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Power, pride, and patience in literary reading: A paradox of precarious attention and disconnection
Department of Communication, Kristiania University College, Norway.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9473-080X
Responsible organisation
2024 (English)In: The Digital Backlash and the Paradoxes of Disconnection / [ed] K. Albris, K. Fast, F. Karlsen, A. Kaun, S. Lomborg, & T. Syvertsen, Nordicom, University of Gothenburg , 2024, p. 363-382Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Ubiquitous digital connectivity is a challenge to literary reading for leisure and recreation, and there is a tension between online life and reading concentration. On the empirical basis of a qualitative study on adult readers of literature, in this chapter I explore the tension between the act of reading and the readers’ priorities in today’s era of deep mediatisation. The chapter presents a typology of three attributes to describe the interrelation between disconnection and concentrated attention as demonstrated by literary readers. First, being a literary reader adheres to personal values that lay the groundwork for pride in self-understanding as a reader. Second, the identity as a reader triggers the power to self-regulate digital connectivity. Third, being an experienced reader enforces enduring patience to read, though not without struggle and firm decisions. The identified attributes represent both positively motivating and negatively stressing experiences. Hence, combining modern media life and long-form reading triggers ambivalence and evokes a paradox of attention. This chapter demonstrates how even personally preferred and well-experienced cognitive demanding acts, such as long-form reading, requires attention on disconnection to keep up attention.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Nordicom, University of Gothenburg , 2024. p. 363-382
Keywords [en]
reading, attention, concentration, digital disconnection, balancing connectivity 
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Media
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:norden:org:diva-13264DOI: 10.48335/9789188855961-18OAI: oai:DiVA.org:norden-13264DiVA, id: diva2:1897106
Note

The research was funded by Kristiania University College and the Research Council of Norway (grant no. 287563). 

Available from: 2024-09-15 Created: 2024-09-12 Last updated: 2025-06-12

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Citation style
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