HOOKED BY THE BOOK Bookish Emotions and Book Exhibition Experiences

Abstract

This thesis is the first study of visitors’ experiences in book exhibitions in libraries to date. Using an online survey of bookish behaviours, in-depth interviews with five bookish individuals, and a questionnaire distributed at random amongst visitors to the John Rylands Library in Manchester (UK), the study explores how bookish emotions (our personal relationship with books) influence perceptions and responses to these objects in exhibitions. The research is grounded in the premise that books can elicit meaningful experiences not only through their form and content, but also through their emotional resonance as instantiations of the codex. This idea is developed through the Ordinary Numinosity of the Book (ONoB), a novel framework that draws on neo-materialist and affect theory to conceptualise the material and symbolic agency of books and explore its role in engagement. The study posits that this agency (the ONOB) is contingent upon—and activated by—the emotional charge each visitor brings to their encounter with the exhibited book, itself shaped by the individual’s own model of bookishness. Accordingly, the research focuses not on how the book is displayed but on what it does to the visitor (through bookish emotions). This distinction is purely analytical, as in practice it would be difficult to disentangle this experience from that elicited by curatorial mediation. Methodologically, the study also employs an unconventional approach. Rather than focusing on non-visitors, it uses the insights of those likely to attend book exhibitions (bookish people) instrumentally as an entry point to explore experiences shaped by the ONoB. It reasons that their bookishness pre-conditions them to engage with the object on display primarily as a book, making their insights especially useful for understanding how bookish emotions operate. Findings drawn from this study are then tested and validated through methodological triangulation with the blind questionnaire. The research suggests that bookish emotions can transform the first moment of visual contact with the displays into a distinct type of experience, particularly attractive to those with strong connections with books. Said experiences can also influence the perceived value of the exhibition visit overall, though not necessarily in a positive way. From this, it proposes two new categories relevant to exhibition studies: the bookish visitor (understood as part of an emotional community glued together by their love of books, following Rosenwein, 2001) and the bookish experience (conceptualised as an emotional practice, following Scheer, 2012, and catalysed by the ONoB). By foregrounding these affective dimensions, the research fills a critical gap in museology and Library and Information Science, shedding light on the hidden appeal of book exhibitions, and making the case for a distinctive Museology of the Book.

Date of Award	16 Oct 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Kostas Arvanitis (Supervisor) & Fred Schurink (Supervisor)