Remediation and attachment in the reading of e-books*

The principal question of this chapter is what kind ofattachments emerge between readers and the reading they do onelectronic devices. Insofar as books’ materiality is one crucialcomponent of the love for them, this chapter is concerned withwhether the differences in the surface properties of the codex and e-books lead to differences in readers’ attachment, and how readersexperience the separation of content and device in electronic books.The chapter offers two answers to these questions. The first is that e-books support attachment to the practice of reading and to favouritegenres as they accelerate access and expand portability. The secondis that, up to this point, the experience of e-books is closely tied to theaffordances of the codex. Readers’ judgment of e-books depends ontheir familiarity of and experiences with print books. This is anotherexpression of the iconicity of books and it informs the objections to e-books amongst readers of print. Departing from existinginterpretations of the attachment to print, the chapter argues that theaccounts of those who refuse e-books are less a nostalgic reaffirmation of print’s aura and more the outcome of the subjectiveexperience of print’s specific material features and books’ iconicpower.