This article describes and analyzes the formation of subject didactic research through the interaction between different disciplinary starting points and the new demands for profession-oriented interdisciplinary research fields, with subject didactics serving as an example. The focus is on the early development of literature didactics in Sweden.

The main research question is: How have early internal factors, such as the discipline of literary studies, and external factors, including changes in the school system, education policy, or the social climate in general, influenced or contributed to the repertoire of research questions, methods, and theories within the field now known as literature didactics?

The material analyzed, from the perspective of the history and sociology of science, consists of the scientific production from two early literary didactic contributions (1960–1980).

The results follow two lines. The first formulates and develops subject didactic relevant issues from interdisciplinary starting points. The second develops subject didactic research based on the practical aspects of school teaching. Both lines of development in subject didactic research are strengthened and accelerated by external research funding, which also brings them closer together in several respects.

The results are discussed based on Fensham's (2003) criteria for when a subject didactic research field can be considered established, Bernstein's (2003) dichotomy between singularities and regions, and Abbot's (2001) fractal theory for the development of new disciplines and research areas. The main conclusion is that the heterogeneity of the current field, in terms of paradigmatic orientations, and its homogeneity in certain theoretical starting points and recurring questions, can be clarified through this prehistory.