LITERARY READING AS A SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PRACTICE: MEDIATION, AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE, AND READER DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

This article analyzes literary reading from the perspective of its aesthetic, social, and cultural dimensions, emphasizing the role of mediation in reader formation. It starts from the understanding that reading is not restricted to the decoding of linguistic signs, but constitutes a historically situated practice, traversed by material conditions, cultural contexts, and power relations. Based on a qualitative approach of a theoretical-reflective and bibliographical nature, the study articulates contributions from reading studies, the sociology of reading, and literary education, engaging with authors who conceive of literature as a formative experience and a cultural right. The expansion of the concept of reading to multiple languages ​​is discussed, considering technological transformations and new textual supports, as well as the importance of social practices in the construction of meaning. Mediation is highlighted as a structuring element of the literary experience, responsible for creating conditions for a meaningful encounter between reader and text. The theoretical framework presents ideas, above all, from Chartier (1999, 2001), Petit (2010), and Candido (2006). It is concluded that literary reading, understood as a mediated cultural practice, contributes to critical thinking, identity construction, and the strengthening of the symbolic autonomy of individuals, thus constituting an essential dimension of human development.