Talking about books. Working conference of the FWF-project “Literarische Anschlusskommunikation” (literary follow-up communication)
Thursday, Mach 5th to Friday March 6th, University of Klagenfurt
“The pleasures of reading indeed are selfish rather than social”, claims Harald Bloom in How to Read and Why. He is taking a closer look on readers who, so Bloom, read for themselves, “and not for the interests that supposedly transcend the self.” The productive self-interest that can be found during the reception of literature is clearly not only limited to the act of reading in a strict sense. The act of reading is crucial for the reception of a text, but it is only one part of an extensive reception process. If you take a look at reading books from the perspective of reading and media socialization, every reading has a history, which can reach up to the childhood and an epilogue that is transforming into a talk about the already read and/or leads to the next book, movie, or play. The reception of a book starts with book reviews, interviews with the author as well as recommendations from friends or trusted booksellers, with a cover that catches the eye or an author’s name that stimulates associations. It reaches far beyond the act of reading up to various forms of communicative exchange about the read book as well as concrete readers experiences.
Für das dem Rezeptionsprozess inhärente soziale Moment des kommunikativen Austauschs unter LeserInnen oder mit Luhmann gesprochen, der Anschlusskommunikation, gibt es in der Welt der Digital Natives den Begriff „Social Reading“. Er bezeichnet die vielfältigen Formen der Kommunikation über Bücher, die man liest oder gelesen hat, unter Einsatz der digitalen Social Networks – und erfreut sich größter Beliebtheit. „Social Reading“ hat eine analoge Vorgeschichte (Lesegesellschaften, Arbeiterbildungsvereine, literarische Salons). Bei aller historischen, funktionalen und organisationalen Unterschiedlichkeit verbindet z.B. den Klagenfurter Leseverein von 1845 und GoodReads.com doch eine Gemeinsamkeit: Leser, die über ihre Lektüren miteinander reden, sei es in schriftlicher oder in mündlicher Form. Dieses Gespräch der LeserInnen wollen wir in den Mittelpunkt unserer Arbeitstagung stellen und uns dabei anhand von exemplarischen Zugängen und Fällen folgenden Fragen widmen:
In the world of digital natives there is a term called “social reading”. It stands for the social moment of the communicational interacting between readers that is inherent in the reception process or as Luhmann calls it: the follow-up communication. It describes the various forms of communication about books that someone has read in digital social networks – and is quite popular. “Social readings” have an analogue history (reading societies, adult education association, and literary salons). By all historical, functional and organizational differences there is still a common ground between i.e. the Klagenfurter Leseverein and GoodReads.com: readers who talk about their readings with each other, whether in a written or an oral form. We want to put these readers’ conversation into the focus of our working conference and want to devote ourselves to following questions from an exemplary approach and cases:
- Forms, organizations and functions of literary follow-up communication under “normal readers”. In which forms of media and forms of communication are readers communicating about their reads? Which forms of organization are created or used? Which fundamental functions have analog (e.g. reading groups, literature circles) and digital (e.g. reading forums, discussion portals, literature blogs) communication platforms? What rules have been established in that context? What ideas and examples are effective?
- The prerequisites and expectations of readers. Which reader, who is not reading book by profession, is participating at a literary follow-up communication? What are the motives to talk about a book, no matter with whom (Online portals, friends, reading groups …)? What are the expectations? What non-literary interests do people have while joining a reading group? What expectations do people have while participating in a review portal or reading forum?
- To evaluation and formation of a judgement in context of books. What are the criteria for choosing a book? What are the expectations and demands on books and how are they manifested in the process of communication? How do/did so called “normal readers” talk about reading experiences and literary knowledge? Which role fulfills education (canon) and entertainment (pleasure)? Which criteria are used to form a judgement/ valuation?
- To the theoretical and methodical challenges that are formed in the questions above. How is it possible to research literary follow-up communication in everyday life? What theoretical prerequisites are there to think about, what methodological challenges are there to cope with? What methods of empirical research can be used not only for contemporary research but also for historic worlds of experiences & know how? What technical and/or legal prerequisites are to consider in an empirical work with online material?
