What Happens When We Read: Part 5

What Happens When We Read: Part 5


Lynn Court
Lynn Court
What Happens When We Read: Part 5

How Healthy is Reading?

  • 19th century newly literate women were considered vulnerable and there was a fear that they could be manipulated by fiction!
  • Similarly, newly literate men would turn to crime like that witnessed in the novel.
  • However, some politicians, journalists and library advocates recognised that ‘good’ literature was beneficial and wanted to spread the ‘reading habit’.
  • In the aftermath of WWI, the use of carefully chosen reading was introduced as a form of therapy.
  • In 2003, the UK introduced a Books on Prescription programme, which provided patients in British hospitals with a range of reading materials categorised to alleviate various traumas and mental illnesses.

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