Introduction

Abstract

Abstract This chapter opens with a survey of recent discussions of the disconnect between academic and non-academic reading practices, drawing mainly on the work of Elif Batuman, Rita Felski, David Lodge, and Ika Willis. Two key terms—‘world literature’ and ‘closer reading’—are presented as a way of bridging this disconnect. While highly specialized academic readers of The Magic Mountain are a relatively small group within Mann’s readership, non-academic reading practices are a vast and understudied phenomenon which can reveal new meanings of the text and enrich academic scholarship, sometimes even correcting critical biases. Various sources for studying non-academic reading experiences are discussed, including reviews and famous readers’ accounts, ordinary readers’ accounts, accounts of readers who refuse to read a given book, material book history, translation studies, conceptions of ‘implied’ or ‘ideal’ readers, fictional depictions of reading, cognitive literary studies, reception in literature and art, and history of academic reception.