| dc.description.abstract | At the same time that our country is witnessing a decline in interest in the humanities, American readers are becoming increasingly involved in serious reading practices. Such reading practices have proliferated from online forums provided by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon, to in-person book clubs. This thesis aims to understand the phenomenon through a cultural theory I have named “The American Paradox.” Using scholarly sources, interviews with readers of all ages, and book club observations, I explain the American Dream’s influence on reading practices in the United States to argue that book clubs have emerged as a communal form of self-help. How is reading as self-help inherently American? Today, upward mobility in regards to the American Dream has become less about monetary gain and more about individual growth. My main theory, the American Paradox, argues that the inner motivation of the American Dream compels individuals to gain a certain capital—cultural capital. American individuals view their lives aspirationally and often use reading— both serious and recreational — as a means to enhance their bourgeois status and improve their quality of life. | en |
