Björn Melander awarded Margit Påhlson Prize from Swedish Academy

What does it mean to you to receive this prize?

“I’m delighted and honoured to have received this prize. I’ve been working as a teacher and researcher of the Swedish language for a long time, and when your efforts are recognised in this way, of course it feels good.”

Which of your contributions to the Swedish language are you most proud of?

“I would probably say my contributions while the Swedish language policy was being formulated in the decade after the turn of the millennium. Then came the language policy objectives adopted by the Riksdag and, ultimately, the current Swedish Language Act. At the time, I was principal secretary of the parliamentary committee that drafted the action programme for the Swedish language, which in many ways formed the basis of the language policy that was established.

As far as pure research is concerned, I think that what I’ve written about the ‘Läsebok för folkskolan’ (‘Reader for primary schools’) is not too bad. The first edition of the reader was published in 1868, and it played a central role in several of the major changes that took place in both Swedish and Sweden in the second half of the 19th century. It was great to have the chance to explore all of that!

“Finally, I would note that I’ve always enjoyed teaching and supervising, and if I have been able to contribute to the development of some students’ skills in, and knowledge about, the Swedish language, then I’m very happy about that.”

What are you currently working on in your research?

“I have been involved quite recently in the preparation of the book ‘Språkrådet rekommenderar. Perspektiv, metoder och avvägningar i språkriktighetsfrågor’ (‘Recommendations from the Language Council of Sweden. Perspectives, methods and considerations of issues surrounding language accuracy’). Issues surrounding the connection between linguistics and language preservation are an area of interest for me.

“After all, linguistics aims to describe language as it is actually used, not to prescribe how it should be – linguists are not language police. But pretty much everyone has opinions about things like right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, good and bad in language, and they are often strong opinions. What is it that gives something this or that status? What role do such aspects play in society and for the individual? And how can we as linguists relate to this? There is a lot of exciting research to be done in this area, and I am currently writing an article that I’ve chosen to call ‘Råd på vetenskaplig grund’ (‘Scientifically grounded advice’).

Anders Berndt