Currere of a reader

Teresa Strong-Wilson

doi:10.70116/30654572147

Vol. 3 · Issue 3 · 2026 Oct 1, 2026 Special Issue: 50th Anniversary of Currere

Currere of a reader

Teresa Strong-Wilson Corresponding McGill University teresa.strong-wilson@mcgill.ca Canada

Pages176-191 PublishedOct 1, 2026 LicenseOpen Access

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VOL 3 · ISS 3 · 2026 Special Issue: 50th anniversary of Currere View issue

Abstract

In an inquiry tied to reading, readers and books, I use currere to seek out (for the purpose of better discerning) the subjective formation of a reader, in this case, myself. My fourteen assembled currere writings represent works in progress, in part because they comprise part of an ongoing, and continually evolving, inquiry, one which I anticipate will eventually take the form of a book. However, in a very important sense, they provide the impetus and grounding for the project (theoretically) as well as my way of carrying myself, as researcher, in it (methodologically). Some of the fourteen writings have been prompted by the anticipated book project, anchored in curriculum theory (notably, the writings of William F. Pinar and Madeleine Grumet) while dipping my reader’s foot in the deep and wide pool of literature surrounding reading, readers, books and bookishness. Other prompts came about through teaching, in which I regularly write in class along with students to prompts suggested by course readings—and where I often found myself writing in ways tied to this project. The essay sheds a certain light on a process (one, my own) of embarking on a subject that matters and finding my bearings in it through currere. The writings also point to a scholarly praxis: one grounded in a commitment towards a past and future that involves reading, readers and books; one that I could only think about by starting in a now framed by the present/presence offered through currere writing.

Keywords

#Currere #readers #reading #books #subjectivity

References

Alter, A. (December 8, 2024). Return to the realm. New York Times Book Review (pp. 12-14).
Basbanes, N. A. (2005). Every book its reader: The power of the printed word to stir the world. Harper.
Benjamin, W. (2006). The desk. In W. Benjamin, Berlin childhood around 1900 (pp. 148-152). Belknap Press.
Benjamin, W. (2007). Illuminations: Essays and reflections (H. Zohn, Trans.). Schocken Books. (Originally published in 1968).
Bruns, C. V. (2011). Why literature? The value of literary reading and what it means for teaching. Continuum.
Carroll, L. (1966). Alice’s adventures in wonderland & through the looking-glass. Sir John Tenniel (Illus). The Macmillan Company.
Clarke, S. (2020). Piranesi. Bloomsbury.
Clarke, S. (2024). The wood at midwinter. Bloomsbury.
Dames, N. (2023). The chapter: A segmented history from antiquity to the twenty-first century. Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/book.117779
Donald, D. (2016). From where does ethical relationality flow? An “Indian” act in three artifacts. In J. Seidel and D. Jardine (Eds.)., The ecological heart of teaching: Radical tales of refuge and renewal for classrooms and communities (pp. 10-16). Peter Lang.
Eco, U. (1995). Six walks in the fictional woods. Harvard University Press.
Felski, R. (2015). The limits of critique. University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226294179.001.0001
Felski, R. (2020). Hooked: Art and attachment. University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226729770.001.0001
Frye, N. (1995). The bush garden: Essays on the Canadian imagination. Anansi. (First published in 1971).
Goodson, P. (2024). Becoming an academic writer; 50 exercises for paced, productive, and powerful writing. 3rd ed. Sage.
Grumet, M. (1988). Bitter milk: Women and teaching. The University of Massachusetts Press.
Grumet, M. (1991). Curriculum and the art of daily life. In G. Willis & W. H. Schubert (Eds.), Reflections from the heart of educational inquiry: Understanding curriculum and teaching through the arts (pp. 74-89). State University of New York Press.
Grumet, M. (2015). Toward a poor curriculum. In W. F. Pinar and M. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum, 3rd edition (pp. 84-112). Educator’s International Press.
Houston, K. (2016). The book. W.W. Norton.
Macfarlane, R. (2025). Is a river alive? Random House Canada.
Manguel, A. (2018). Packing my library: An elegy and ten digressions. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300235494 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300235494
Pinar, W. F. (2015). Subjective reconstruction and the rehabilitation of habit. In W. F. Pinar and M. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum, 3rd edition (pp. 191-219). Educator’s International Press.
Pinar, W. F. (2023). A praxis of presence in curriculum theory: Advancing currere against cultural crises in education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003212348 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003212348
Piper, W. (1976). The little engine that could: The complete, original edition. George and Doris Hauman (Illus.). Platt & Munk. (Originally published in 1930).
Pressman, J. (2020). Bookishness: Loving books in a digital age. Columbia University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7312/pres19512
Rauch, A. (2000). The hieroglyph of tradition: Freud, Benjamin, Gadamer, Novalis, Kant. Associated University Presses.
Saenger, P. (1997). Space between words: The origins of silent reading. Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503619081 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503619081
Sartre, J.-P. (1981). The words: The autobiography of Jean-Paul Sartre (B. Frechtman, Trans.). Vintage Books. (Originally published in 1964).
Smyth, A. (2024). The book-makers: A history of the book in eighteen lives. Basic Books.
Woolf, V. (1988). Moments of being. Triad Grafton Books.

