Abstract

The talk will explore rhythm as a scientific paradigm to examine how reading literature, as part of digital media routines in a mature digital culture, undergoes a cultural transformation. By discussing selected digital reading cases as examples of different distributions and experiences of time, the paper will propose the possibilities of creating a rhythm methodology – a continuum that encompasses rhythm as a prism for sociological aspects of digital reading, reading rhythm as topos, and rhythm as reading technique across media.

Short Bio

Birgitte Stougaard Pedersen is an Associate Professor in Aesthetics & Culture at Aarhus University. She has an interdisciplinary profile and has published volumes and articles on reading, rhythm, the voice, digital culture, audiobooks, listening, and sound culture, exploring the special epistemological potential of sound to how we perceive and experience the world. Through her studies of, among other things, the digital audiobook, her research focuses on how sound is constituted by and changed through the cultural discourses it acts through. Her latest books are Rhythm (Aarhus University Press, 2020), and The Digital Reading Condition (co-edited, Routledge, 2023).

What is an AIAS Seminar?

The AIAS Seminar Series is a session of seminars held by the AIAS fellows, AIAS Visiting or Tandem Fellows or by other speakers proposed by the fellows. In each seminar, a fellow will present and discuss her/his current research and work-in-progress to an interdisciplinary audience for 30 minutes, closing off with 30 minutes for questions, comments and discussion.

All seminars are in-person and held in English. To attend online, please contact Cecilie Horshauge at cecilie@aias.au.dk by 9:00am on the day of the semimar as the latest to request a link.