Promoting reading 1
they have all read. The first comprehensive study
of MSEs was Reading beyond the book: the social practices of contemporary literary culture (2013) by researchers Danielle Fuller and Denel Rehberg Sedo. Shared reading is regarded by Fuller and Sedo as a process that takes place within a network of social relationships. The renewed interest in social reading is linked with the development of technology. Being able to share your reading experiences or discuss reading with others has never been easier. This, in turn, creates new foundations and opportunities for reading promotion activities. The term “social reading” is understood in the following to mean communication between readers about literature and reading experiences (Rydbeck 2013). Social reading includes book conversations in groups, which occur as part of book circles in both analogue and digital forms. Social reading also includes literature discussions on Internet forums and blogs. Examples of social reading include the phenomenon of Mass Reading Events. Yet another example of social reading, which will be treated in this chapter, is author visits. Book circles While booktalk introduces books that the audience has not read, a book conversation or book discussion involves in-depth reading of already-read books. A book conversation can most easily be defined as a conversation, with or without a facilitator, around a book that all participants have read. In comparison with the book conversation, booktalk in its traditional form can be seen as a form of one-way communication. An influential and oft-cited name in relation to talking about books is Aidan Chambers, whose reader-oriented theory of literature talks about how a book’s meaning is ‘negotiated’ when talking about a book (Chambers, 1994). Chambers distinguishes three types of sharing in a typical, everyday conversation about a book: sharing enthusiasms (what the reader likes and dislikes), sharing puzzles (i.e. difficulties), and sharing connections (discovering patterns). Chambers’ model for book conversations, which he calls a “Tell me talk”, has been applied in several reading promotion projects, for example in the major project Läskonster (The arts of reading). Among the idea and inspiration books about book conversations are Kjersén Edman’s Tala om böcker: boksamtal på bibliotek, i skola och på nätet (Talk about books: Book conversations in libraries, schools and on the web) (2013) and Katarina Eriksson Baraja’s Boksamtalets dilemman och möjligheter (The dilemma and opportunities of the book conversation) (2012). The potential of the book conversation in the school context is particularly apparent in Michael Tengberg’s doctoral thesis Samtalets möjligheter. Om litteratursamtal och litteraturreception i skolan (Potentials of Discussion. On Literature Discussions and Literary Reception in School) (2011). A standard form of organised book conversations in groups is the book circle. Book circles, reading groups, reading circles and literature circles are assumed to be synonymous in the following, and refer to an organised group of readers gathered together physically or meeting in some other way to discuss their reading experiences (cf. Rydbeck 2013). Immi Lundin notes in the book Cirkelbevis. Läsecirklar på bibliotek (Circular evidence. Reading circles at libraries) (2004) that reading groups or circles are not a new phenomenon, but that there is renewed interest in them. With reference to British research about reading groups, she points out that the reading group has a key reading promotion function, and talks about the great development potential for the library in 69