Reading Promoters Conference

The Oral Tradition and Reading
Strategies for Reconnecting Beyond the Digital Superhighway

The 24th edition of the Guadalajara International Book Fair’s (FIL) Promotion of Reading Conference will dedicate three days to reflecting on the link between the oral tradition and reading. It will also analyze the role both play in creating meaning, organizing thought and fostering critical reflection.

In a context defined by immediacy, information overload and the almost compulsive consumption of content, our ability to express ideas, construct arguments, listen and engage in dialogue appears to have weakened dramatically.

According to pedagogy, sociology and neuroscience specialists—as well as figures from the literary world—, the promotion of reading through storytelling, reading aloud and extended conversation constitutes an almost urgent necessity. Such activities could help pull us out of the digital isolation some of us are in and enable us to regain the capacity to communicate effectively and empathetically.

The promotion of reading and oral traditions thus serves as a gateway, offering the possibility of again coming together to share stories, understand one another and collectively construct new values.

By organizing the Promotion of Reading Conference, FIL Guadalajara reaffirms its commitment to leveraging the efforts of various national and international institutions involved in training reading promoters. Our aim is to contribute to their professionalization and to recognize the reading promoter as a vital link between books and readers.

FIL Guadalajara’s Promotion of Reading Conference is sponsored by the SM Foundation and features the collaboration of the University of Guadalajara’s Secondary Educational Program and Jalisco’s Secretariat of Culture, through its National Reading Room Program.