Streszczenie:
In the following essay I write about numerous topics concerning the general subject of the book. What I am mostly interested in, is the position od the book in culture and its perception. In my opinion, although the level of readership is in decline, books are still treated with respect, as a symbol of an intellectual developement and an attribute of wisdom.
Although it is hard to respond to the question why people read less and less, in my work I am trying to present different factors that has influenced this phenomenon and diversified attitude towards books and reading, represented by writers and journalists. Part of my work is dedicated to the analysis of the research conducted by the Polish National Library, which publishes annual reports presenting the statistics showing not only how many people read but also - what they read.
During my research I was paying a particular attention to the matter of promotion of readership and the imageof the already existing social campaigns encouraging people to read. I describe how various spot solve the problem of presenting the book as something valuable and reading as the activity worth spending time on. In some cases, the book is being shown as a fancy good-looking attribute, a must-have, in others it is reading, depicted as an activity increasing the human's attractiveness.
The attempt to show the book in this way led to the phenomenon I call the 'sexualization of the book'. It reflects in the way how the image of the book is being constructed in the mass media, how often it is connected with the nudity, sex, and body attractiveness, instead of the desirability concentrating on mind and intellect.
One of the interesting topics described further in my diploma dissertation is concerning the comparison between Poland and Sweden, two countries that present extreme different approach towards books. Swedes are the reading nation which truly believes in the power of readership and intellectual developement deriving from the fact of being an involved reader. Poles, on the contrary, seem to undervalue the profits of reading, and do not perceive it as an activity providing entertainment or fun.
Part of my theoretical work is concentrated on visual aspect of the book, its design represented by the cover. Having done the research on the talks with designers and publishers, I present their statements about the matter of front covers and the design tendencies present on the polish publishing market. This kind of research was really important not only because people tend to judge book by its cover – just like in the popular proverb, but also, as mentioned previously statistic proved, appearance of the book matters in opinion of readers.
The essay is summarized by reflections and observations about the culture of reading and the attitude towards reading as an activity. There are, in my opinion, some reasons responsible for the current situation of readership being in decline. Majority of them centre on the weakening ability of focusing on reading and experiencing the book, which is a consequence of living in visual culture full of strong stimulants trying to attract our attention and catch a glimpse of our attentiveness.
