Media, modality, and motivation in literary-aesthetic experience: exploring auditory and visual reception of literature

Autor(en)
Lukas Kosch, Günther Stocker, Annika Ahrens-Schwabe, Hajo Boomgaarden
Abstrakt

Audiobooks have a rich history, evolving from Edison's invention of the phonograph to today's digital audiobooks. Initially considered auxiliary to printed books, audiobooks now enjoy concurrent release and widespread consumption, evident in market growth and increased user engagement. Persistent debates surround the classification of audiobook perception as reading, proponents advocating equivalence while critics contend that they are distinct modes of reception and aesthetic experience. Based on a praxeological approach and a theoretical framework encompassing text, medium, listeners, situations & practices and their resulting effects, this focus group study (n = 34) revealed nuanced perceptions and self-descriptions of regular audiobook listeners, indicating clear distinctions between reading and listening. Despite divergent opinions, the participants demonstrate awareness of their motivations, concrete text selection, specific practices, and contextual factors that influence their choice of reception modality. This research highlights the implications of shifting from print reading to digital listening and the disparities and similarities between the auditory and visual reception of literary texts.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Germanistik, Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft, Institut für Psychologie der Kognition, Emotion und Methoden
Journal
Poetics. Journal of Empirical Research on Culture, the Media and the Arts
Band
111
Anzahl der Seiten
12
ISSN
0304-422X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2025.102021
Publikationsdatum
08-2025
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
602003 Allgemeine Literaturwissenschaft, 602014 Germanistik, 508018 Rezeptionsforschung
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Cultural Studies, Communication, Language and Linguistics, Sociology and Political Science, Literature and Literary Theory, Linguistics and Language
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/bc443f00-e440-401e-b630-d72b334be2ba