Books As Media And Rituals

In recent years,with the development of publishing integration,the voice of weaker paper books is frequently heard,while the sales of best-selling calendar books have repeatedly reached a new high.The boom of calendar books has become a unique publishing cultural phenomenon,also reflects the extension of the properties and functions of books.The traditional study of books takes books as the text carrying the knowledge content,and it turns to take books as media from the “history of the book” in the middle of 1950 s.This paper analyzes the change of material form and symbol value of calendar books to explore the changes of people's concept of books,and then analyzes the cultural significance,daily exposure and consumption essential of calendar books,emphasizing the mediumity of books.This study helps the industry field and the academic field to re-understand the material form,media properties,and social functions of books,better play to its media advantages and value orientation,to promote the popularization of knowledge and enable human beings to better weave the net of meaning in daily interaction rituals.This research aims to understand the cultural consumption logic of calendar books,building on the perspective of cultural consumption theory and the views of the “history of the book” and The Media Ecology.Combined with the case analyses of The Palace Museum Calendar and other bestsellers,and the in-depth interviews with users,this article analyzes the logic of publishing,culture,and consumption of calendar books,and grasps its meaning production and folw among publishers,transmitters,and consumers;and on this basis,explains the consumption essential of calendar books as objects,media,and rituals towards consumers.This study found that the cultural consumption logic of calendar books is that the meaning production and consumption of calendar books turns to the meaning of individual consumers and their personal lives,rather than the traditional textual meaning;via watching,reading,and tearing off a page in everyday life,consumers create the style of life,and constantly produce,update,and consume the self,to gain significance,pleasure,and social identity;moreover,the upsurge of calendar books highlights the specificity of books as objects,media,and rituals,and reflects the changes in the properties and functions of books from text reading to media for social communication and cultural rituals of everyday life.