Tuva Haglund

Short presentation

My research focuses on children’s literature, fan culture, and social reading among young people. I am currently working on a postdoctoral project on Booktok and leisure reading among Swedish youth. In addition, I am involved in two VR-funded projects starting in 2026: Worth and Wonder, on the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and Far from Disposable, on readers of The Legend of the Ice People by Margit Sandemo. I am also on the editorial board of Barnelitterært forskningstidsskrift (BLFT).

Keywords

• digital social reading
• critical studies of reading
• booktok
• fan culture
• children’s and young adult literature
• Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA)
• The Legend of the Ice People

Biography

Participating researcher in Worth and Wonder. Exploring Aesthetic and Pedagogical Values of Children’s Literature through the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, (VR, 2026-2029)

Participating researcher in Far from disposable: An empirical study of readers’ attachments to The Legend of the Ice People, (VR, 2026-2029)

Postdoctoral Researcher at Uppsala University, 2024–2027, with the project, Reading with Booktok. Young adult’s reading motivation and reading habits in online and offline contexts

The editorial board of Barnelitterært forskningstidskrift (BLFT)

Researcher, Mothers, Power, and Mothering in Contemporary Nordic Children's Literature (2022-2024)

Research coordinator, Swedish Institute for Children’s Literature, 2024-

Ph.D. in Literature, Uppsala University, 2021

M.A. in Education for Teaching in Compulsory School, Later Years and Upper Secondary School/Adult Education, Malmö University 2011

Research

Worth and Wonder. Exploring Aesthetic and Pedagogical Values of Children’s Literature through the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

(VR, 2026–2029)

The project examines how values attributed to children’s literature is created, negotiated, and put into practice through the first comprehensive study of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. To this end, the study investigate three key contexts: ALMA’s cultural policy work and communication, the laureates’ public communication on their art, and ALMA-themed reading projects in schools.

By combining research in children’s literature, the sociology of literature, prize studies, and literary didactics, the project offers a children’s literature–specific perspective on literary value negotiations.

Participating researchers are Malin Nauwerck (Swedish Institute for Children’s Literature), Jana Rüegg (Uppsala University) and Tuva Haglund (Swedish Institute for Children’s Literature/Uppsala University).

Far from disposable: An empirical study of readers’ attachments to The Legend of the Ice People

(VR, 2026–2029)

The popular romantic 1980’s book series The Legend of the Ice People has long been out of print, not accessible in libraries or bookshops. Despite this, the novels have been in circulation for forty years, attracting new generations of readers over time. This project will focus on the (long-term and new) readers of The Legend of the Ice People, to study their attachment to these books, asking what it means (and takes) to form and maintain a connection with literature, over time as well as right now in contemporary media culture. Such knowledge is essential for creating conditions that foster inner reading motivation in young readers and support adult readers in deepening their relation to literature. 

The project is a qualitative empirical study, collecting a broad selection of reader statements by self-reports, digital posts, and interviews. It relies on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, composed of feminist cultural studies, queer theory and postcritique, employing the concept attachment to explore the social, emotional and phenomenological aspects of reading. 

Participating researchers are Elin Abrahamsson (Gothenburg University) and Tuva Haglund (Swedish Institute for Children’s Literature/Uppsala University).

Reading with Booktok. Young adult’s reading motivation and reading habits in online and offline contexts

(Postdoctoral project, 2024-2027)

BookTok offers a unique insight into how young people today talk and socialize around books and collectively sustain their motivation to read. The platform can therefore provide important knowledge about how reading and literature can be meaningful for young people. However, for the individual reader, participating online also entails various forms of offline reading.

The project "Reading with Booktok" is designed to encompass a holistic perspective on the individual reader’s complex reading practices. Through surveys, interviews, and digital fieldwork, data on young people’s reading habits and their use of BookTok will be collected in both offline and online environments. The aim is to examine reading habits, reader identity, and social reading among young Swedish Booktok readers, with a particular focus on how offline and online contexts interact.

Mothers, Power, and Mothering in Contemporary Nordic Children's Literature (2022-2024)

In the past decade, contemporary motherhood has been prominent in public debate and a strong theme in both fiction and non-fiction for adults. This discussion is also ongoing within children's literature, which historically has been at the forefront of reflecting societal change. The fact that children's experiences and perceptions are at the center signifies an inherent difference in perspective. In Sweden, this child-centered perspective holds an obvious status. Combined with high artistic values, it gives Swedish children's literature a unique position internationally, making it one of Sweden's foremost cultural exports.

The project "Mothers, Power, and Mothering in Contemporary Nordic Children's Literature" aims to investigate how images of motherhood are represented and conveyed to child and adult readers in contemporary children's books, and how these notions are part of a public discussion. Central questions include how the Swedish socio-political context has shaped the portrayals of motherhood in children’s literature, how the child perspective is used to negotiate children’s and adults’ interests, and how the children’s book as a medium can serve as a means to exercise influence as well as to advocate for issues related to motherhood.

The project is a collaboration with Malin Nauwerck from the Swedish Institute for Children's Books. It consists of two parts: 1) a research study that has so far resulted in two co-authored articles focused on contemporary Swedish picturebooks, and 2) a shared guest editorship for the theme "Motherhood and Mothering" in Barnboken. Journal of Children’s Literature Research (2023 and 2024).

Use of Fiction in The Engelsfors Fan Community 2011-2016 (dissertation)

An important part of fans engagement in fictional worlds are the fan made artworks (fan fiction, fan art and fan vids) inspired by the original works, and shared within the community. My research project focus on the fandom surrounding The Engelsfors Trilogy (2011-2013), a Swedish fantasy series by Mats Strandberg and Sara Bergmark Elfgren. Of particular interest is the fans own creative works, which constitute a significant part of their social interaction.

All public fan works are included in the study, which contains both texts, artworks, dialogs and videos. The aim is to examine the Engelsfors fandom as a social, cultural and digital practise, where social reading is the main focus. Today, most fan communities locate their activities to digital platforms, and the new forms for communication and social interaction that digitisation and social media brings constitute different preconditions. The active, co-creating approach that is characteristic for fans, can be noticed among a broader group of readers, audiences and consumers, and more frequently fan activities can be seen to overlap with the general participatory culture. These changes are important for understanding the interaction and dynamics within the Engelsfors fandom, which, like many new fan communities, is located to social media platforms like Tumblr, Instagram and Facebook.

In addition to an overall mapping of structure and patterns for communication within the fandom, the dissertation also contains close readings of the creative narration expressed in the body of fan works. Primarily, the analysis focus on one of the most noticed theme, the love story between Linnéa and Vanessa. Besides fan specific genres like “shipping” and “fluff”, the analysis also include perspective like fictionalisation, emotional reading practises and femininity.