history, is being investigated. The project is funded by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and is conducted in collaboration with the Swedish Institute for Children's Books (2022–2025). https://www.barnboksinstitutet.se/nyheter/55-miljoner-kronor-till-forskningsprojekt-om-barnbiblioteket-saga/

Another ongoing project, “The Tale of Saga: Editorial Practices of a Children's Book Publisher”, examines the activities of the publishing house Svensk Läraretidnings förlag. The publisher, founded at the turn of the 20th century, published the long-running book series Barnbiblioteket Saga and the children's magazine Jultomten. The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council and is conducted in collaboration with the Swedish Institute for Children's Books (2024–2028). https://press.barnboksinstitutet.se/posts/pressreleases/vetenskapsradet-satsar-pa-barnlitteratur-nytt

In collaboration with the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, I wrote the introduction and completed the commentaries for Zacharias Topelius' Läsning för barn, which is part of the tenth volume in Zacharias Topelius' Collected Works. The project was funded by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland (2020–2021). https://www.sls.fi/publications/lasning-for-barn/

In my postdoctoral project, which resulted in the book Dö din hund! Krig, lek och läsning i svensk barnboksutgivning under 200 år (2015), I explore how children's books thematize play and reading during modernity, as well as how their tone and pedagogical mission change over time. The postdoctoral position was funded by the Åke Wiberg Foundation and was awarded to me as a newly graduated researcher in competition with a group of nominees from the literary studies departments of Sweden’s five major universities (2009–2013). https://libris.kb.se/bib/16558041

My doctoral dissertation Främlingskap. Etik och form i Willy Kyrklunds tidiga prosa (2005) follows the reader-oriented tone in the early experimental novels of Finland-Swedish author Willy Kyrklund and analyzes how they establish an ethical relationship with the reader through the transformation of classical didactic genres. The doctoral position was funded by the University of Gothenburg (2000–2005). https://libris.kb.se/bib/9960026