The space of literary tastes of Belarusian readers: sociological aspect

  • Alexander M. Belski Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 1 Surganava Street, 2 building, Minsk 220072, Belarus; University of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 38b Radyjalnaja, Minsk 220070, Belarus

Abstract

The results of a representative sociological study of reading preferences of the population of the Republic of Belarus are presented. The dependence of the literary tastes of Belarusians on such predictors as level of education and sexual identity is analysed. The space of literary preferences of respondents is graphically presented. It has been established that women demonstrate greater awareness of Belarusian novelists and poets than men. In addition, the higher the level of education of a Belarusian, the higher the likelihood that he is interested in the work of contemporary Belarusian authors.

Author Biography

Alexander M. Belski, Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 1 Surganava Street, 2 building, Minsk 220072, Belarus; University of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 38b Radyjalnaja, Minsk 220070, Belarus

PhD (sociology); head of the Center of Operative Research, Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, and associate professor, University of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

 

References

  1. Samokhina MM. [Who is reading what today and why do they need it]. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. 2001;51:327–340. Russian.
  2. Stefanovskaya NA. [Portrait of a modern reader: reading as a spiritual value]. Bibliotechnoe delo. 2004;11:5–8. Russian.
  3. Stel’makh VD. [The reader and the modern literary community: the possibilities of dialogue]. In: Stel’makh VD, compiler. Chitayushchii mir i mir chteniya [The reading world and the world of reading]. Moscow: Rudomino; 2003. p. 145–156. Russian.
  4. Butenko IA. Chitateli i chtenie na iskhode ХХ veka: sotsiologicheskie aspekty [Readers and reading at the end of the 20th century: sociological aspects]. Moscow: Nauka; 1997. 132 p. Russian.
  5. Bourdieu P. [Distinction: a social critique of judgment]. Kirchik OI, translator. In: Dobryakova MS, translator; Radaev VV, editor and compiler. Zapadnaya ekonomicheskaya sotsiologiya: khrestomatiya sovremennoi klassiki [Western economic sociology: a textbook of modern classics]. Moscow: ROSSPEN; 2004. p. 356–398. Russian.
  6. Stel’makh VD. Modern library and its users. The Russian Public Opinion Herald. Data. Analysis. Discussions. 2004;1:56–63. Russian.
  7. Makdonal’d D. [Masskul’t i midkul’t]. Rossiiskii ezhegodnik.1990;2:243–275. Russian.
  8. Peterson RAu, Kern RM. Changing highbrow taste: from snob to omnivore. American Sociological Review. 1996;61(5):900–907.
  9. Samokhina MM. Sotsiolog v biblioteke, ili Bibliotekar’ kak sotsiolog [A sociologist in the library, or A librarian as a sociologist]. Moscow: Rossiiskaya gosudarstvennaya yunosheskaya biblioteka; 2008. 194 p. Russian.
  10. Stel’makh VD, Lobachev NK, compilers. Kniga i chtenie v zerkale sotsiologii [Book and reading in the mirror of sociology]. Moscow: Knizhnaya palata; 1990. 207 p. Russian.
  11. Bryson B. «Anything but heavy metal»: symbolic exclusion and musical dislikes. American Sociological Review. 1996;61(5):884–899.
  12. Melent’eva YuP. [From a nation of readers to a nation of viewers. The evolution of reading and its study]. Bibliotechnoe delo. 2006;10:2–6. Russian.
  13. Guseva LN. [Reader and user: the metamorphosis of reading in the electronic world]. Bibliotechnoe delo. 2004;2:2–5. Russian.
  14. Chudinova VP. [A teenager in a new media environment: between a book and a screen]. In: Fedorov VV, compiler. Natsional’naya biblioteka v sovremennom sotsiokul’turnom prostranstve. Rumyantsevskie chteniya – 2002. Vypusk 2, Doklady i soobshcheniya [The national library in the modern socio-cultural space. Rumyantsev readings – 2002. Issue 2, Reports and communications]. Moscow: Pashkov dom; 2002. p. 199–206. Russian.
  15. Holt DB. Does cultural capital structure American consumption? Journal of Consumer Research. 1998;25(1):1–25. DOI: 10.1086/209523.
Published
2024-04-03
Keywords: literary preferences, elite culture, level of education, sexual identuty, sociology of culture
How to Cite
Belski, A. M. (2024). The space of literary tastes of Belarusian readers: sociological aspect. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology, 1, 82-88. Retrieved from https://journals.bsu.by/index.php/sociology/article/view/6075
Section
From the Working Table of a Sociologist