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New scenes and houses for literature - A challenge for cultural and public library policy? Conference paper

Niels D. Lund

Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark, 6 Birketinget, DK-2300 S. +45 32 58 60 66. ndl@iva.dk

MA in Nordic Philology and Literature and in History, University of Copenhagen 1978, PhD in public enlightenment within literary history, University of Copenhagen 2000; Associated Professor in Promotion of literature and cultural history, 1981, Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen. Abstract The paper focuses on the emergence of new initiatives and undertakings in the field of promotion and use of literature in comparison with the possibilities and practices of the traditional public library institutions and of public cultural policy. First a description of a dual development of the public library and of UNESCO’s agenda City of literature makes a setting; then three parts mention different scenes and initiatives: small scenes for performance of literature, festivals of literature as a mode, and – more detailed – the various types of houses of literature - with primarily Danish/Nordic examples. The discussion gives some explanations of these scenes and activities from a sociological view of the literary life and in relation to e.g. experience economy, states that the public cultural policy mostly has fluctuated regarding these scenes and houses, and suggests generally a need to clarify questions of subsiding and relations to libraries and civil society.

Key words: Literature, performance of literature, promotion, public library, house of literature, festivals

Words: 7855

IntroductionThe general attention and the main resources of the public cultural budgets related to the field of literature are placed in the public libraries. Being established institutions of distribution with regularity and free admission public libraries are high status hallmarks of cultural policy in many countries and cities. Subsidies to literature, writers, and publishers are often canalized directly or indirectly through the practice and effect of public libraries; they are at the centre of the literary system, and in many cities and local communities the only public scenes for promotion of literature. In recent years, however, many activities and new scenes and places for circulations, meetings, and performances of literature have developed – new and crossing initiatives and new institutions – all in various scales and scopes, in different ways in different countries and cities, and with purpose parallel as well as alternative to that of the public library.

The paper aims to focus on the emergence of these new initiatives and undertakings in the field of promotion and use of literature in comparison with the rationales, possibilities and practices of the traditional public library institutions. To inquire how and why the new circulations and activities represent cultural experiments and avant-garde, renewals of places and platforms, altered social reach outs, and new generations, and whether they may change concepts both of texts, urban planning, literary milieu, and performance design. Obviously there is a new mixing of state, market, and civil society organizations, and of production, distribution, and consumption, together with fresh players mixed by amateurs/professionals etc. To which degree do they diverge from well-known library routines and experiences and point to alternatives?So, first a dual development of the public library makes a setting, a UNESCO program marks an agenda setting, and then three parts will mention different scenes and initiatives: small scenes, festivals, and - more detailed as the most challenging - houses of literature, and then some discussions and conclusions. There are

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neither recent nor deep empirical investigations, but reasoned observations with primarily a Danish/Nordic focus. The inquiry is central because the public cultural policy mostly seems fluctuating, somewhat reluctant and very selective to these new literary undertakings, scenes and activities; attitudes and sorts of practice concerning public subsidies have been different, may be challenging because of a lack of conceptualizing and framing?

Concept remarks The field covered here has many concepts – the terms the literary system (Escarpit), the literary field (Bourdieu), the literary process, and the literary life (e.g. Furuland) are noted practically synonymously; they hold founding sociological patterns of actors within production, circulation, and use in the society, and all do have cultural policy implications. The actors focused in this paper point to a shift in well-known patterns; when the weight is displaced to reception and audience activity, to place and performance - so, other forms of experience ends and of flows - a new picture will emerge confronting the long-established one-way process of the printed book; and a renewed description of circulating literary life is needed.

The distinction between literature and book is to be mentioned, as the words are often used synonymously/overlapping in public and political debates; literature refers to culture, art, and school education, while book is the physical and trade market term - a quality bestseller covers both!; the government subsides literature, not books, but book policy exists as a concept; surveys of reading counts books – not literature; a book fair is a cultural event etc. Hereto a book and a work is not the same, and literature may be found in sources other than books – today increasingly. It is e.g. important to distinguish whether today’s collaborators of the fashion-right partnerships do have the same approach.

As for cultural policy there are many forms of subsidies for the literary field. Literature (excellently fiction) is subsided by art legislation, primarily to the authors as persons with bursaries etc., and secondly to specific works/projects; it is quality in sight as for the production link, for the authors but not the publishers. The distribution link is subsided primarily via public libraries’ purchase (of great significance in the Nordic countries) as for both quality and quantity indirect subsidy to the publishers book market, whereas a sort of duty/compensation to the authors as artists is run according to volumes in number on the library shelves. The consumers link and the use of literature, against it, does not get much subsidy; and if generally the weight within the literary life displaces towards the readers and the collective and place fixed use, it may be paradoxical if the weight of the subsidies do not follow? Generally – except from the libraries – the literary life has had little attention within cultural policy research (cf. e.g. The Nordic Journal of Cultural Policy).

