Reading as a socio-cultural practice

Abstract

Objective. This article is aimed at investigating the elements that define, typify and characterize reading as a socio-cultural practice.
Design/Methodology/Approach. A bibliographic review was carried out to verify those elements that make possible to relate the socio-cultural practices with the reading.
Results/Discussion. The main etymological, procedural and multidimensional attributes that define reading as a socio-cultural practice were exposed, emphasizing the historical, cultural and political dimensions.
Conclusions. Reading is much more than the process by which one learns to decode or decipher a certain writing system, rather it is a socio-cultural practice associated with historical, cultural, ideological and institutional relationships. In addition, it can be said that reading as a socio-cultural practice is a practice that has been heavily laden with ideological, normative and prescriptive content, and is warned through various social, political and cultural discourses pertaining to different eras.
Originality/Value. The value of visualizing the reading from this perspective lies in the possibilities of studying other scenarios beyond habits, making it possible to enter into the world of meanings assigned to this practice, the motivations that move the reading and the mediations that condition the act of reading.