'If you read at home, it's more relaxed, there are no limits': Insights into domestic reading practices of Croatian and Slovenian university students. (6th May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vogrinčič Čepič, Ana; Kotrla Topić, Marina
• Is Part Of: Literacy. Volume 55:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 181
• Page End: 190
• Publication Date: 2021-05-06
• Subjects: domestic reading practices -- home environment -- in‐depth interviews -- reading rituals; Literacy -- Periodicals; Reading -- Periodicals; 302.2244
• DOI: 10.1111/lit.12251
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1741-4350

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of this interview study is to explore how skilled readers use their homes as their reading space, while paying attention to what 'home' refers to, what they read there, the 'where' and 'when' aspects of reading at home, and home reading rituals. We conducted semistructured in‐depth interviews with ten university students (four from Croatia and six from Slovenia). Based on what the students said and how they said it, we tried to show that reading is a complex phenomenon, a physical experience, embodied and situated, and, as such, influenced by the immediate environment. Our basic finding is that the comfort of home is often reflected in the comfort of reading. Our participants emphasize the need to feel relaxed and to create private reading atmosphere. Home is a place where they can adjust the space according to their requirements, instead of them adjusting to the environment in which they read. However, when asked about their ideal reading situations, they often talked about other, mostly outdoor, settings that cannot always be adjusted to one's comfort. The paper also discusses different methodological approaches that could grasp domestic reading practices more in depth and emphasize the emotional side of the experience.