‘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.

目前，“弱智”的年轻人是丹麦公共辩论和政策的重点，现在正在为他们提供各种文化活动。本文以人种学田野调查（2018年4月至2019年8月）为基础，与所谓的弱智年轻女性（18-36岁）在文学阅读小组中见面，本文力求将阅读小组与``精神脆弱性''现象联系起来通过回顾该词的历史出现和当代使用，其次是考虑该词对属于该类别的人的痛苦经历。这种语境化涉及对语境在人类学分析中作用的文献的讨论。本文的结论是经验上的矛盾：