How do we read 'in the age of distraction'? When did what we understand as modern reading begin to take shape: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/modern-reading-in-historical-context-from-gutenberg-to-naked-women

Did the publication of Goethe's epistolary novel, 'The Sorrows of Young Werther' (1774) lead to an epidemic of suicides? Is there such a thing as the 'The Werther effect', as suicides apparently prompted by novels became known? Why did eighteenth-century women fear that their response to readings out loud in a group might reveal a lack of 'sensibility'? How do we read 'in the age of distraction'?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/modern-reading-in-historical-context-from-gutenberg-to-naked-women

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,500 lectures free to access or download from the website.
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