Reading and the Body
Reading and the Body The Physical Practice of Reading Thomas Mc Laughlin
READING AND THE BODY Copyright Thomas Mc Laughlin, 2015. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-54131-4 All rights reserved. First published in 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-57057-7 ISBN 978-1-137-52289-4 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-52289-4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mc Laughlin, Thomas. Reading and the body : the physical practice of reading / Thomas Mc Laughlin. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Books and reading. 2. Human body. I. Title. Z1003.M48 2015 0289.9 dc23 2015010524 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: September 2015 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents List of Figures Acknowledgments vii ix Introduction: Reading Bodies 1 1 The Reading Eye: Hexis and Hermeneutics 43 2 Reading Posture: Discipline and Adaptive Intelligence 71 3 I m Not Here: The Reading Body in Physical and Social Space 109 4 Sundry Ulterior Transformations : The Habit of Reading and Eating 141 5 The Future of the Reading Body: Reading in Digital Environments 163 Works Cited 195 Index 205
Figures 0.1 Photograph by Frederick Hallyer 5 1.1 Jenny Holzer, For Chicago 61 2.1 Lucio Rossi, A Young Woman Reading 76 2.2 Correct Posture 80 2.3 Girl Reading Comics 82 2.4 Woman Reading Closely 91 2.5 Maria Spartali Stillman, Love Sonnets 93 2.6 Woman Reading on the Subway 96 2.7 Monk Reading 102 2.8 Bob Dylan in the green room at Rolling Thunder Revue, browsing through Elsa s Housebook (David R. Godine, Publ.) c. 1974, Elsa Dorfman 104 2.9 W. B. Yeats Reading 106
Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following administrators at Appalachian State University for their support of this project and for providing the time necessary for research and writing: English Department chairs James Ivory, Jim Fogelquist, and Carl Eby, and Arts and Sciences dean Tony Calamai. Two graduate seminars in literary theory at Appalachian were full of excellent students who engaged in rich conversations about reading and asked challenging questions about this project. I also received helpful responses from graduate students and faculty at the University of Trier. I presented an early version of the key ideas in this book at the Expressive Arts program at the European Graduate School. Thanks to Paulo Knill and Sally Atkins for making that presentation possible and to the amazing participants in that program for their spirited responses. Many colleagues in the English Department at Appalachian talked with me about this project, made fruitful suggestions about scholarly books and articles, and provided emotional support during a rough time in the department. I d especially like to thank David Orvis, Susan Staub, Jill Ehnenn, Tammy Wahpeconiah, Grace McEntee, Colin Ramsey, David Haney, Bill Brewer, Bruce Dick, Mark Vogel, Kathryn Kirkpatrick, Joseph Bathanti, Cece Conway, Craig Fischer, Kristina Groover, Holly Martin, Leon Lewis, Wendy Winn, Alison Gulley, Emily Miller, and Dusty Ross. Thanks to Leslie Sargent Jones for great conversations and intellectual stimulation. Thanks beyond words to Emory Maiden, Chip Arnold, Gene Miller, Jim Winders, Marianne Adams, Melissa Barth, Ellen Arnold, and Joan Woodworth for decades of friendship. Thanks also to Ryan Jenkins, Brigitte Shull, Leighton Lustig and Rachel Crawford at Palgrave, and to Marilyn Gaull, a great teacher and mentor.
x Acknowledgments To my family, with deep love and affection. My parents, Tom and Eleanor. My sisters, Rita, Clare, and Joan. My daughters and sons-in-law, Nora and Ben, Kate and Ryan, and Julia and Joe. My grandchildren, Rebekah, Sean, Meg, TJ, Ty, and Annie. And to my wife, Joan, the love of my life, thanks for your patience and strength.