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| Venue: | RaRa (see on map) |
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| Original language: | Estonian |
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Even though when speaking about the Estonian written word, we could appeal to the preamble of the constitution of Estonia, it seems that the social role of literature is slowly retreating. As print runs are falling, one may conclude that the number of people who read is gradually getting smaller. Visual communication makes it possible to present literature in new ways but literature cannot give up on words printed on paper, waiting for the reader to set them alight. Or can it? Will audiovisual forms completely replace reading in the future? The success of audiobooks in several countries may point to that trend. Would the changes in form help to preserve the substance of literature? Or are libraries heading for the fate of churches – lacking congregations, they have been turned into libraries, restaurants or nightclubs in many parts of Western Europe. Will libraries face gradually becoming social and leisure centres and will books be read in depositories established in abandoned shopping centres only by a few dedicated people, whose voice is not heard at all in the entertainment circuit of broadcasters? The social weight of literature will be discussed in a panel by Tiit Aleksejev, writer and long-time Chair of the Estonian Writers’ Union; Elisa-Johanna Liiv, literature promoter, publisher and member of the editing team of Loomingu Raamatukogu publishers; Saara Liisa Jõerand, editor of the Värske Rõhk magazine, and Anu Kell, one of the best-known literature teachers in Estonia.
