Performative Reading Dominates Book Culture

There are many book fairs and literary festivals happening in India, especially in January.

The biggest one is the International Kolkata Book Fair, which expects over two million visitors.

However, not everyone who goes to these events is actually reading the books.

Instead, many people use books to show off on social media, making reading more about appearance than enjoyment.

This is called 'performative reading.'

Even though more books are being sold, fewer people are reading for fun, and they spend less time reading.

Social media has a big role in this, with people posting pictures of themselves with books to look smart.

But not everything about this trend is bad.

Online reading groups can be a good way to talk about books, and even performative readers might start reading seriously one day.

The important thing is that books are being read, not just looked at.