At all, the concept of literature - moral guide, pleasure, art - will not be examined here, but a view (in the digital era) of the use of reading and of literature as a way of thinking – placed in the center of personal, educational, and professional life is inspiring (Garber, p.7).

The established public library – the dual development The following sketch is based on the situation and the development which has taken place in Danish public libraries in the area of fiction librarianship - an area in which Denmark has held a strong position in a European context. Since the 1990s, it has been possible to observe a dual – and dialectically interacting – development, which indicates a strong situation of change in literary life as a whole, and therefore also within public libraries. This will be slightly over-emphasised here.

The market was characterised by bestsellerism and ways to concentrate attention (many literary prizes!), orientation towards the media, increased advertising and sponsorship. Book prices rose, the number of titles rose but the numbers printed fell, and book sales were liberalised with free prices. The authority of literary criticism dropped, and was replaced by aggressive literary journalism. Government cultural policy in the literary area indicated almost no qualitative initiatives. For libraries, the effect of this was that book purchasing was increasingly controlled by the borrowers’ demands (e.g. for detective literature), increasing competition for attention from other media accompanied by automation/self-service and centralisation of

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processes, and digital catalogues which meant less communication between borrowers and librarians, whose training became less and less focussed on knowledge of fiction. Together with economy campaigns and library closures, the number of books borrowed fell - and most recently the arrival of the e-book has introduced new uncertain elements of change. A strong qualitative tradition and practice based on cultural policy with respect to fiction in libraries had become an undifferentiated, value-neutral, cost-free book supply, automated and based on self-service, and primarily measured quantitatively in terms of lending activity.

In contrast to this regrettable, almost dystopic, picture a number of counter-measures and a new orientation became evident. Libraries put an effort into dissemination: reading campaigns, experimental projects, book talk cafés, readings by visiting authors, a focus on the reader rather than the book, readers’ groups, conversations with your personal librarian and reader development; a flexible and dynamic digital fiction portal with new forms of text presentation, book reviews and collaboration profiles (university students within literature). The whole area swung to and fro between the service paradigm and the experience paradigm, which there was now room for as a result of rationalisation in other processes. These initiatives also corresponded to tendencies in the market and in general within literary life outside the library: book cafés, literature stages, events, book fairs, festivals, a new focus for public service radio, success for audio books, literary parties, alliances between actors, writers’ courses, reading groups in civil life etc. Here one could see new activity, vision, and belief in the possibilities offered by literature.

To summarise, the general characteristics of the many initiatives of this new literary life seem to involve: more focus and selectivity, more oral dialogue, delight and experience, emphasis on processes, social fellowship and communal spirit - all in all, the reader became more visible. Emphasis was placed on space, stages and presence, performance and events, and on written literature in combination with other media/hybrids, partnerships/networks spanning multiple actors and sectors. This counterbalance to the automatic, free and undifferentiated book supply from a financially pressed public library was rolled out in front of the cultural politicians. (Folkebibliotekerne, p. 52ff; Nordic; Hvenegaard; Kann-Christensen).This may at a whole conform to general characteristics of the late modern culture and experience society: individualization, personal choice and self expression, participation, interaction, inclusion, cross aesthetics, life style communities, and regarding institutions performance, event, and spatial turn, together with dialogue, network, co-operation between amateurs and professionals etc.(Pine; Skot-Hansen, 2006; Langsted).

City of literature - grandest design for a sceneCity of literature is a rather new concept of biannual awarding which generally reflects today’s typical cultural development. It is born out of the UNESCO program Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity (2002), and from there the Creative City Network (2004) focusing cultural industries, public institutions, infrastructures, professional associations, and cultural enterprises within different branches (film, music, literature etc).

