Conceptualising the audiobook experience

Abstract

In this article we wish to introduce and discuss a theoretical framework for a possible conceptualisation of the differences between reading a printed book and listening to an audiobook. We tend to introduce similarities and differences between reading with the eyes and reading with the ears, implying that we should not discuss the audiobook experience as a remediation of the printed book experience only, but as an entirely different experience that could be conceptualised in continuation of mobile listening practises. As a methodological strategy we will emphasise the differences between the literary practices, reading with the eyes and reading with the ears. These different perspectives on reading are used to accentuate the distinct experiences, and future thorough analyses in continuation of this framework would appear much more complex and connected than in the present article.

Sonoridades midiáticas: rádio, música e cinema

“…Ou seja: se é possível afirmar que ler um livro não é a mesma experiência que ouvi-lo, devemos também considerar que nem precisaria ser! Alguns autores, como Pedersen e Have (2012), afirmam inclusive que a experiência nem mesmo pode ser qualificada como literária, já que requer um tipo de habilidade do leitor por escuta que difere daquelas necessárias para compreender o texto escrito. Se concordamos com os autores de que se trata de uma nova experiência, muito conectada com o consumo midiático que se apresenta hodiernamente, discordamos que o leitor de audiolivro pode prescindir da capacidade de interpretação de textos que é convencionalmente a chave da fruição dos livros.…”

El audiolibro digital y las alternativas de la narración sonora

“…Desde esta afirmación, el audiolibro digital enriquecido favorece la experiencia de escucha e incide en que esta sea más vívida y más congelada. Vívida en el acto concreto de la enunciación, y congelada en el sentido de que la actividad de lectura queda atada en sentido estricto (Have y Pedersen, 2012).…”

“…La preferencia por el consumo de podcasts y audiolibros es una tendencia en crecimiento (IAB Spain, 2022). En el caso de los audiolibros, su expansión es valorada como una experiencia mediática (Have y Pedersen, 2012;Tattersall, 2020), cuyo acceso y consumo es similar al de otros tipos de contenidos audiovisuales que forman parte del ecosistema digital contemporáneo.…”

Reading Audiobooks

“…If we analyse audiobook reading and book reading in continuation of Elleström's conception of modalities (2020), it is not possible to accept the idea of a seamless transition. Instead, taking into account the material, the sensorial, the spatiotemporal, as well as the semiotic modality, the audiobook performs the reading experience on distinct and almost totally different terms from the printed book as we have elaborated on earlier (Have and Pedersen 2012). In this sense, the theoretical framework for analysing the audiobook is inspired by Elleström (2010Elleström ( , 2020, however adding some perspectives.…”

“…The digital audiobook raises a number of interesting issues regarding its modal aspects-not at least compared to the experience of reading a printed book. We have previously discussed the distinct features of the experience of book reading and audiobook reading, building on Lars Elleström's ideas of the modalities of media (Elleström 2010;Have andPedersen 2012, 2016). Here we have been highlighting that according to Elleström's model for understanding media (2020), the digital audiobook and the printed book differ in a number of aspects, which makes it evident that we need to understand the different literary experiences in a media sensitive way.…”