Conceptualising the audiobook experience

Abstract

In this article we wish to introduce and discuss a theoretical framework for a possible conceptualisation of the differences between reading a printed book and listening to an audiobook. We tend to introduce similarities and differences between reading with the eyes and reading with the ears, implying that we should not discuss the audiobook experience as a remediation of the printed book experience only, but as an entirely different experience that could be conceptualised in continuation of mobile listening practises. As a methodological strategy we will emphasise the differences between the literary practices, reading with the eyes and reading with the ears. These different perspectives on reading are used to accentuate the distinct experiences, and future thorough analyses in continuation of this framework would appear much more complex and connected than in the present article.