The thinking is that also the literary field at a whole can get contours clear enough to highlight a city as a sort of model and form a brand; it is the combination of experience economy – with creative economy and creative tourism – and of collaboration between public, private and civil society partners, and from here a focusing of cases and methods which may inspire development in other cities worldwide. Since 2004 five cities have been awarded as a city of literature: Edinburgh in Scotland, Melbourne in Australia; Iowa City in the USA, Dublin in Republic of Ireland, and latest in 2011 Reykjavik in Iceland. What are seen as criteria and characteristics to become a City of Literature seem obviously merging classic notions of the literary life, the field of literature or the literary system together with several progressive words and frames. As cited from the criteria list a city must hold or pursue:

“Quality, quantity and diversity of editorial initiatives and publishing houses; Quality and quantity of educational programmes focusing on domestic or foreign literature in primary and secondary schools as well as universities; Urban environment in which literature, drama and/or poetry play an integral role; Experience

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in hosting literary events and festivals aiming at promoting domestic and foreign literature; Libraries, bookstores and public or private cultural centres dedicated to the preservation, promotion and dissemination of domestic and foreign literature; Active effort by the publishing sector to translate literary works from diverse national languages and foreign literature; Active involvement of media, including new media, in promoting literature and strengthening the market for literary products.” (unesco.org).

All levels, links, and elements in producing, informing, distributing, and consuming have been comprised, and all well-known institutions, actors, relations etc. have been brought together, though the distinction between books and literature may still not be clear. There are connections to education, literary scholarship, and heritage, cross culture initiatives are possible, local and international are bound together. Hereto the physical urban environment and design is seen as a scene (- as e.g. the many statues of the great writer James Joyce in the city streets have formed a sort of badge for Dublin). As UNESCO wants it: “engaging citizens in a dynamic culture of words” - the award is a permanent one if conditions are upheld.

As for e.g. Reykjavik in 2011 the awarding was due to the city as the absolute centre of the cultural life, institutions, and publishing companies of a country; the setting of contemporary Icelandic literature; the home of and outstanding identity-giving literary heritage – the Sagas, holding a thousand years old very stable and unaltered language within a distinct linguistic area, with high priority to research and education; many prize winning authors known aboard due to an increasing number of translations; hosting many literature festivals favored internationally, various events, programs and happenings with high public participation; the country belongs to the world’s top as for titles published per capita and average printing of copies, it has a library system with percentage high for visitors and borrowers and with free and open access, and it holds strong traditions for books promoted within bookstores, libraries, cafés, bars, schools, workplaces and the media - e.g. ‘The Book-Flood-Before-Christmas’ shows books as the single most popular Christmas gift item (cf. Reykjavik).

So, even in a rather small country the capital can have a profile, something to rand, and something for others to pick and imitate; the official text from UNESCO 2011 stated “For a city of small population, approximately 200,000 habitants, Reykjavik is especially appreciated for demonstrating the central role literature plays within the modern urban landscape, the contemporary society and the daily life of the citizens.” Iceland has got the institutions, the associations, the education level etc., though no elaborated governmental literature policy, and it may be so that this smaller scale facilitates clarity and possibility for coherence. The mayor’s reply was “Our culture is the most valuable of all our resources.” - to be said in a country which had an economic bankrupt few years ahead – and he launched an ambition of a coming Centre for Literature as a platform for literary events and projects of all kinds (cf. literature.is). Altogether – and here too – a characteristic late modern set up for cultural development: globalization, city image building, cultural economy, cross institution, event making, partnership, cultural citizenship etc. (cf. Skot-Hansen, 2007); with e.g. the library being not a cornerstone, but a plain partner amongst, it may point to a modified notion of cultural policy within literature.

Small scenes – spoken, visual and mobile performances The printed copy from a bookseller or library, which can be studied by the individual reader, is the best known form of literature. But many other styles of presentation and forms of study to an increasing extent form a basis for other types of experience and communication; one can speak of performance, stage production, ‘litlive’, spatial installation and physical association in various ways via visual and auditive perception – literature outside the silent mass medium of the book.

Behind this there lie traditions and well known forms of verbalisation and spatial association – in the cultures of the church, the court and the middle classes, through experiments such as Dadaism, in the blues, beat culture (Bob Dylan often mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize), hip-hop etc. There are old connections to the theatre, music and pictorial art through traditions which differ from country to country. These phenomena can be looked at on the basis of theories of oral literature, narration, crossover, flow and performance in a manner which is interdisciplinary – particularly involving anthropology, dramaturgy and

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pedagogic – and cross-cultural, as large parts of the aesthetic performance are related to rituals with communities, particular roles, sequences of activities, rules of the game and limited stages.

The best known and most used oral presentations are associated with a collective reception at events and via stage productions. One of the main forms involves reading aloud (by an author or other performer) from printed texts, marathon readings, recitation, and different forms of re-telling. In this way, written literature which is not drama to an increasing extent finds its way to being presented on theatre stages – one could say “too good only to be read in a book!” about a whole theatre which (re-)creates a reading public by just listening to someone reading out loud.

