“The Psychosocial Portrait of Immigration through the Medium of Reading”: Leisure Reading and Its Role in the Lives of Russian-speaking Immigrants in Toronto

• Main Author: Dali, Keren
• Other Authors: Dilevko, Juris B.
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: leisure reading; books and reading; readers; immigrants; acculturation; adaptation; Canada; North America; Russia; Soviet Union; 0723
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/33803

This doctoral study investigates the nature and role of leisure reading in the lives of avid immigrant readers. Guided by hermeneutic phenomenology and conducted by means of surveys and in-depth interviews, it uses a sample of Russian-speaking immigrants in Toronto, Canada, as a case study. The overarching research problem is divided into three research questions (RQ): RQ1: Who are the readers? RQ2: What are the main characteristics of reading behavior and habits of participants after immigration? RQ3: What role does leisure reading play in participants’ lives in immigration? Answering RQ1, the study paints demographic and socio-cultural portraits of participants; recreates a variety of contexts shaping their reading; and unfolds their reader histories. In response to RQ2, it traces immediate post-immigration fluctuations in reading behavior; records the most peculiar reading contents; explores participants’ self-perceptions as readers; outlines the major areas of post-immigration changes in leisure reading; and presents the analysis of acculturation stress in the area of leisure reading. It is concluded that leisure reading can be a more sensitive indicator of acculturation than more utilitarian measures, because it can open a window to the cultural and psychological intricacies of acculturation. Finally, RQ3 generates a theoretical discussion of the concept of ‘the role of reading’ and determines the study focus on immigration-specific, emotional and instrumental, roles. Leisure reading is found important in coping with the culture shock; sharing the experience of others and assessing personal immigration paths; re-evaluating the history of the fatherland and gaining a new perspective on the national heritage; stabilizing identity; learning about the new country; improving English-language proficiency; and compensating for the deficiencies of a transitional period. In addition, leisure reading emerges as a powerful force cementing ethnic and transnational reading communities. The study expands the selected acculturation models and theories; introduces clarity to the concepts of the role and appeal of reading; highlights the dual and self-reinforcing function of reading as a measure and a determinant of acculturation. Finally, it presents a systematic examination of the ethnic readership that has escaped the attention of reading researchers in the largest immigrant-receiving countries, Canada and the United States.