Publishing Journal ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (2): 118-128.

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On the SymptomaticApproach in the History of Reading Research

  

  1. Center for Media Development Studies / School of Journalism and Communication, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072
  • Received:2024-12-23 Revised:2025-07-31 Online:2026-05-08 Published:2026-05-09

Abstract: Through close textual readings of Roger Chartiers major works on the history of reading, this article characterizes his research approach as a symptomaticapproach. By this, it means that historians of reading recognize the many difficulties involved in explaining the relationships among texts produced by authors, books produced by publishers, and readers. On the theoretical level, Chartier mainly draws on conceptual tools such as textual poaching, habitus, representation, and Wirkungsgeschichtehistory of effects/reception historyto remedy these symptoms, thereby achieving a subtle balance between the structural properties of texts and readersagency. Methodologically, Chartier primarily identifies and interprets readerspractices of meaning appropriation and delineates the interpretive communitiesto which readers belong, so as to reveal the complex relationship between readers and texts. Chartiers symptomatic approach tends to privilege readersagency, and it engages less in dialogue with scholars associated with structuralist orientations, such as Durkheim.

Key words: History of reading Roger Chartier Annales School Foucault Hermeneutics

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