The other main form is true oral literature; the spoken word can be a general term for various styles and presentation forms: rapping, stand up, poetry slam and so on, i.e. forms which have often been associated with underground or non-institutionalised contexts, where a written text doesn’t always exist, neither in advance nor subsequently, where there sometimes is an audio or video recording, but only rarely a printed text. What does a librarian do with an unpublished text, and with the claim that authors should not primarily aim at producing works in book form published by a publisher? There are numerous - both fixed and changing - places for both these forms of presentation: cafés, book fairs, literary salons, large events, schools, festivals (where they are essential, see below) etc., and now and then they can be combined with the TV and Internet media. The place has become more important; the study of literature has found a new focus related to the way in which literature is bound to places (cf. Piatti), and people who explain these ideas say that “Literature finds its place” – the title of an ongoing Danish instructional project organised by the public libraries.There are also different forms of mobile presentation and combinations of literature and various types of space and non-traditional places: Installation of texts in public urban sites, on house gables, in metro trains and buses – Poems on the Underground has existed and enjoyed great popularity in London since 1986 – in the form of posters or over sound tracks. Looking in another direction, we find literary walking trips round town or ‘lit.walks’, both with a physical guide and audio guide, or as geocaching, travel in the footsteps of great authors as a new form of cultural tourism, and – for example – mobile media for statues of authors in parks.

A third form of production – and information – is available in the form of permanently established literary writers’ museums and memorial rooms (the international museum organisation ICOM has a section for this type of thing, aiming at both research, publishing, exhibition and education), where there often are events. Exhibition activity with literature is seen to an increasing extent in various forms: word sculptures, word pictures, wall texts, ‘writing together’, mind maps, illustrations, animations etc. and, for example, interactive drafts; all this can lead to new collaborations with art museums and other cultural institutions as cross-cultural thinking. The German literary archive in Marbach insists that it is possible to exhibit literature and literary experience and inspiration – not books, as would be done in the context of book museums.Thus all parts of literary life get exposed in many prioritised ways, and achieve cultural representations in physical and spatial form, and these productions are often associated with celebrations, anniversaries and official cultural heritage symbolism, also in coordination with the media and as a part of experience culture and economy (cf. Lund).

Part of this is naturally not entirely new in event and performance thinking (cf. Soyini); but taken as a whole a violent test of the possibilities with a range of actors and stakeholders of a breadth which has hardly been seen before, and which is associated with the market, civilian society and public institutions and strongly associated with project support and sponsorships and external funding. The aims are often parallels to those of the public libraries, who have mostly gone in for events with authors, and left other actors to all the rest. This has been an imaginative development over relatively few years, and with the aim of targeting a larger and larger public – not just an avant garde or closed group; it will change our relationship to literature – and therefore also to the printed book – and could thus deserve more coherent consideration in cultural policy. Festivals - ritual collective scenes for experiences

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Festivals make up the most visible and spectacular scenes for literature and have spread widely in all countries during the last few decades. As cultural events, they typically rely on periodic repetition, a fixed location (a town) and thematic delimitation; they last as a rule for several days with a composite offering of actors and expressions – a bombardment – which is intended to work through synergy, commitment and activation of the participants.As a phenomenon, festivals have cultic/religious roots and thus contain elements of involvement and community spirit; as an event culture, a festival does not need to be unique, but on the contrary a returning event with an identity-creating mix of predictability and variation. The modern cultural festival contains many of the characteristics of the experience economy (Pine), and there can be considerable commercial interests involved – though in the literary field they are probably not the largest. On the other hand, it is quite clear that, independent of its cultural content, a festival with its symbols, associations and presence adds differentiation and positioning, which function as branding, both for the place in question and for the product: literature.

In Denmark, they have expanded with great strength, continuing to spread over large parts of the country and of the year. The most important ones are listed here in order of the year of their first appearance, with a short description of the main actors or those who took the initiative: World Literature on Møn (2000 – a society), Crime Fair in Horsens (2001 – public library, publishers), Great Book Day on Hald (2003 – author-/translator centre), The Triangle Area’s Literature Festival (2005-11 – public libraries), Skagen Literature Festival (2007 - library, society), Copenhagen Reads (2008 – public library, societies), CPH.LITT (2008 – authors, publishers), Wild about WORDS – Aarhus Literature Festival (2009 – public library, societies), Louisiana literature (2010 – art museum), World Wide Words (2010 – society, region), Literature at the castle – Literature in Aabenraa (2010 – libraries, societies). In addition, there are several smaller or sporadically held festivals, and there are hybrids, for example mixed with a course, such as Vallekilde LittTalk (2012 – folk high school, authors). As can be seen, the public library sector is strongly involved. A common feature appears to be a focus of attention on international matters – translated literature has a relatively large presence in the small Danish language area. Of course, each festival has its own profile - one of the most recent arrivals presents appeal and sense – and its own buzzwords, thus:

