A study of the reading history of "inward-looking" and "outward-looking".
According to the different emphases of the study of reading history, the selection of historical materials and the application of methods in the process of research are established. On the contrary, the different types of historical materials held by researchers are not only related to the differences in research content, but also often lead to qualitative changes in research focus and even paradigm. In general, the tracing of reading characteristics in existing studies can be divided into two paths: internal and external. The research focuses on the internal characteristics of reading behavior, focusing on how readers accept and understand the meaning of texts, and historical materials are often based on private reading behavior records such as diaries and book talks, from which they summarize how individual readers' interpretation behaviors occur. Another research paradigm is to put aside the close investigation of reading, turn to the reflection of the general background, and pay attention to the external conditions under which reading can be realized.
The study of the history of reading from the perspective of inwardness focuses on the specific reading behaviors and interpretive methods of readers. For example, Pan Guangzhe depicts the interactive process between their reading activities and the formation of thinking concepts through the reading records of Western reading materials in the books and writings of scholars such as Liang Tingfang, Zhu Yixin, and Wang Kangnian[1]. This kind of research is based on the solid effort of reading the text, and the text that the researcher needs to read includes not only the reading materials read by the readers at that time, but also the quotations and discussions of the readings in their diaries, letters, and writings, and through the comparison between the two, the way in which the reader understands the text. Zhang Zhongmin's Publishing and Cultural Politics: A Study of Health Books in the Late Qing Dynasty [2] and Planting Melons and Reaping Beans: Reading Culture and Reception Politics in the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China[3] examine how concepts, ideas, or knowledge are concretized, localized, and even symbolized by the mass media and intellectual elites who "abandon the old for the new", and how they are accepted and used by the public. In the selection of historical materials, reference materials are mainly extracted from the diaries of elite readers, and some unusual newspapers and novels are also referred to to depict the construction of reading culture in society as a whole. This kind of research takes the approach of reading history, but in fact reflects the revolution of "downward vision" in the study of intellectual history: the research on intellectual history and conceptual history has expanded from focusing on the birth of new terms to the connotative changes in the process of transmission and reception in the middle and lower reaches. From focusing on the development and public expression of new knowledge in the elite class to expanding to the gap in the practice of ordinary people in the private sphere, this research trend in intellectual history and reading history can be said to have the same goal.
Ming Qiu Ying, "Tongyin Daytime Quiet Picture" detail
In the study of the history of reading from the perspective of inwardness, the key is the comparison between the original meaning of the original content and the meaning understood and used by the reader, and from the uneven differences between them, it is inferred how reading escapes from the norm of the text. The act of reading is not entirely passive and affected, but also constantly in dialogue with the content of the text, which is the inherent tension in the act of reading—the goal of books is to establish an order, and the act of reading is not willing to conform to this order, but always seeks to subvert and break through, and has a counterforce to the existing order. The contradictory relationship between the discipline of writing and the subversive power of reading itself constitutes the basic characteristic that distinguishes the history of reading from the history of books. As the French scholar Michel de Certeau argued, in the process of reading a text, the reader creates something other than the intent of the text, detaching the text from the original intention of creation, and the act of reading makes the meaning of the text "infinitely majority". The reader's search for the meaning of the text is not satisfied with the gardens demarcated by the textual producers, but "shuttles through the land of others, living a poaching nomadic life in the fields where they have not written"[4].
The study of the history of reading from an external perspective shifts the focus from the reader's interpretation of the text content to the environmental conditions under which reading can be realized, and looks at reading activities from a more social perspective. For example, the multi-volume General History of Chinese Reading, edited by Wang Yuguang, focuses on textual changes, social environment and education, social consciousness and religion, academic and knowledge systems, Chinese reading traditions, and the relationship between personal experience and reading from a macro perspective, systematically and comprehensively outlining the development of the social environment of reading [5]. In addition, special attention has been paid to the diffusion and accessibility of new media such as newspapers and periodicals [6-8], community activities organized by reading clubs and newspaper reading organizations [9-15], the construction of public reading spaces such as teahouses and libraries [16-18], and reading guidance and recommended bibliography [19-26], so as to recreate the field of practice of reading activities.
Ming Jiang Song, "Fishing Boat Reading Map" detail
The distinction between internal and external reading history comes from different ways of responding to the question "what is reading": in the study of reading history from internal perspective, reading is the acceptance and acceptance of the connotation of the text; In the study of the history of reading from an external perspective, reading is the change of environmental conditions and the adaptation of readers. Due to the subjective nature of the comprehension of texts and the limitation of materials, researchers may not be able to rigorously construct the internal characteristics of reading, but consciously choose to focus on the external characteristics of reading, and pay attention to the reading behavior as a practice and the environmental field on which it occurs, which may open up a new way for the study of reading history. As Zhan Jiaru argues, most studies on the history of reading in China regard the historical reception of texts as the act of reading itself, and "reading" is hollowed out. If we want to recreate the historical experience of reading, we need to understand reading as a practice [27].
