A Critical Rereading of the History of Reading: Discursive Regularities of Modern Historians

The aim of this paper is to map the current discourse of historians of reading by adopting a cross-disciplinary approach that challenges the views of researchers specializing in specific eras. This perspective shows that there is a recurring linear pattern in these specialized studies, whether they are on antiquity, the middle ages, modern times, or the present day. Identifying this leitmotif enables a better appreciation of the practices of periods too often regarded as pivotal or transitional, such as the medieval era.