“World Wide Words is an international festival celebrating the innovation, diversity and power of the written and spoken word in the 21st century. The festival presents an international programme of performances, reading workshops and research throughout the year, but culminates in the last week of August with five unique days of words, music, imagination, laughter, exploration, and – above all – fun. (…) The festival offers particularly young people the chance to challenge the way they think about words, giving them the opportunity to dive into a world of words, meeting international writers, performers and other artists in new settings!” (worldwidewords.dk).

As can be seen, the word “fair” also appears: a crime fair, which is associated with the book fair tradition which first got going rather late in Denmark; the book fair in Copenhagen has since 1993 been the country’s largest annual book event, but it is purely commercial and run by the book trade, though there are a number of festival-like cultural events. The biggest fair in Scandinavia is Bok & Bibliotek (“Book and Library”), held in Göteborg since 1985 and also run by the book trade, but with a remarkable relationship to the library world and great emphasis on professionally qualified mini-conferences with broad relevance.In many countries, the marked expansion of literature festivals of various types probably follows tendencies which are typical for post-modern culture: There is an experience culture with happiness/delight, emphasis on visibility and production, and the spatial dimension with community spirit, participation and flow; there is emphasis on variety and on reach out through both synergy and partnerships/networks, and there is ‘glocal balance’ between local appeal and international orientation. Here in 2012 there is also the noteworthy point that digital communication plays a very small role (except for practical information) in this area.

The festivals have led to a remarkable expansion of the Danish collective literary space – and of the space of literary journalism; their spread must reflect a strong need for stimulating, supplementing, and expanding reading and literature in a way we do not know much about – or have forgot (?), as they are very little

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investigated in Denmark and Scandinavia. An evaluation report on “Copenhagen Reads” – which is spread out over seven days all over the capital and is called a festival, but has more of the nature of a campaign from public libraries for reading literature – raises some important questions for research on how it is possible through the medium of a festival to create new knowledge about literature, to investigate new experience spaces for reading and to find out something about movement in space with literary texts? The tentative conclusion is, among other things, that when literature is presented in surroundings where books do not naturally belong, then on the plus side there may appear a challenging change of context and alienation effect, whilst on the minus side doubts may arise about whether the speed of movement in the festival form is too high for literature as a form of knowledge and for the distance which is needed for reflection (Elbeshausen).

Houses of literature – permanent united scenes Many institutions and buildings are dedicated to the literary field – besides libraries; there are spectacular museums, archives, and memorials (e.g. Buddenbrookhaus, Lübeck (1993), Museum of Innocense, Istanbul (2012)) with primary exhibition schedules, there are anonymous administrative bureaus for literature export, translation centers, and peacefully located work retreats for authors etc. Increasingly many of them have different sorts of activities, and so to be seen as scenes too. The term house of literature, however, here is reserved a physical institution for meetings and arrangements, which - with some ancestors - have risen during the last 20-25 years. It is a broad, not protected, term covering a wide scope of houses and places; they are known in many countries, but defined and realized differently - and they are too new to have an English term in Wikipedia!

A German definition is:”Die Literaturhäuser sind Zentren für nicht-kommerziell ausgerichtete Veranstaltungen rund um das Buch und Ansprechpartner für Fragen der Literatur. Schriftsteller, Verleger, Übersetzer, Lektoren, Buchhändler, Kulturschaffende, Journalisten und literaturbegeistertes Publikum begegnen sich im offenen und freien Dialog.” (literaturhaus.net).So, buildings dedicated to activities with books and literature, a structured concentration of meetings with regularity, synenergy, and professional approaches and players. It has non-commercial public admission, priority to physical presence in common, visible appearance of the literary creators, communication by word of mouth, spatial experience, performance e.g. with music, readings, lectures, and discussions. It concerns primarily fiction, poetry, and essays (cf. the PEN-term), producing, distributing, and consuming, and aims local, regional, national, and international (Metzler; Porombka).

