Paper short abstract:

In the presentation I will discuss the sensory experiences and emotions that are often connected to books and e-books, and ask how does the change from a physical artefact to a digital object affect reading experiences and understanding of books as emotional artefacts.

Paper long abstract:

Printed books used to be the obvious format for reading literature, until e-books became easily accessible. The development of tablets and smartphones were expected to change reading habits in a similar way that happened for instance in music industry, when CD's lost the competition to streaming services. The change of books, however, has been slow. At the moment digital books are developing and sales are increasing, but they still are marginal compared to printed books.

One of the reasons for this, that has been raised up in e-book research, is quite interesting from an ethnological perspective. Readers tend to emphasise their attachment to elements such as feel, smell, sound or atmosphere, when they give reasons for choosing a printed book instead of an e-book. At the same time, they often find it difficult to find words to this attachment. Books smell "somehow" nice or they "just" create a good atmosphere to reading. I argue, that research fields of books and reading can benefit from focusing on the emotional side and materiality of reading, and that this will help to understand readers' perspectives to digitalisation of books. I will discuss the sensory experiences and emotions that are often connected to printed books and ask, how does the change from a physical artefact to a digital object affect the experiences and reading related practices.