Up until not too long ago, you would walk into a library and hear the low hum of the voices of people reading aloud to themselves. Seems strange, right ? But it was only until around the 16th century that we retreated to reading silently in our heads.
Until the arrival of the printing press, books weren’t always abundant and cheap, and most of the population being illiterate means they couldn’t have read them anyway. This meant reading was often a shared experience. In many middle-class families one member would read aloud to the others at the end of the day, and among the lower classes, people gathered and listened to novels being read. Notably there were ‘Penny Readings’ popularised by Charles Dickens when he toured the country performing parts of his work to the public for which they paid only a penny to see.
Reading aloud like this still prevails in many forms and traditions today. We read bedtime stories to children before bed, and we know this benefits them, not just in an educational sense but also because it helps build familial bonds. Studies show that reading aloud can improve our memory of the text and the words and is proven to activate many more parts of the brain than silent reading. What’s more, the rhythmic and phonetic nature of poetry lends itself to being recited when we can appreciate it in its full capacity.
So, the next time you stumble upon a poem, or pick up a book, read it out aloud or recite it to a friend, and maybe your brain (and your soul) will thank you.
Image by Blaze Photo on Unsplash