German houses of literatureEurope’s greatest language area also does hold the greatest amount of these houses - and obviously the most evident tradition and elaborated ambition; so eleven notable of them - in Berlin, Graz, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Köln, Leipzig, München, Rostock, Salzburg, Stuttgart, Zürich – are collaborating in a network since 2008 (literaturhaus.net). So in Germany too studies of them have been brought out (Reuter). Since a beginning in Berlin 1986 they strongly have improved their conditions and physical settings especially during the latest 10-15 years driven by a political and historical east west-complex and reunion 1989-90 and a sort of restoring a notion of German culture. Typically the houses are well placed very central in these cities and in listed town buildings with significant aura and cultural associations. Most general for the German houses is the affiliation to a strong support association, but at all the profile and running vary much with subsidies from many sources: associations, sponsors, donators, and the book branch, and hereto from the cities or regions differently, e.g. in Frankfurt about the half of the running. Altogether it is a colorful pattern with civil society, authorities, and partly the market, also due to the historic-political development mentioned with state subsidy models opposite to civil traditions of subsiding. The many collaborators are: book fairs, writers’ associations, the state’s Goethe-Institut, Stiftungen, web-radio, museums, research institutions etc. The important arrangements are: lectures, readings, different presentation forms, discussions with authors, while publishing and exhibitions are rare, though often a little book trade integrated. The house network has common projects: Literaturpreiss, Stadtschreiber, Junges Literaturhaus, Poesie in der Stadt, Lesereise. The

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use of literary genres is connected to a democracy-oriented, open and critical publicist tradition essential for the postwar Germany. Typically the staff members are 2-6, and the leader a scholar educated litterateur.

Small Danish experiencesIn Denmark there are small experiences – and no research. LiteraturHaus (House of literature – inspired from Germany) was established 2005 in a former Methodist church in a socially lively part of Copenhagen. Primarily it has café arrangements of all the types mentioned, and has been enlarged with rooms for writers and a book trade. It has a partly sub-cultural status and audience and a physiognomy with much music. It was founded on enthusiastic private initiative and with little initial subsidy from the state and city; little and stable it is run with low bureaucracy, many volunteers (university students), and a network of arrangement collaborators: writer’s societies, literary societies, publishing firms, periodical, institutes, other houses of literature etc. (LiteraturHaus.dk; Herman).

A recent Danish case is Poesiens Hus (House of Poetry) in Copenhagen which lived less than two years, 2010-2012. In a listed house central in the city it was established by a poet’s private initiative, bound for presentations of poets, new works, classics, for recitations, workshops, debates, theatre, music&poetry, poetic-political activities (e.g. dissidents from abroad) etc., and also with a café, library, and book selling in a minor scale. A notion of Danish identity policy within a little language area was set up, but neither that nor ideas of arrangements for public school pupils caused subsidy from the state or city to the house rent needed. With only sponsor support etc. to arrangements singly the milieu had to close (poesienshus.dk).

I Aarhus, the Danish municipality which as for cultural policy has been most dedicated to the literary field, a motion for a house of literature was put in 2006, described as a permanent centrally situated centre/meetings place for the city’s literary life, players, networks etc. There was agreement of the need, but not of the profile and the relation to the municipality, public library, volunteer sector etc. Probably frames will be set in a new prestigious multimedia house/public library from 2014 (Litteraturområdet, p.26f; Litteratur - Århus).

Oslo - the Nordic lighthouseUntil now the lighthouse within the Nordic countries is Litteraturhuset, The House of Literature, in Oslo, Norway, established in 2007 and – inspired from Germany – one of the largest of its kind in Europe and situated centrally in the capital in a convenient, rebuilt house with 3500 m2. The initiative was taken by the independent non-commercial Norwegian Freedom of Expression Foundation – with capital from the media branch – and running costs granted until 1914. According to the self-presentation:

“The purpose of the House of Literature is to communicate and promote interest in literature and reading, as well as freedom of speech issues. The objective is also to inspire a growing interest in Norwegian and international fiction and non-fiction, and to serve as a meeting place for all those interested in books and literature (...) to serve as an arena for important voices from both the Norwegian and international public domain (…) to apply the broadest possible interpretation of the concept of literature, by providing space for both the breadth of non-fiction literature as well as exclusive fiction and popular literature.”

Obviously the public debate – as in Germany – and public meetings in the broadest sense is an essence; hereto a wide horizon both national, Nordic and international, as many different and cross cultural topics and target groups, institutions and milieus as possible, and e.g. setting for both researchers and young people with immigrant background. So a determined sort of a common.The many square-meters are occupied with one floor focused on children, youth, kindergartens, and schools, and they are floors and rooms for meetings, seminars, networking, workplace for writers, authors, translators and critics available free of charge, reading groups, apartment for invited foreign authors, bookshop (managed by a librarian), café, restaurant and bar.

