Retro and Itinerant Reading

Abstract

This paper proposes a journey through some territories of orality and writing for the purpose of shedding light on the distinction between two fundamental types of reading: the “retro reading” and the “itinerant reading”. The first is conceived as a mapping of the writing that attempts to understand its “reverse” in psychological and sociological terms. The second, by contrast, sets in motion the material condition of the text (the sound of words and the rhythm of writing) in pursuit of the meaning as “event”, through unexpected and often dangerous paths.