Communication with the reader in the situation of the readership crisis of the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries

Abstract

This article is devoted to issues in the literary culture of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries. The material of prefaces to an anonymous recipient attached to works of 1675–1739 served as the basis for analysing the statements concerning the process of reception and the act of reading. The results of the analysis indicate that the authors of the prefaces perceived a crisis of readership and interest in books. To this end, they activated the audience for attentive and engaged reading. Moreover, the authors declared that they adapted the form and content of the works to the needs and tastes of readers. Going beyond the traditionally established convention of using topical motifs, they otten extolled their off erings in direct, concise but succinct messages, which alludes to the characteristics of advertising language.