(Double) Standard Librarians. : Two case studies of librarians as motives and tools in film

Abstract

This thesis focuses on fictious librarians in film. It uses three research questions: Firstly, how the movies make use of typical elements from movie genres and narrative modes in their portrayal of library work and librarians. Secondly, the way in which myths, stereotypes and ideas surrounding librarians and library work are used – typically or atypically – to build librarian characters and the narrative. Thirdly and lastly, it discusses the protagonists, focusing on their personalities and character arcs in relation to their role as librarians. The theoretical background departs partly in discourse surrounding librarian imagery in general, but also in film genre and mode theories. The thesis consists of two case studies, each focusing on one film, both with librarian protagonists. Even though this thesis focuses on them, the other librarian roles are also discussed, as well as the dynamics of the librarian teams. The two films discussed in this thesis are vastly different. One, Grabben i graven bredvid (2002), is a romantic relationship film with a female public librarian as protagonist, and the other, Bibliotekstjuven (2011), is a dark drama about a male research librarian turned book thief. Both films tie librarian myths to genre patterns: the single yet snotty female librarian is well fit as a romantic lead, and the male librarian as a pale, mysterious underdog makes a great villain protagonist. However, the films also present common themes and traits. Both librarian protagonists display elitism in relation to their professional identity, at the expense of their non-librarian partners. I argue that this is rooted in the historical idea of the librarian as a judgemental snob, but also that of librarians as ambiguous (and possibly false) “guardians” of the treasures of the library. Both librarian protagonists studied here lead double lives in one sense or another – most obvioulsy the book thief in Bibliotekstjuven, but also the confused female librarian in Grabben i graven bredvid who tries to hide her infatuation with a farmer from her colleagues. Some other results concern the use of the library as idea in relation to genre and mode elements. I argue, for example, that the Royal Library of Sweden in different stages of the narrative in Bibli- otekstjuven is not only a crime scene but also plays the part of a betrayed lover. This of course is connected to the societal role of libraries, in particular the relationship between “ordinary people” and libraries - a central theme in both films. One ends in a healing of a historic wound between a working man and an educated woman through love, while the other, in fact, ends in melodrama when the crime of stealing books is punished by death, yet also forgiven in an ideological sense given the protagonists humble beginnings and desperation. To conclude, both films thematise ideas surrounding personal morals, truth, social status and social justice, and do so through struggling librarian protagonists. Both films take place in worlds with a dual structure, where the fine world (represented by libraries) collides with the mundane, and the librarian protagonists try to navigate. Both films, finally, use librarian stereotypes to build the narratives – but they do not, apart from in a few scenes, reproduce them. This is a two years master’s thesis in library and information science