Close reading in an increasingly digital world
Dr. Laura Major
In an increasingly technologically driven and digital world, studies have shown that people are reading less and reading less well. The ability to read lengthy and challenging texts, on any platform, thoroughly and in depth is waning. Is close reading passé in our technologically innovative world, or is close reading exactly the antidote to a world ruled by the quick, the instant, and often the shallow? Teachers of literature, also in the teacher training context, are faced with a real conundrum: we cannot give up on the bread and butter of literary studies – in-depth textual analysis, which sharpens critical thinking and analytic skills necessary for today’s teachers as well as imparts necessary literary material and tools – nor can we ignore our changing world and that of our students and of their future pupils. This lecture will discuss possible bridges in digital humanities between these seemingly contradictory forces and will ask how we can use technology and more innovative teaching methodologies without forgoing the hard work of reading and analyzing texts.
