Welcome to The Literary Kindle

Literature has always kindled thought. Novels have introduced what is novel and helped us come to terms with it. But the bright fire of art, imagination, and expression that literature has lit is not fueled so much by paper any more. Does literature need print? Can e-ink and screens rival tree pulp and letter shapes pressed into its fibers?

Welcome to the Literary Kindle, an experiment in how electronic books are kindling and rekindling literacy in the 21st century. Yes! The title of our project is a pun. We are indeed using Amazon's Kindle and ebook platform to try the merits of a completely electronically based approach to experiencing literary study.

One of the texts we are reading on Kindle devices
in this course introducing literary study for today

Who We Are
We are members of an introduction to English studies course at Brigham Young University (held Winter semester, 2015). We are learning the basics of literary interpretation and the study of literature generally, but we are doing so with a very 21st-century approach: the eBook.

A New Environment for Literary Study
Electronic books are not new, but conditions are such today that it is clear they are starting to come into their own: more and more people have various devices for reading books electronically, there is an obvious benefit to doing so in terms of convenience and economics, and the tools (hardware and software) are better than ever. It seems inevitable that schools will ultimately move away from paper reading and electronic reading will become the default for literacy before long.

However, literary studies are, by their nature, deeply conservative. Books embody the traditions they celebrate. No matter how likely it is that electronic books will displace printed books, those teachers and schools charged with literacy and literary study are more likely to propagate the models they know for as long as they can. This may serve adequately for a time, but before long such an approach to reading will prove a disservice.

Traditional reading practices will before long be considered "paraliteracy," at best a complement to how most people experience reading and writing; at worst, a rival and even debilitating approach. Paper reading may become a pseudo-literacy. It may not be sufficient, before long, to ignore ebooks and all that the entail. It will not be quaint to hold nostalgically to the smell of old books.

Long before things reach such extremes, it would be best to retool, to review our practices within the dominant electronic communications of the 21st century and assess whether traditional literacy and literary studies are aligned with where technology, media, and digital culture have already arrived. The communication habits of our time are configured not only by technology, but by emerging customs of discovery and consumption that those of us raised prior to the emergence of the internet are not native to. We need to go back to school.

Our Experiment
We are going paperless in this course. All readings will be done electronically, as will all writing. Moreover, each student will be using a Kindle device. Part of our experiment will be the experience of electronic literacy in general, but part will be the experience of using a device that is integrated with a large content platform (Amazon) and with significant social networks (Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads). In other words, it isn't just about the experience of reading electronically; it's about the changing nature of literary study when one has millions of titles within reach, and thousands of fellow readers at close range as well; and when features of the hardware and software for a reading device open new possibilities for understanding, consuming, and sharing.

We will be using literature to understand developments in literary study in the digital age. We invite you along for the ride.

Our Goodreads Group

Part of our journey will take us into the social network for books, Goodreads. An Amazon company now tightly integrated with the Kindle, and connected as well to Facebook and Twitter.