The first to put forward the idea of reading as a practice was the Taiwanese scholar Li Renyuan, who pointed out that compared with the studies of European history, which focus on reading aloud and silent reading, intensive reading and extensive reading, public reading and private reading, which are often referred to as the "reading revolution of the 18th century", the field of Chinese history research rarely analyzes reading from the perspective of practical experience [28]. This points out the inward-looking bias of the current reading history research in China. In recent years, with the deepening of the understanding of this issue, scholars have begun to realize the complexity of reading behavior, which is not only due to the abstraction and unknowability of human thinking, but also due to the variability of the external environmental conditions of reading. If the act of reading as a practice is to be depicted, it naturally involves the practitioner (reader) and the user (the reader), and reading can be seen as the relationship between the reader and the reader. Equally important, this association occurs in a specific context, such as under the lamp, at the pillow, on the toilet, on the go, in the study, during meals...... Therefore, it is conceivable that the world to be explored in the study of reading history will not be limited to books and readers, but should strive to return to the historical scene and restore a more delicate and vivid reading picture.
Ming Shirui's "Zhu Maichen's Negative Salary Reading Map" part
Future-oriented research on the history of reading
From the intersection and marginal areas of the reception history in the field of literature, the history of thought and culture in the field of history, and the history of books in the field of philology, to the establishment of a clear self-consciousness and territorial boundaries; From introducing the theories and perspectives of Western book history to discovering the unique problems, historical materials and methods of Chinese history in combination with local realities, the study of reading history in China has gradually become a system in the past 20 years. In terms of subject areas, in addition to the special attention paid to reading in the traditional history of ideas and the history of reception, the emphasis on the practice environment of reading in the field of library and information science, and the excavation of media forms and communication processes in the fields of publishing and journalism and communication have added rich details to the study of the history of reading and expanded the understanding of reading behavior. In terms of research objects, the number of case studies and thematic empirical studies is increasing, indicating that the study of reading history has gone through the initial period of theoretical foundation and research framework construction, and has gradually become more refined and deepened. In terms of historical sources, with the improvement of diary historical materials, the gradual development of other types of historical materials, and the continuous innovation of historical data reading and comprehension methods, the original problem of scarcity of historical materials has been solved to a certain extent. In the past two years, the boom in the study of the history of reading seems to have declined, but the overall quality of new research has been rising, reflecting that the study of the history of reading as a mature field is going through a stage of stabilization.
In today's society, researchers of the history of reading are facing a world in which the mode of reading has undergone tremendous changes. The accelerated pace of life caused by social development and the update of reading media brought about by technological iteration have jointly changed the reading methods and habits of readers. Zhao Lihua focuses on "listening to books" in the era of Internet communication, arguing that modern "listening to books", as a carrier of popular culture and a popular reading method, is a spiraling return to the tradition of reading aloud in the oral and manuscript eras, and proposes that the audiobook industry can borrow the reading tradition from three aspects: the intervention of reading aloud, the interaction of listeners, and the openness of reading texts [29]. Zhang Wenyan and Yu Cheng reviewed three historical phenomena of "mobile reading": the Xiping Shijing, the Song Poetry Dictionary, and the Ming Dynasty "Collection", and connected the ancient "mobile reading" with the modern mobile reading from the perspectives of readers, carriers, and contents, so as to understand the impact of mobile reading on human knowledge construction [30].
"Xiping Stone Classic" remnant stone
The ever-changing social environment and the rapidly updated technological level affect people's reading behavior, and the changing reading behavior also reshapes people's ideological concepts. How to depict the characteristics of the reading mode of current readers and the group mentality behind it? How have changes in the social environment given rise to new reading patterns, and how have new reading patterns affected people's ideological concepts and overall social culture? These are precisely the central questions that have been, and always will be, the focus of the study of the history of reading. So, is the study of the history of reading useful for understanding the current reading revolution and its far-reaching implications? How will future historians view the state of reading today? The disruptive changes taking place in the new world are exciting. As a researcher of reading history, we need to have a conscious awareness of being in an era of change and a keen sense of observation of the present in order to make thinking results with academic value and historical significance.
Excerpt from "A Review of the History of Reading in China since the 21st Century"
Library Journal, No. 12, 2023
The picture comes from the Internet
bibliography
1 Pan Guangzhe. The History of Western Reading of Late Qing Scholars (1833~1898)[M].Nanjing:Phoenix Publishing House,2019.
2 Zhang Zhongmin. Publishing and Cultural Politics:A Study of Health Books in the Late Qing Dynasty[M].Shanghai:Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House,2009.
