Plotting the Reading Experience: Theory, Practice, Politics

This book is about the experience of reading–what reading feels like, how it makes people feel, how people read and under what conditions, what drives people to read, and, conversely, what halts the individual in the pursuit of the pleasures of reading. The authors consider reading in all of its richness as they explore readers' relationships with diverse textual and digital forms.

This edited volume is divided into three sections: Theory, Practice, and Politics. The first provides insights into ways of seeing, thinking, and conceptualizing the experience of reading. The second features a variety of individual and social practices of reading. The third explores the political and ethical aspects of the reading experience, raising questions about the role that reading plays in democracy and civic participation.

With contributions from multidisciplinary scholars from around the world, this book provides provocative insights into what it means to be a reader reading in and across various social, cultural, and political contexts. Its unifying theme of the reader's experience of reading is put into dialogue with theories, practices, and politics, making this a rewarding read for graduate students, faculty, researchers, and librarians working across a range of academic fields.

Paulette M. Rothbauer is an associate professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University in London, Ontario.

Kjell Ivar Skjerdingstad is an associate professor at the Institute of Archive, Library and Information Science, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway.

Knut Oterholm is an assistant professor in the Department of Archivistics, Library and Information Science, Oslo, and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway.