Open lecture: Books on the move - audiobooks, audio storytelling, and mobile listening

In recent years, audiobooks have become increasingly popular.  The audiobook format makes it possible to consume books on the move and in combination with everyday activities, and the format thus fits well into modern everyday life. How does this development impact how we read, experience and use the stories in question, and how does it impact the way we tell – write and produce – stories in audio format? Drawing on concepts and theories of audio narratology (Mildorf & Kinzel), mobile listening (Bull) and audiobook consumption (Rubery, Have & Stougaard Pedersen), the lecture will discuss selected examples of contemporary audio storytelling, and discuss how the case of audiobooks relate to a broader turn towards orality and mobile listening in contemporary culture.

Dr Sara Tanderup Linkis is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences at Lund University. Her research focuses on media-oriented and sociological approaches to literature and book culture. She works with intermediality and multimodality, transmedia storytelling, serial narratives and digital reading cultures.