Les usages sociaux de la lecture

Abstract

The social uses of reading. Far from revealing a gamut of reading practices that could be ranked with respect to the ideal reading performed by an accomplished reader, the study shows a series of practices that can be broken down into three categories : pleasure reading (« reading for the sake of escape »), didactic reading (« reading for the sake of learning ») and salutary reading (« reading for the sake of self-perfection »), none of which is the same as esthetic reading (« reading for the sake of reading »). By looking at the informants' intentions, motives, stated reasons, but also at their actual practices, the author attempts to bring out the interests which, apart from esthetic pleasure, incite all readers who - in the absence of the requisite conditions - remain inaccessible to «pure pleasure », the uses to which they put their readings, the effects they hope for. These « interests in reading » stem from the informants' background and their position in the social space, from their cultural and educational resources, from their professional occupation, from their socially constituted sexual identity. The uncovering of the social uses of reading and their underlying interests contributes to a fuller explanation of the social distribution of reading practices.