The Performance of Reading: An Essay in the Philosophy of Literature (New Directions in Aesthetics)

The Performance of Reading argues that there are distinct analogies between "silent" reading and artistic performance, and so fashions the new role of the reader as performer. An original and insightful exploration of the act of reading by the leading scholar in the field. Discusses the history of reading and the transitions from reading aloud to reading silently, and the changing role of literature as communal, active experience to a more private endeavor. In This Essay, Peter Kivy Argues That There Are Distinct Analogies Between Silent Reading And Performance. Readers Have An Experience When They Read Silently To Themselves Akin To The Experience One Would Have Had When The Rhapsode Recited Homer To The Citizens Of Plato's Athens. Kivy Makes The Case For A Deeper Understanding And Appreciation Of Literary Works By Suggesting That Readers Are Performers Of The Works They Read, And Their Performances Recitations To The Inner Ear.--jacket. Peter Kivy. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [138]-149) And Index. The Performance of Reading argues that there are distinct analogies between "silent" reading and artistic performance, and so fashions the new role of the reader as performer.

• An original and insightful exploration of the act of reading by the leading scholar in the field.
• Discusses the history of reading and the transitions from reading aloud to reading silently, and the changing role of literature as communal, active experience to a more private endeavor.

In this insightful and provocative essay, Peter Kivy argues that there are distinct analogies between "silent" reading and performance. Readers have an "experience" when they read silently to themselves akin to the experience one would have had when the rhapsode recited Homer to the citizens of Plato's Athens. The Performance of Reading: An Essay in the Philosophy of Literature......Page 5 Contents......Page 9 Preface......Page 13 The Performance of Reading......Page 17 Notes......Page 154 Bibliography......Page 162 Index......Page 167