The Ethnography of Reading

Writing has received a great deal of scholarly attention, but reading, the other half of literacy, has been far less examined. These essays look at reading in its own right and across many settings, moving beyond the simple idea of literacy as a step up from oral to written communication.

Some pieces examine reading in cross-cultural contexts. Others follow how Western reading moved over time from a communal, spoken habit to the solitary, quiet practice of today, while some show that reading in certain Western settings remains a social activity. The settings run from Anglo-Saxon England to present-day Indonesia, and from ancient Israel to a Kashaya Pomo reservation.

Readers of anthropology, literature, history and philosophy will find it useful, along with specialists in religious, gender and cultural studies.ISBN-13 9780520081338.