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The varied program of arrangement/events for the general audience: readings, debates, recitations, films, performances, concerts, exhibitions etc., sums for the fifth operation year:

Numbers for 2011:

Visitors (audience, café, book store, drop in): 260.000Audience at events: 106.950Events: 1498Events organized directly by The House of Literature: 151Average number of audience at events organized by the House of Literature: 133Events for children and youth: 184Audience, events for children: 12.513

(litteraturhuset.no; Bergan; Solberg; Hovde).

So Oslo has become a sort of - financially unattainable - model for a full scale literary house within the Nordic countries at the moment and what each relevant stakeholder takes in mind. There are wishes in other Norwegian (Tromsø) and Swedish (Lund, Stockholm, Uppsala, Sandviken) cities, discussed as for different sorts of municipal involvement and subsidy and, as in Sandviken, planned for children and youth – inspired from LesArt in Berlin – about reading development/literacy in collaboration with university researchers. Göteborg has in spring 2012 launched an account Litteraturens hus: Plats för författare, rum för läsare (House of literature: place for writers, room for readers) focused primarily on fiction of all forms; there are four sketches: 1) a well-known type with room for meetings, interchange and work between all sort of players; 2) a house for the less established and the alternative literary life and players; 3) an ambulant or mobile house of literature; 4) a house especially for literature as art in connection with exhibition of other branches of art (Framsidan). The mobile type seems to be an original idea.

Perspectives – visible and speaking sanctuaries These houses invite to discuss some important notions of literature/book, institutions, and cultural policy. The use of communication by word of mouth draws attention to a passing and not visible form of expression and to the original tradition of words and narration and to pre-print eras. Furthermore, words and literature is characterized – both for the producer’s writing and the consumer’ reading - by individual and often isolated alone working and little dependence of staging, apparatus or environs. From the 18th century’s emerging printing branch the literary process and the novel market have been focused on the private sphere’s reading, and since then the market’s circulating printed books makes best with each anonymous costumer his own copy. And so is the library’s granting. But the 18 th century gives also reference to salons/clubs/coffee houses with the new public exchange and the emerging democracy; so, pointing of course to a risk of closed consenting groups, but most reminding of today’s needed focus on public debate, freedom of expression, minority rights etc. in a mediated democracy.A house of literature may form another less commercial way of use (Solberg, p. 13), and instead an agora or a haven with meeting, dialogue, the author’s presence, may frame the new, publicly visible, and less passive readers – or listeners.

As Oslo states: “At a time when the role of literature is under pressure from market demands, the House of Literature’s aim is to function as a democratic and pluralistic sanctuary” (litteraturhuset.no). Or as the French La Maison des Écrivains et de la Littérature states with resistance on behalf of the literary language:“A l’heure où pèsent des menaces sur la transmission littéraire en milieu scolaire, où dans la presse et les médias la littérature perd du terrain face aux produits standardisés, où les mutations technologiques appellent mobilisation et vigilance, la Mel manifeste aux écrivains sa volonté d’action et de réflexion.” (m-e-l.fr).

Interesting for a cultural policy the houses point to an exploiting tendency - activities facilitate literacy programs, social inclusion or education – so, for both pupils and university students within e.g. aesthetic

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subjects or school for writers (Graz, Aarhus, Lund, Tromsø). They may, too, associate to popular experience culture with edutainment, joining festivals, and highlighted showings, though less than other houses of culture with more conspicuous attractions. As for cultural strategies, subsidies to houses may mark a shift from the prevailing link of producers to the links of immaterial distributing, the communication, and the consuming. Subsidy to literature is rarely spectacular or pushing - nor much attractive for traditional sponsors; a challenge for these new houses is to make the use of passing words more visible.

Houses or libraries?The word library is rare in the self-presentations of these houses, and their staffs are rarely associated with library functions or competences; different from country to country there nevertheless are obvious connections and crosses, and in the Nordic countries the houses are keenly observed by the library system.

In Oslo the view is collaboration and synergy rather than competing between the house and the big city library - the same focus on promotion of literature (Bok og Bibliotek). In the small town the public library is the house of literature, in the big city the latter is a profiled fellow player, say some politicians, while some of them are inclined to displace resources (Bergan). In Denmark the librarians’ association early honored the founder of the Copenhagen house of literature, but seen away from the annual festival there is little connection to the city’s public library; in Arhus may be more. The Malmö library chief should like to see the house of literature functions integrated in her library, but admits having neglected and ‘lost the first round’ (Tank).Of course the society purpose of the library is much broader – free information, actual knowledge, and borrowing for all, and not a thorough domicile solely for the literary life; but activities and inspirations may be parallel. Houses of literature would hardly nor soon be as widespread as public libraries, but a memento and a sort of answer to library dead ends and failures. Say that the library takes a mute preparing line for democracy, while the house takes a speaking presence line!In Copenhagen the national library (Det Kongelige Bibliotek) with substantial facilities has developed successful arrangements with writers at a high international level; so the research library/book museum, and not only the public library, has invited the sound literary interest.

