Abstract
‘Mentally vulnerable’ young people are a strong focal point in public debate and policy in Denmark at present, and a variety of cultural activities are now being offered to them. Building on ethnographic fieldwork (April 2018-August 2019) with so-called mentally vulnerable young women (aged 18-36) who meet in literature reading groups, this article seeks to connect the reading group with the phenomenon of ‘mental vulnerability’, first through a review of the historical emergence and contemporary use of the term, and second by considering what (painful) experiences the term signifies for individuals belonging to this category. This contextualization involves a discussion of literature on the role of context in anthropological analyses. The article concludes with an empirical contradiction: the reading group provides a sanctuary from everyday demands for purposefulness and productivity, but it can also be used as a strategy for navigating such demands.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Ethnography |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages (from-to) | 496-515 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| ISSN | 1466-1381 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2022 |
Keywords
- Denmark
- Mental illness
- categorization
- context
- literature
- mental vulnerability
- reading groups
- youth