Entre travail et plaisir, quelles pratiques de lecture pour les étudiants en classes préparatoires littéraires ?

Résumé

This short display is part of a research project examining the effects of French «classes préparatoires littéraires» on reading habits of young adults. Here, we most notably discuss the border between reading for entertainment and reading for educational/work purposes.

In the «classes préparatoires», students have to read a lot more than they used to in high school, and works of a different kind. Most students read frequently before, but in an unconstrained way, with a focus on entertainment and leisure. Now, they are faced with compulsory reading, in literature as well as in theoretical fields. As these new reading habits are not seen as unpleasant: the «pleasure of the discovery» is often mentioned. Besides, the young adults seem to separate their readings into two categories: «personal» reading on one hand (chosen and not directly related to their studies), on the other hand ; reading, related to academic studies. However, we point out that «personal» reading is often related to school curricula through the necessity of building a general knowledge of literature.