Rapport: Astrid Lindgrens arkiv – nya forskningsmöjligheter

Astrid Lindgren’s archives in the National Library of Sweden, Manuscript Dept (L 230), are probably the most extensive any individual Swede has left behind. After some ten years of cataloguing, the archives are now open for research. The archives consist of some 75 000 letters to the author from readers, colleagues, publishers, translators, film and theatre producers, children and many others all over the world; a thousand copies of letters written by her; 600 manuscripts to books, plays, films and essays; 100 000 newspaper; clippings; royalties; photos; shorthand notes etc. , in all more than 140 shelf metres of documents (see www.ediffah.org and search ”Astrid Lindgrens arkiv” for a list of contents). Short hand notes and correspondence require special permission from Astrid Lindgren’s estate, www.saltkrakan.se ; info@saltkrakan.se . The material in the archives should be of interest not only for researches of juvenile literature but also research into art and language education, film and drama, sociology, economics, translation and many other subjects and open up new fields of research on the author’s work. The archives also mirror the fact that Lindgren played an important role in public debate on different subjects such as child care and child abuse, nuclear power and the treatment of farm animals. The archives were included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2005.