In a programmatic 1986 article, Robert Darnton argued that the study of reading must focus on the social context in which texts function and are received. The historian argued that books not only reflect historical processes but also create them, serving as a medium for social interaction among the participants in the communications circuit: readers, publishers, and booksellers (Darnton R., 1986). In turn, the organizers of the academic conference “The Space of Reading” wish to draw on the “spatial turn” (Soja E., 1989) to focus on how reading practices are connected to the construction of social spaces (Lowe S., 2024).
The organizers define the space of reading as the intertwining of the trajectories of books and readers within commercial or leisure practices and in the processes of interacting with a text in specific places. In other words, it is the totality of material and institutional structures that connect text and reader through particular spaces (Bellingradt D., Salman J., 2017). Speakers are invited to discuss the places where printed materials are acquired and consumed: from city streets and the interiors of public venues to the more intimate settings of home libraries. How do private spaces and city streets shape reading practices? What infrastructures—from second-hand bookshops to digital platforms—organize the book market? How do book clubs create social connections? What do paratexts and marginalia reveal about the intended reader?
We invite historians, anthropologists, sociologists, literary scholars, art historians, and other researchers at various stages of their academic careers to participate. Proposals may engage with, but are not limited to, the following topics:
-
Private and Public Spaces of Reading (residential interiors and exteriors, the urban landscape, public places)
-
Reading Infrastructures and the Book Market (specialized reading spaces: libraries, bookstores, etc.; digital infrastructures: online libraries, book platforms; the book market: shops, auction houses, second-hand books)
-
Reading Communities in Social Space (reading as a tool for community building, book clubs and communities — online and offline)
-
The Space of Printed Media (paratexts as a communicative space between author, reader, and text; marginalia; the design of printed publications)
To participate in the conference, please submit an application via Yandex Forms by February 14 (inclusive) , providing the following information:
-
Author details: Full name; place of employment, position, or place of study, year of study, department; academic degree; email address; contact phone number.
-
Paper title and abstract (up to 400 words).
Speaking format: Up to 25 minutes (including questions).
Applicants will be informed of the selection results no later than March 1, 2026.
Organizing Committee: Ekaterina Blatova, Anna Britanova, Elena Glukhovskaya, Gleb Duganov, Polina Kolozaridi, Sofia Nikitina, Polina Pelyagina.
Contact email: textinspace@mail.ru
Conference working languages: Russian, English.
Partial reimbursement of travel expenses is available for out-of-town participants. The exact amount of compensation will be announced after the selection process is complete. An online presentation format is also possible—please indicate your preferred format in the application.
Following the conference, the organizers plan to publish the conference abstracts in the journal Cultural History. Participants wishing to publish are asked to indicate their intention in the Yandex Form; the organizers will then send further information regarding submission deadlines and text length. Please note that submitted works will be subject to preliminary selection.