The Printed Book in Contemporary American Culture by Heike Schaefer & Alexander Starre

Author:Heike Schaefer & Alexander Starre
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030225452
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Conclusions

This chapter has singled out four plausible indicators for the state of the book media system in the US that are accessible from a media and book studies perspective: the relative share of e-books among different forms of books, the development of print book production, the development of reading habits, and finally the transformations of the structure of book value creation. These four indicators do not corroborate a strong alarmist assessment. Still, the trends surveyed here do suggest that the best times for the (printed) book in the US might be over. To assess possible impacts of these trends on wider cultural and social fields, more research is needed—especially since there appears to be contrary evidence even in the case of allegedly negative effects of reading on screens. The aim of this chapter was to look beyond this immediate concern to broader issues in book publishing and media use. Here, we can still observe “strong” assets of and unique usage scenarios for the book medium, particularly in its printed form. The predominant role of the book as an originating medium for stories to be circulated and received on other media platforms and as a contributing medium in franchises where every medium does what it does best exemplifies the resilience of the book format. Moreover, an astonishing number of people invest time and energy for the medium both on the production and distribution side far beyond mere business considerations. These people care specifically for the cultural aspects of quality and diversity. And at least provisionally, we may assert important positive impacts of book reading—the reading of precisely such “quality” books, to be exact—since there are strong empirical indications that reading literary fiction improves empathy.

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