Gross discusses reading’s physical aspects

Reading includes not only the intellectual process of absorbing ormation, but first and foremost, the physical act of handling books – or any texts. Sabine Gross, professor of German at UW–Madison, will discuss the physical aspects of reading in her lecture and demonstration, “Made for Human Eyes and Hands: The ‘Technology’ of the Book,” at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium, 818 State St.

The presentation, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Center for the Humanities in conjunction with the Wisconsin Book Festival.

Using examples from a selection of books, Gross will show how reading materials are designed to appeal to our senses, how they are meant for both ease of use and aesthetic pleasure. She will discuss the ways in which technology – computers, in particular – have changed the act of reading. While many fear that electronic media will lead to the demise of the book, Gross argues that these new forms for presenting information are frequently difficult to use, less pleasing to our senses, and restrictive in where and when reading can take place. By contrast, books offer a wealth of information and a host of possibilities for interaction that electronic texts either do not offer or try rather clumsily to imitate. In the end, such new formats often serve to highlight how well suited the “technology” of books is to human readers.

Gross is an associate professor of German with an affiliation with the Department of Theatre and Drama. She has written and published extensively on modern German literature and literary theory, theater, film, the study of narrative, cognitive approaches to literature, image/text relations and reading. In 1999, Gross received a Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award.

For more information, call (608) 263-3409.