Reading and Literary Preferences of Generation Z Schoolchildren: Socio-Cultural Context

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of transferring literary culture from previous generations to “Generation Z”. A brief description of this generation is presented from the perspective of the theory of generations by American researchers Neil Hove and William Strauss. The topic of children’s reading for generations of the 20th century is briefly covered. By the example of the reading repertoire of children and teenagers, works of literary classics and actual children’s literature, the article shows the process of gradual weakening of the transfer of values of literary culture from generation to ge­neration. The materials of complex and sociological research, conducted by the Russian State Children’s Library at the beginning of the 21st century, highlight the problems of reading the best literature that traditionally has been included in the reading of generations. The results of research given in the article testify to the process of losing the nearly century-old literary tradition. For instance, this problem can be seen in the example of parents choosing books for children of primary and secondary school age. In many ways, the repertoire of reading literary classics by children and adolescents is formed by school: this is the school curriculum and lists of extracurri­cular reading. The interest of schoolchildren in classical literature and in books of previous generations continues to fall. The process of changing the repertoire of leisure reading in adolescents is shown. The repertoire of their reading is significantly fragmen­ted. This is largely due to trends in the development of book publishing and the spread of literature. The article indicates the pros and cons of adolescents’ reading, caused by new information technologies; shows the influence of these technologies on reading literacy and reading culture. The process of literature selection by adolescents, boys and girls, is illustrated basing on the results of another new study. It is shown that the choice of schoolchildren is largely random and contains works of modern literature with a predominance of fantasy genre books. The research results demonstrate that today the main factors that have a significant impact on the choice of literature for teenagers and young people are video production and peers’ advice. Solving the problem of supporting reading and forming a reading circle of “Generation Z” schoolchildren, in the context of literary tradition attenuation, is a difficult task to be accomplished by competent adult mentors together with adolescents and young people themselves.