Quote:
Originally Posted by QuantumIguana
Anecdotal evidence isn't worth much. Your grandparents may be heavy readers, but that doesn't mean that everyone's grandparents are heavy readers. You have to look at a wide sample, and that's what this article doesn't do. The article gives the impression that everyone used to read Proust, and then stopped because of the internet. The internet has only been widely available to the public for about 20 years, have people really become less able to read over those 20 years? My reading has increased considerably since I got an e-reader. Of course, that's anectodal as well, it would be a mistake to attempt to apply that to everyone.
There is a tendency to assume that in the past, because modern entertainments weren't available, people used to just read and read and read and read. But there was plenty of things to do besides reading. People used to be much more inclined to participate in sports rather than watching them. And when they did watch, they watched them in person instead of on their couches. Even in books, the "bookworm" character who spends all of his time reading has been looked at with derision. Take Don Quixote for example, gone mad with stories of knights in shining armor.
|
My parents/grandparents are/were heavy readers, not that that says anything about the rest of the world.
A fairly modern example though is the Canadian North in the late 90's till 2004-5
Most communities did not have cable/satellite TV or internet connections 2004-5. The education levels were low, but the reading population was high. Aboriginal people told me they learned English so they could read books.
Miners, loggers, support workers in camps, were in general poorly educated. There was no personal entertainment available except what you brought with you especially before the advent of the DVD. People with a grade 3 education were not reading Proust so much I am sure, but they were reading Clavell, Michener, Uris etc. and still do.
Libraries and bookstores were few and far between, still are, but libraries that are jumping off points for camp workers such as Dawson City have special sections, where camp workers can get books without due dates or fines or limits on the number borrowed. In Dawson city this section is bigger than the mainstream library. I actually asked the librarian why there were so many books and she explained that was the reason. Haines Junction, Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet have similar for those living in remote communities. Apparently even the Edmonton and Yellowknife libraries have/had a similar arrangement for camp workers.
While I am sure you are correct that many people chose games, social events etc. over reading, those options were not as readily available in my grandparents time as today.
They, like much of the working class in the past, relied heavily on manual labour to make a living. Working from dawn to dusk as farmers, road builders, train track layers etc. probably didn't make them want to play hockey or football in their rare leisure hours. They couldn't afford theatres or plays or the opera, which is a good thing as they would have had to get out the old horse and ride 60 miles to get to one. (good thing for the old horse anyway) The did enjoy a good game of cribbage though.
Helen