What would happen, if a great part of library resources for fiction was moved to another institution? With fewer books to borrow from the shelves people would have to do without and then alter practice. Buying books instead would raise the trade, lower the prices, and loosen the market’s dependence of libraries; in any case an altered pattern is to come caused the distance downloading of texts to e-book readers. Meeting literature otherwise than in their books is a possibility for the readers; the houses’ activities can give priority to selectivity rather to the big circulation machine, displace the weight from quantity to quality, strengthen the promotion of fiction, the collective presence experience, the direct contact to co-readers, performers, the authors themselves, vivid facilitators etc., evoke the word in the room, the reading aloud, and the shared silent listening. Such literary experiences, then, may result in buying a book, perhaps not, perhaps fewer, perhaps better buys rather than many? Less may be more, if you can choose between the market and the sanctuary!

Further empirical and eventually comparative studies are still needed (Bergan; Reuter), but concise questions of the challenge of these houses are to get analyzed and evaluated: 1. what they can and which needs they comply importantly to the society; 2. whether their activities can be subsumed/integrated into the public libraries according to purposes; 3. whether they be self-contained institutions with public subsidy parallel to libraries; 4. whether their committed activities are best set at liberty in the civil society sector without public subsidy.

Conclusions – discussions The new literary scenes are - of course, it must be so – a challenge for cultural policy in general and in several directions and for public library policy more specifically. The different circulations and activities: events, festivals, spoken words, poetry slam, tours, readings, messes, poems and sound literature in busses, exhibitions etc.; further on new sorts of houses, places, and stages and language in the urban space, the

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ongoing dissemination and promotion initiatives, collaboration between partners, associations, media involvement, literacy thinking etc. – most of them are relevant for cultural policy, and each may by planned or studied in depth as such, but is it as a bigger commotion they are essential and interesting.

Research in this field must have a combined frame: cultural studies, new history of books, sociology of literature and of media, experience society and economy, performance studies, urban studies.To this there are key concepts of e.g. experience, aesthetics, and knowledge, of text materiality, literary milieu, and design. There will be need for investigations of the balance between institution and non-institution, network navigation between institution and civil society (grass roots, neo-tribalism), between professionals and amateurs. Hereto e.g. forms of public subsidy combined with the principle of arm-length. Methodically it seems natural to draw up comparing analyses of institutions – e.g. public library vs. house of literature, intrinsic models for describing/evaluating arrangements and events, scenarios for collaboration, forms of exhibition of the non-material etc.

A perspective is whether the new modes and aspirations of literature’s expanded field and everywhere presence is a significant marking in a late modern mediated society: the literary language as collective identity bears in strong ways of interchange, and just in the public sphere this is still more necessary contrary to the destitution in the complacent rhetoric of politics, in the empty phrases of the commercial marketing language, in the swift smartness of journalists’ discourses etc. Here it discloses, as e.g. Marjorie Garber persists, that literature fundamentally is a way of thinking – perhaps not only the best way, but also a needed one because today’s accessible web-interaction within literature may have induced an overrating of peoples’ competences at this field? (cf. Garber, p. 27). There is a coherence to the emerging digital universes and the e-book, so the new physical and place-fixed use of literature corresponds too dialectically with altered social/mental separation patterns, maybe a new outlook on the body.

As for cultural policy a clearer comprehension must be shaped among librarians, cultural administrators and politicians for these new literary scenes and activities, based on theoretical, empirical and internationally exchanged concepts and frames mentioned above. They must make clear distinctions between temporary experiments and genuine platforms under the less one-way situation within production, distribution, and consumption. If weight and visibility in the literary life are displaced in favor of the readers, the focus of subsidy policy must match. Strategic transfers from traditional libraries to new houses and scenes seem obvious. Both governmental and municipal cultural policy can focus the literary life and vigor - otherwise than public libraries; much more literature policy at both levels will turn up in the years to come. If not - it will be relevant to analyze which rationales make it difficult for cultural policy to manage these things. The single person’s individual tacit reading of small pages of a book bought or borrowed, or at the e-reader, in a retired armchair at home is still the ordinary behavior; but the importance of literature in the society is a question to be unfolded much extendedly.

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