Reading and company: embodiment and social space in silent readingShow others and affiliations
2018 (English)In: Literacy, ISSN 1741-4350, E-ISSN 1741-4369, Literacy, ISSN 1741-4350, Vol. 52, no 2, p. 70-77Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
In my opinion, the content of this publication falls within the area of sustainable development.
Abstract [en]
Reading, even when silent and individual, is a social phenomenon and has often been studied as such. Complementary to this view, research has begun to explore how reading is embodied beyond simply being ‘wired’ in the brain. This article brings the social and embodied perspectives together in a very literal sense. Reporting a qualitative study of reading practices across student focus groups from six European countries, it identifies an underexplored factor in reading behaviour and experience. This factor is the sheer physical presence, and concurrent activity, of other people in the environment where one engages in individual silent reading. The primary goal of the study was to explore the role and possible associations of a number of variables (text type, purpose, device) in selecting generic (e.g. indoors vs outdoors) as well as specific (e.g. home vs library) reading environments. Across all six samples included in the study, participants spontaneously attested to varied, and partly surprising, forms of sensitivity to company and social space in their daily efforts to align body with mind for reading. The article reports these emergent trends and discusses their potential implications for research and practice.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2018. Vol. 52, no 2, p. 70-77
Keywords [en]
reading, reading environment, embodiment, social space, learning, media
National Category
General Language Studies and Linguistics Educational Sciences Media and Communications
Research subject
Library and Information Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-14271DOI: 10.1111/lit.12131OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-14271DiVA, id: diva2:1210333
Funder
EU, European Research Council, COST Action IS1404 E-READ
Note
Special issue: Reading for pleasure: supporting reader engagement, pp 59-113, May 2018.
2018-05-282018-05-282018-07-10Bibliographically approved