03.04.2024. » 08:44

OP - ED Culture of reading

I am writing this text in Cyrillic because it is suppressed and defended. Not by law, but by populism and works stemming from populist tendencies. However, just as cuneiform script and hieroglyphs survived ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, and today only selected individuals can read them, Cyrillic will outlast Miloš, Kurtа, and Murtа too.

A digression at the very beginning, with good reason, as Cyrillic bothers certain people for reasons known to them. But let's return to the topic of the text.

The difference between prehistory and history was made when the first writing appeared. Someone, long ago, realized the importance of the written word and inscribed it on stone, wall of caves, papyrus, or paper, which passed various knowledge to subsequent generations, recorded events and skills, and preserved rituals and tradition. What is written is alive today and not subject to change, unlike the case of transmitting information "from generation to generation".

Knowledge and information are prerequisites for humanity to progress. That's why today, millennia later, people mourn the burning of the Library of Alexandria and wonder what is eternally buried within it, and over 80 years later, the Nazi bombing of the National Library in Belgrade represents an example of the destruction of a nation's culture.

But reading and the culture of reading represent much more than the transmission of information. Reading preserves the tradition of the region, develops imagination, and reveals other perspectives. Children grow up with fairy tales, epic and lyrical poems, while adults engage with classic and entertaining literature, enriching themselves with the works of Andrić, Njegoš, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, the Brontë sisters, and many other giants of European and world literature.

Reading good books is akin to conversing with the greatest minds of past times, akin to walking in their shoes, understanding their perceptions of the world around them. However, today only a small percentage of the population reads such books. Reading culture is stagnant and facing challenges, and there are plenty of factors for that. The fast pace of life and the omnipresence of digital media are, in my opinion, the main reasons for this.

In a day consisting of only 24 hours, people often sacrifice what is less important than others, which is often the free time spent with a good literary work. It is, if it exists at all, much more spent on social networks. Mobile phones, tablets, and computers take precedence, and watching movies, binge-watching series, listening to podcasts, or consuming other internet content provides people with the opportunity to access certain information or entertain themselves in a faster and more interactive way.

Another equally important reason is the cultivation of reading culture in society. It currently, alongside all the difficulties our modern society faces, becomes almost invisible because other "values" are being nurtured. The cult of the book is preserved and nurtured within a narrow circle of people. Although it is not difficult to reach it, few make the effort to reach that cult. Every city has its library, many houses have their collection of books, cultural centers and faculties promote reading, but this society, at least currently, is much more oriented towards cheap entertainment like reality TV programs. The choice before all of us is clear – whether we will watch Kardashians, Parovi, and follow the Farm via TV screens or read Orwell and his Animal Farm.

The former is much easier to do, but the damage caused by such programs is significant because reality TV personalities and viewers directly or indirectly dominate society. Following this type of program and the lack of shame among the participants creates an impression that something dishonest can be done and that, in the age of fast-flowing information, it will pass by people. On the other hand, a certain part of people acts on the mantra "the smarter one yields." And when the smarter and more educated yield, the shameless ones take over.

When I was little, my father used to say: "Study, read, my son, it's for your own good." And he was right. I didn't get physically richer from reading, but if you read books, along with entertainment, you can achieve much more, and that is "open-mindedness." Shallow and narrow minds are prone to misunderstanding something or someone different, and misunderstanding often leads to hatred and conflict. On the other hand, a reading mind can develop something called critical thinking, to reason better, and to extract lessons that can be turned into a life mantra or wisdom. Because history is the teacher of life, but the pen of great literary authors gives a person new knowledge and wealth that no one can take away from them.

And if we want to expand the cult of books, we can do at least one thing – talk to the person next to us about what we have read or what should be read. So, whether that person is a reader or not, they might become interested in some literary work. If we read just one more book per year, that is progress. Certainly much greater than letting literature gather dust.

It's not without reason that the giant Dositej Obradović prophetically said: "Books, my brothers, books, not bells and flags!"

Milos Timotijevic, Historian