Tips From Those Who Have Read: a discursive analysis of reading representations entered in testimonials of readers posted on Galeno's blog

• Grant number: 14/02515-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): May 05, 2014
• Effective date (End): September 04, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics - Linguistic Theory and Analysis
• Principal Investigator: Luzmara Curcino Ferreira
• Grantee: Rafael Borges Ribeiro dos Santos
• Supervisor: Jorge Larrosa
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/14868-2 - "Tips from those who have read": a discursive analysis of reading representations entered in testimonials of readers posted on Galeno's blog, BP.IC

Abstract

This investigation project is related to a wider, general project coordinated by Professor Luzmara Curcino (FAPESP, 2010/16139-0), along with the Languages Department of the Federal University of São Carlos. The general project proposes a data collection on the several profiles of contemporary reader communities. In order to contribute to the description of these profiles, this project analyzes the blog do Galeno ("Galeno's blog"), more specifically the section named Dicas de quem já leu ("Tips of who already read"), currently composed by 370 comments from public figures (like singers, politicians, actors, etc.) that give suggestions on what to read. By analyzing this material, it is possible to trace hints that indicate the reading practices of those individuals, as well as some discursive representations they share about what is the practice of reading; what it is to be a reader; which books deserve to be claimed as books they effectively read; and what they say about books that were hypothetically read. In order to do this analysis, the theoretical framework is based on concepts of the French Discourse Analysis and some principles of Cultural History. The proposition for the international research internship intends to widen the researcher's contact with new methodological approaches and theories about the subject, and to strengthen the academic relationship between the two universities involved in this project. The specific objectives, which are to be accomplished at the University of Barcelona (UB), under supervision of a reputed researcher in the studies of reading, Professor Jorge Larrosa Bondia, include: a) to present and discuss the investigation project with the referred professor; b) to consult specific and updated bibliography about the subject in foreign libraries; c) to participate in conferences, lectures, seminars, etc., that occur during the period of the internship and may contribute to the personal formation of the researcher and the improvement of the investigation that is already being developed in Brazil. (AU)