In February 1983, at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, literary scholar Jerry W. Ward, Jr., proposed an idea for tracing reading patterns among Black people. According to Ward, we “need a sociology of African-American literature to account for changes in mode of production.” In addition, such a sociology, he reasoned, would assist us in addressing a critical question: “Why do Black readers read what they read when they read?”
You’re listening to Remarkable Receptions—a podcast about popular and critical responses to African American novels and more.
Much has changed since Professor Ward proposed his ideas about a sociology of African American literature. In 1983, computers and the world wide web were not widely available. We certainly did not have things like smart phones, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and the like.
Students of literature had far fewer distractions. Or, put another way, novelists, short story writers, and poets had less competition. The very fact of reading in 2024 means something different than what it meant in 1983.
Part of what makes Professor Ward’s “sociology of African American literature” so important is that it encourages us to constantly take stock of what it means for Black people to be readers at any given point in time. Ward’s concept also prompts us to consider what modes of production for literature might mean and how those modes might change over time.
In 1983, when people spoke of reading Richard Wright and Toni Morrison, they typically meant reading their works in a physical book. Today, however, we might read those and other novelists in physical books, on our desktop and laptop computers, on our handheld digital devices. Or, reading their works might mean listening to the audiobook versions.
That’s right. These days, readers are increasingly listeners. Audiobooks constitute one of the largest and fastest areas of growth in book publishing.
African American readers are listening to novels and other works of literature on their daily commutes. They are listening while exercising. They are listening at night as they drift off to sleep.
Readers are also composers. Think about the countless Black people who send dozens of text messages each and every day. Consider what it means to read social media during the course of a week or even a single day. Reading online involves rapidly scrolling through a large body of content, quickly interpreting words, images, sounds, video, memes, and emojis.
We needed a sociology of African American reading practices in 1983, and we need one today. We need to continually think about changing modes of production, and we can benefit by considering why Black readers read what they read when they read.
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This episode was written by Howard Rambsy. The episode was edited by Elizabeth Cali.