3 Zhang Zhongmin. Planting melons and getting beans:Reading culture and reception politics in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China[M].Beijing:Social Sciences Academic Press,2016.
4 De Seto. Practice of daily life: The art of practice[M].Fang Linlin,Huang Chunliu,trans. Nanjing:Nanjing University Press,2009:246-251.]
5 Wang Yuguang. Hefei:Anhui Education Press,2017.
6 Li Renyuan. New Media and Intellectuals in the Late Qing Dynasty: A Discussion Centered on Newspaper and Periodical Publishing[M].Nanjing:Phoenix Publishing House,2019.
7 Zhangqing. Beijing:Social Sciences Academic Press,2021.
8 Zhu Zhigang. Why "Reading Newspapers" Can Become the Daily Behavior of Chinese: A Sociological Investigation of the Spatial Distribution of New Chinese Newspapers and Periodicals in the Late Qing Dynasty[J].Academic Research,2018(9):34-43+95.)
9 Xia Xiaoping. Wuhan:Wuhan University,2019.
10 Qiao Xiaopeng, Wang Pengfei. Modern Consciousness, Public Space and Gender Formation:The Formal Logic and Functional Extension of the Women's Reading Club in the Republic of China[J].Publishing Science,2020(5):121-128.)
11 Cheng Heqing, Cao Ruiqing. Publishing, Reading and Business: The Practice of Reading Clubs in the New Book Industry in the Early 30s of the 20th Century[J].Research on Publishing and Distribution,2022(11):96-103.)
12 Jiang Jianguo. Social Science Front,2016(2):132-143.)
13 Zhan Jiaru. Journalism and Communication Research,2018(11):93-108+128.
14 Xu Gaoyong. Historical Investigation of Newspaper Reading Organization in the Early Republic of China[J].Editor's Friend,2020(10):88-94.)
15 Xu Mingtao. Investigation of the Late Qing Dynasty Reading Newspaper (1898-1911)[J].Editor's Friend,2022(11):81-89.
16 Lin Xuwu, Guan Xirong. The construction of public reading in the Soviet area: A case study of the popular reading of Red China[J].Journal of Humanities,2021(2):103-112.)
17 Bai Yu. The construction of public reading space in the people's tea garden during the Republic of China[J].Today Media,2021(2):150-152.)
18 Liu Xiaoyu. The Shaping of Public Space and New Literary Reading Culture in Beijing, Republic of China: Focusing on Lu Xun and His Readers[J].Lu Xun Research Monthly,2022(3):56-63.)
19 Xu Yanping. Journal of Nanjing Normal University(Social Sciences),2012(3):123-130.
20 Lu Xiaojun. The knowledge structure of Qing Dynasty Academy: From the perspective of reading guide, coursework setting and examination topics[J].Journal of Jiangxi Normal University(Philosophy and Social Science),2017(5):106-114.)
21 Chen Henan, Fan Jisi. Library Construction,2017(10):67-73.
22 Zou Guixiang, Gao Junkuan. The Inheritance and Evolution of the Reading Method of Traditional Academies in Mainland China: An Investigation Centered on the Academic Rules of the Academies of the Past Dynasties[J].Library,2020(8):62-66.)
23 Chu Xintong, Wu Yonggui. The rise of reading guidance books and the construction of reading ideals in the Republic of China[J/OL].Library Construction,1-10[2024-06-30].
24 Cui Lanyue, Du Huiping. Library Journal,2023(3):67-74.)
25 Xu Yanping.The recommended bibliography of Chinese culture in the 20s of the 20th century and its cultural interpretation[J].Academic Research,2000(10):100-107.
26 Lu Jinyan, Fu Ye, Gong Linli. A study on children's recommended bibliography in the Republic of China[J].Library and Information Technology,2021(5):92-99.)
27 Zhan Jiaru. Beyond the Text: A Study on the Reading History of Media Vision[J].China Communication Studies Review,2020:68-80.
28 Li Renyuan. Topics and Perspectives on Reading History: Practice, Process, and Effect[M]//Department of History, Fudan University, Center for the Study of Chinese and Foreign Modernization Processes, Fudan University, ed. New Cultural History and Modern Chinese History. Shanghai:Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House,2009:213-254.]
29 Zhao Lihua. From Reading Aloud to Audio Reading: "Listening to Books" from the Perspective of Reading History[J].Modern Publishing,2018(1):71-76.)
30 Zhang Wenyan, Yu Cheng. The History, Characteristics and Future of Mobile Reading[J].Library Forum,2021(4):71-78.)
About the Author
Chu Xintong, a 2022 doctoral student at the School of Information Management of Wuhan University, is the background editor of the official account of "Publishing Six". His research interests include the history of publishing, the history of books and the history of reading.
Published six
The publisher's small home
All the content of the six official accounts published is original.
Do not use without permission.
Welcome to cooperate and reprint.