On October 2, Maxim Kotelnikov’s lecture “Sociology of Reading: Texts and Masculinity” took place at Library on Gazetny as part of the "Moscow Book Week" festival. The event drew an audience interested in a fresh perspective on familiar cultural practices.
The speaker, Maxim Kotelnikov, Researcher at NRU HSE, Candidate of Sociological Sciences, presented the findings of a large-scale study based on dozens of biographical interviews with young men from various Russian cities.
The central issue of the evening was why young men raised in low-socioeconomic-status families, where books played no significant role, often become readers, authors and individuals with a passion for the humanities. The speaker described how many of the people he interviewed grew up in environments where reading was regarded as something odd or an activity “unbecoming of a man” and where life paths were largely predictable. Yet, for some, literature became means to transcend their familiar surroundings, find new words to define themselves and discern alternative paths.
During the meeting, participants discussed which books held particular significance for young people and why reading often served as a form of refuge. Fiction helped them cope with feelings of loneliness, shame or a sense of aimlessness, while writing became a tool for self- discovery. Together with the speaker, the audience explored how reading shapes perceptions of masculinity, success and life choices, and why books can become not merely a source of knowledge, but a space for inner freedom.