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The Role Of The Libraries In The Norwegianization Policy 1880-1905, Geir Grenersen

Proceedings from the Document Academy

This paper discusses the role of libraries in the implementation of the Norwegianization policy towards the Sámi and Kven minorities in Norway. This question has not been written about or debated in the library history of Norway. The hypothesis is that the libraries had a dual function: they were both seen as an instrument of Norwegianization by the government, but were simultaneously places where modern ideas about democracy, equality and emancipation were made accessible to the minorities. Ironically, the schooling authorities’ efforts to learn the Sámi and Kven to read and write Norwegian, contributed to the rise of a reading …