New book science: a look into the future

Modern media2 transformations are accompanied by changes in the spatio-temporal characteristics of social interaction. Traditional and new ways of fixing and transmitting ideas, their materialization through various communication channels are at the heart of these changes. This shapes the need for actualization of research, development of new approaches, clarification of the object and the subject of medialogical disciplines, including book studies.

In this study, the main problems of modern Russian bibliology have been identified: limited potential of morally outdated approaches (structural-typological, functional, documentgraphics), a breakaway from the dynamically changing international social and humanitarian agenda and non-participation in international bibliological forums, the functioning of a closed system of scholarly communication. Among other problems are: methodological cliché, limited use of sociological methods, slow digitalization of book studies.

The contemporary understanding of the production and dissemination of symbolic forms as an unstructured and non-hierarchical system requires fundamentally new research approaches, the extension of methodological tools, crossdisciplinary study of the theory and history of books.

The purpose of the article is to form the concept of “a new book science” with the object which should be considered as a system with emphasis on feedback “author – writing – text – reading – reader”.

A system of projects focused on practical implementation of this concept is proposed: medialogical approach development; interdisciplinary research of the history of the reader and reading in Russia; the formation of an independent scientific field – the sociology of book – and the design of the eponymous educational discipline; preparation of a modern textbook on book science for higher education. 

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