Reading in Europe: yesterday, today, tomorrow

Abstract

The paper offers a reflection on the volume Leggere in Europa. Testi, forme, pratiche (Secoli XVIII-XXI), a rich anthology edited by Lodovica Braida and Brigitte Ouvry-Vial on the history of reading in Europe from the 18th century to the present. The volume makes use of the most recent historiographic studies and proposes a common history of reading in Europe starting from the ambiguous and debatable concept of ‘revolution’. Just because it is ambiguous and debatable, this concept is endlessly questioned, and this is the strength of the volume: the reader, essay after essay, is led to reflect on the elements of continuity and fracture that characterise the history of reading as an individual and collective practice, and ultimately on the role or new roles that the book exercises in people's lives and imaginary.