Bookshelves in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic (New Directions in Book History)

Bookshelves in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic provides the first detailed scholarly investigation of the cultural phenomenon of bookshelves (and the social practices around them) since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. With a foreword by Lydia Pyne, author of Bookshelf (2016), the volume brings together 17 scholars from 6 countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the USA) with expertise in literary studies, book history, publishing, visual arts, and pedagogy to critically examine the role of bookshelves during the current pandemic. This volume interrogates the complex relationship between the physical book and its digital manifestation via online platforms, a relationship brought to widespread public and scholarly attention by the global shift to working from home and the rise of online pedagogy. It also goes beyond the (digital) bookshelf to consider bookselling, book accessibility, and pandemic reading habits. Corinna Norrick-Rühl is Professor of Book Studies at the University of Muenster (WWU), Germany. Her recent publications are The Novel as Network: Forms, Ideas, Commodities (2020, co-edited with Tim Lanzendorfer, in this series) and Book Clubs and Book Commerce (2019). ShafquatTowheed is Senior Lecturer in English in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at The Open University, UK. He directs The Open University's History of Books and Reading (HOBAR) research collaboration and was UK principal investigator for the Reading Europe Advanced Data Investigation Tool (READ-IT) project (2018-2021). Foreword: The Bookshelf Endures 7 References 10 Acknowledgments 11 About the Book 13 Praise for Bookshelves in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic 14 Contents 16 Notes on Contributors 19 List of Figures 22 Chapter 1: Introduction 24 Theoretical Frameworks and Contexts 27 Pandemic Reading and the Bibliotherapy Bookshelf 28 Blurring Boundaries, Heightening Inequalities 30 The Bookshelf and Socio-economic Inequality 33 Structure of the Volume 38 Beyond the Pandemic Bookshelf 44 References 47 Part I: Private and Public Reading Spaces 51 Chapter 2: An Examination of Bookshelves in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic as a “Liminal Space” 52 Liminality 56 The Bookshelf as a Private-Public Space 58 Digital Mediation 59 Bookshelves as a Data Source: Big Data and Thick Data 61 Coda 65 References 67 Chapter 3: Crisis Book Browsing: Restructuring the Retail Shelf Life of Books 69 Setting the Scene 70 Crisis Book Browsing and Post-Digital Book Worlds 72 Crisis Book Browsing Beyond Australia: Bookshop.org 74 Melbourne: A City of Essential Bookstores 76 Methodology and Methods 77 Readings Books: The Famous Bargain Tab(le) 79 Paperback Bookshop: “With Apologies for the Cramped Conditions” 81 Neighbourhood Books: for “Everyone Who is Missing Out Browsing IRL” 83 Conclusion 85 References 86 Chapter 4: “Your Bookshelf Is Problematic”: Progressive and Problematic Publishing in the Age of COVID-19 89 From Literary Merit to “Problematic Faves” 91 The Progressive Reader 94 Progressive Symbolic Capital 101 Conclusion 104 References 105 Chapter 5: Old Books and New Media: Reader Response to The Thorn Birds and Late Night with Seth Meyers 113 Responding to The Thorn Birds 119 Books and Change 123 Conclusion: The Codex and the Meme 125 References 128 Part II: Material Culture on Screen 132 Chapter 6: Videoconferencing as a Digital Medium: Bookshelves in Backgrounds Throughout History 133 Introduction 133 Approach 134 The Seventeenth Century and The Great Picture 135 Cartomania in Victorian England 140 Twenty-First-Century Videoconferencing 142 Bookish Organizations and Artificial Bookish Backgrounds 144 Discussion of Books in Backgrounds Across Eras and Media 147 Conclusion 148 References 149 Chapter 7: Digital Masks of Printed Books: On-Screen Representations of the Materiality of the Codex 151 Discovering 156 Historical Precedents 156 Contemporary Conditions 159 Acquiring 160 Historical Precedents 160 Contemporary Conditions 161 Sharing 165 Historical Precedents 165 Contemporary Conditions 166 Conclusions 168 References 169 Chapter 8: Bookish Objects on the Bookshelf 172 Conceptual Framework 173 Book Nooks: The Creativity of Bookish Objects 179 Enhanced and Diminished: Mass Displays 181 Industrial Impact of Bookish Objects: Brands in the Home 184 Conclusion 188 References 188 Chapter 9: Writing with Spines: Bookshelf Art, Found Poetry, and the Practice of Assemblage 192 The History of Making Do: Assemblage, Found Poetry, and Readymade Aesthetics 195 Nina Katchadourian’s Sorted Books: Arrangement, Constraint, and Site-Specific Practice 200 Bright Colors and Digital Manipulations: Pandemic Trends and Impossible Arrangements 204 References 206 Part III: Libraries, Pedagogy and Reading During the Pandemic 209 Chapter 10: Elmer the Elephant in the Zoom Room? Reflections on Parenting, Book Accessibility, and Screen Time in a Pandemic 210 “Book deserts” Before the COVID-19 Pandemic 214 Book Accessibility for Children and Families During the Pandemic 218 Creative Solutions, Pragmatic Approaches 222 References 224 Chapter 11: A Bookshelf of the World: Bringing Students’ Books Inside the Classroom—A Means for Epistemic Equality? 230 Pre-pandemic Teaching of “The Material Book” 232 Teaching “The Material Book” During the Pandemic 235 Results 240 Accessibility and Epistemic Equality 241 Diversifying the Curriculum 242 Being in Charge 244 Survey 246 Conclusion 249 References 249 Chapter 12: Online Learning, Library Access, and Bookcase Insecurity: A German Case Study 252 Introduction 252 “Bookcase Insecurity” and Conflation of Public and Private Spaces 255 Peeking at a Student Bookshelf 256 Lack of Study/Social Spaces 258 The Impact of Restricted Access to Libraries 260 Changes in Student Book Buying/Reading Habits 261 Alternative Means of Accessing Materials 262 Accessibility, Disability, and Working Within Limitations 264 Studies on Students with Disabilities at German Universities 265 Pandemic Experiences of Students with Disabilities at the English Department 267 Conclusion: From Insecurity to Accessibility 269 References 270 Chapter 13: “Ummmmm, guys? Don’t microwave your books”: Readers, Authors, and Institutions in #PandemicReading Tweets 273 Introduction 273 Methodology 275 Reactive Readers 279 Resilient Authors 282 Digitally Engaged Institutions 284 Conclusion 286 References 288 Index 294 Bookshelves in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic provides the first detailed scholarly investigation of the cultural phenomenon of bookshelves (and the social practices around them) since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. With a foreword by Lydia Pyne, author of Bookshelf (2016), the volume brings together 17 scholars from 6 countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the USA) with expertise in literary studies, book history, publishing, visual arts, and pedagogy to critically examine the role of bookshelves during the current pandemic. This volume interrogates the complex relationship between the physical book and its digital manifestation via online platforms, a relationship brought to widespread public and scholarly attention by the global shift to working from home and the rise of online pedagogy. It also goes beyond the (digital) bookshelf to consider bookselling, book accessibility, and pandemic reading habits. Corinna Norrick-Rühl is Professor of Book Studies at the University of Muenster (WWU), Germany. Her recent publications are The Novel as Network: Forms, Ideas, Commodities (2020, co-edited with Tim Lanzendorfer, in this series) and Book Clubs and Book Commerce (2019). ShafquatTowheed is Senior Lecturer in English in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at The Open University, UK. He directs The Open University's History of Books and Reading (HOBAR) research collaboration and was UK principal investigator for the Reading Europe Advanced Data Investigation Tool (READ-IT) project (2018-2021).