Three Dimensions of Intimacy in Literary Reading

Authors

Kalle Puolakka, University of HelsinkiFollow

Abstract

While numerous literary researchers, readers, authors, and philosophers have tried to articulate the peculiar feeling of intimacy they have sensed in literary reading, new angles can still be brought to bear on this issue. This paper develops an account of the intimacy of literary reading based on three concepts: silent performance, routine, and trust. By combining an interpretation of the history of silent reading with an understanding of literary reading as a particular kind of performance, I show, in the first part, how a focus on some internal qualities of reading helps to understand its intimate nature. Then, the picture of the intimacy of literary reading emerging from this account is complemented with a look at the role of routines in our reading lives and the sense of trust readers sometimes feel toward authors. All these aspects of literary reading contribute, in different ways, to the sense of intimacy literary reading can involve. The paper ends with a few observations on the state of this intimate, experiential sphere in an increasingly digitalized world.