(Il-)Literacy

It was recently reported that last year, 32% of German youths had read a printed book on a daily basis or at least several times a week.[1] The same study “Jugend, Information, Medien (JIM) 2021 (Youth, Information, Media)” also looked into the consumption habits of more modern media: daily internet use, 95% (down 2%); listening to music, 92% (down 1%); and watching online videos, 80% (down 10%!).[2] Watching TV (using all media) was up to 80% (formerly, 72%), whilst reading a daily paper in print, not surprisingly, hovered in the lowlands with 13% (a decrease by 3%), with, interestingly, e-books at the very bottom with 10% (up from 9%).

For a citizen living in the city of Gutenberg, this 32% is a frightening number. The Germans were once regarded as a people of poets and philosophers for centuries but that seems to be coming to an end after all. How can it be the safest way to communicate a message to young people these days is through a song and/or video clip or on TV rather than through printed pages? Does one need an influencer rather than a bookseller? The reason probably is a combination of cost, availability, and comfort of use, also known as convenience. When on a public bus, people, on their way to work, used to chat or nod or look out of the window to see what was going on outside. Today, they are mute, slumped in their seat, cervical spine curved forward, and, oblivious to their surroundings, stare onto the screens of their mobile phones, owned by 94% of the above study group.

Instant information seems to replace constant education. The necessity to remember something is shrinking because one can always “google it” anytime and anywhere. What gets lost, however, is the ability to put facts into their necessary perspective, to reflect on potential interrelations, and to grasp what is known as the context. Of course, we can look up when and where the Brontë sisters lived in no time, but in order to understand what it was like to get by in the North of England in the middle of 19th century, you would still have to read their books. The more obvious choice today is, probably, watching one or several of the film adaptations of Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights to name but two titles. But is that really a substitute? Hardly. And even they seem to be on the way out, ironically to be replaced by film versions of TV series: Downton Abbey, for instance. TV episodes are taking over from books, elaborate series spread over several seasons supersede the complex novel: The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, or Breaking Bad, being prime (and really very good) examples. But still ….

Of course, I am thoroughly biased. Apart from a complete wall of medical textbooks and journals (some of them still beautifully bound in volumes) in the hospital, I accommodate a carefully collected library at home which is at the point of becoming overwhelming. It is very hard for me to throw away a book, even an average whodunnit which I won't read ever again, or the infamous present not-quite-fitting one's interest or style. Luckily for these, public bookshelves and charity organizations like Oxfam provide a way out. The major drawback is that they invariably seduce me to take something else back home as well. So, the shelves continue bending and smart solutions helping to harbor all the treasures more efficiently, such as sliding bookcases, are presently evaluated. Suggestions are welcome.

Book addicts are incurable. Therefore, this journal will be published in a print version as long as the current editor remains in charge.

Publication History

Article published online:
25 June 2022

• References

• 1 „Immer weniger Jugendliche lesen“ (kue). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 2021; (282) 14
• 2 Südwest MF. JIM-Studie 2021. Accessed May 16, 2022 at: https://www.mpfs.de/fileadmin/files/Studien/JIM/2021/JIM-Studie_2021_barrierefrei.pdf