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§ 06 — Related

[1] Alter, A. (December 8, 2024). Return to the realm. New York Times Book Review (pp. 12-14).

[2] Basbanes, N. A. (2005). Every book its reader: The power of the printed word to stir the world. Harper.

[3] Benjamin, W. (2006). The desk. In W. Benjamin, Berlin childhood around 1900 (pp. 148-152). Belknap Press.

[4] Benjamin, W. (2007). Illuminations: Essays and reflections (H. Zohn, Trans.). Schocken Books. (Originally published in 1968).

[5] Bruns, C. V. (2011). Why literature? The value of literary reading and what it means for teaching. Continuum.

[6] Carroll, L. (1966). Alice’s adventures in wonderland & through the looking-glass. Sir John Tenniel (Illus). The Macmillan Company.

[7] Clarke, S. (2020). Piranesi. Bloomsbury.

[8] Clarke, S. (2024). The wood at midwinter. Bloomsbury.

[9] Dames, N. (2023). The chapter: A segmented history from antiquity to the twenty-first century. Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/book.117779

[10] Donald, D. (2016). From where does ethical relationality flow? An “Indian” act in three artifacts. In J. Seidel and D. Jardine (Eds.)., The ecological heart of teaching: Radical tales of refuge and renewal for classrooms and communities (pp. 10-16). Peter Lang.

[11] Eco, U. (1995). Six walks in the fictional woods. Harvard University Press.

[12] Felski, R. (2015). The limits of critique. University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226294179.001.0001

[13] Felski, R. (2020). Hooked: Art and attachment. University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226729770.001.0001

[14] Frye, N. (1995). The bush garden: Essays on the Canadian imagination. Anansi. (First published in 1971).

[15] Goodson, P. (2024). Becoming an academic writer; 50 exercises for paced, productive, and powerful writing. 3rd ed. Sage.

[16] Grumet, M. (1988). Bitter milk: Women and teaching. The University of Massachusetts Press.

[17] Grumet, M. (1991). Curriculum and the art of daily life. In G. Willis & W. H. Schubert (Eds.), Reflections from the heart of educational inquiry: Understanding curriculum and teaching through the arts (pp. 74-89). State University of New York Press.

[18] Grumet, M. (2015). Toward a poor curriculum. In W. F. Pinar and M. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum, 3rd edition (pp. 84-112). Educator’s International Press.

[19] Houston, K. (2016). The book. W.W. Norton.

[20] Macfarlane, R. (2025). Is a river alive? Random House Canada.

[21] Manguel, A. (2018). Packing my library: An elegy and ten digressions. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300235494 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300235494

[22] Pinar, W. F. (2015). Subjective reconstruction and the rehabilitation of habit. In W. F. Pinar and M. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum, 3rd edition (pp. 191-219). Educator’s International Press.

[23] Pinar, W. F. (2023). A praxis of presence in curriculum theory: Advancing currere against cultural crises in education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003212348 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003212348

[24] Piper, W. (1976). The little engine that could: The complete, original edition. George and Doris Hauman (Illus.). Platt & Munk. (Originally published in 1930).

[25] Pressman, J. (2020). Bookishness: Loving books in a digital age. Columbia University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7312/pres19512

[26] Rauch, A. (2000). The hieroglyph of tradition: Freud, Benjamin, Gadamer, Novalis, Kant. Associated University Presses.

[27] Saenger, P. (1997). Space between words: The origins of silent reading. Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503619081 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503619081

[28] Sartre, J.-P. (1981). The words: The autobiography of Jean-Paul Sartre (B. Frechtman, Trans.). Vintage Books. (Originally published in 1964).

[29] Smyth, A. (2024). The book-makers: A history of the book in eighteen lives. Basic Books.

[30] Woolf, V. (1988). Moments of being. Triad Grafton Books.

Currere of a reader

Abstract

Keywords

References

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