Pages Reflecting a Small Nation: Exploring Hungary's Reading Promotion Efforts in Cultural and Social Contexts

Books are deeply intertwined with the societies that produce them. Besides the unmistakable benefits leisure reading can give to individuals, such as literacy, creativity, imagination, knowledge and empathy, this free time activity has an impact on a higher level too. The written word enables connections between individuals and communities in ways that were unimaginable before the Print Revolution. Books can encompass the values of a nation, they can communicate and reinforce them. These aspects are especially important in the case of a small nation with a distinct language, as a strong need of cultural preservation is present. The main focus of this thesis is the two-way connection between a country’s reading culture and its social, political and economic realms. It is based on the argument that participants of the reading landscape not only affect the readers with their actions, but have an indirect impact on the wider cultural system through the reading landscape. The means to...Show moreBooks are deeply intertwined with the societies that produce them. Besides the unmistakable benefits leisure reading can give to individuals, such as literacy, creativity, imagination, knowledge and empathy, this free time activity has an impact on a higher level too. The written word enables connections between individuals and communities in ways that were unimaginable before the Print Revolution. Books can encompass the values of a nation, they can communicate and reinforce them. These aspects are especially important in the case of a small nation with a distinct language, as a strong need of cultural preservation is present. The main focus of this thesis is the two-way connection between a country’s reading culture and its social, political and economic realms. It is based on the argument that participants of the reading landscape not only affect the readers with their actions, but have an indirect impact on the wider cultural system through the reading landscape. The means to support this argument is an analysis of the literary landscape of Hungary, based on a self-constructed model, the Reading Promotion Impact Matrix. The two dimensions of this model are the nation’s core values that are supported and reflected by the reading promotion efforts; and the areas that can impact and can be impacted by these reading promotion activities. The thesis also highlights the interactivity and interconnectedness of the participants of a country’s literary landscape.Show less

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Pages Reflecting a Small Nation: Exploring Hungary's Reading Promotion Efforts in Cultural and Social Contexts