| Summary: | The aim of this bachelor's thesis is to gain a deeper knowledge of attitudes towards and experiences of reading and literature among immigrant women of none-European origin living in Sweden. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight women from Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea and Thailand, two from each country. The women were asked to describe the role reading had during different periods of their life, for example whether there were books or newspapers at home, whether somebody used to read to them during their childhood, if their reading pattern had changed since they immigrated to Sweden and if they themselves were reading to their children. They were also asked to compare the situation in their country of origin and Sweden when it came to literacy and reading habits. The results of the interviews show that most of the women grew up in homes where there were few or no books, some had parents that were illiterate, and several of them had to quit school because of war. Nevertheless, most of them had a positive attitude towards reading and literature and were now reading to their own children. All of them said that reading is more common and is considered more important in Sweden than in their country of origin. They suggested that this was mainly due to the fact that people there have to work hard to support their family and don't have the habit of reading.
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