St. Augustine depicts the reading of Bishop Ambrose in Milan (340-397) with the above words. Why was he so surprised? Until about the 10th century, it was rare in the West to read without reading aloud. The reading of Saint Ambrose seemed unique.
East as well as in the West this was the way it was done. When a neighbor, a girl heard Jeong In-ji (1396 ~ 1478) reading aloud, she jumped over the wall, and entered his room. Jeong In-ji said he would take care of the steps necessary for marriage and on the next day, moved away, and the girl died of lovesickness. We also have other legends where others have fallen in love with the voices of scholars reading aloud.
Reading the scriptures is common among the major religions of the world. The church reads the Scriptures in the liturgy of the Mass and those who do are called lectors. The majority of texts used in traditional societies presupposed a reading aloud.
In Europe in the 18th century, people frequently read and appreciated books at private salons. In Joseon society, professional readers were active. In the history of reading, this recitation accounts for much of the reading that was done.
Compared to silent reading with the eyes and head, reading aloud is done by the whole body. Many are the benefits. Silent reading is a private act, but reading out loud is usually centered in the community.
Reading was essentially an act of reading together. Books were things shared by many people. The 'Humanities on the Library Path' project supported by the Korean Ministry of Culture, are conducted in many libraries in the country.
As an ideal, the reading community can be considered a self-regulating community that cultivates civic common sense through communication through books, reading aloud, and shares fellowship.
The scope of these reading communities is not limited to small groups. For example, the entire church can be seen as a reading community that reads God's Word together. The restoration of the communicative nature of reading is to recover the possibility that a book becomes a medium, and the reading becomes the starting point in the formation of public opinion.
