Time to Blow Up the Factory? A Q Method Reception Study of Literary Environmental Activism in Malte Tellerup’s Spræng Fabrikken (2023)
Time to Blow Up the Factory? A Q Method Reception Study of Literary Environmental Activism in Malte Tellerup’s Spræng Fabrikken (2023)

Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates the reception of Malte Tellerup’s novella Spræng Fabrikken, which tells the story of three young people who decide to sabotage the chemical plant, Cheminova – a real industrial site on Denmark’s West Coast. Guided by the NEST framework, the study was conducted through four literary workshops with Danish reading groups based near the factory, who were invited to read and discuss Tellerup’s timely and provocative text. Using Q methodology, the study identified four distinct interpretive positions on Tellerup’s novella. We coin these: “The Sympathetic Reader”, “The Local Sceptic”, “The Immersed Reader”, and “The Detached Critic” – each reflecting different affective and cognitive engagements with the text. The findings underscore radical literature’s potential to provoke critical discussion and challenge prevailing views on activism, ethics, and shared responsibility amid escalating ecological crises.

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