Abstract
Although we usually think of books as repositories of information, they function in other ways as well. There are religious ceremonies in which scriptures are carried in procession, museum displays of important works under glass, public gatherings in which books are burnt, oaths taken with one hand on a Bible, and closed Bibles that are held (upside down) in front of a church, all of which demonstrate that books' significance extends well beyond their contents.
The growing field of book studies has begun to explore all these phenomena. In How and Why Books Matter, James Watts, an important figure in this field with a special interest in sacred books, identifies three functions that books can serve: semantic (their content, e.g., their teachings), expressive (how they are experienced, as when they are read publicly, enacted dramatically, or illustrated artistically), and iconic (how they are treated as objects). The latter, which is the primary focus of this volume, is evident already in the biblical account of the Torah being inscribed on a stone altar after the Israelites entered the Promised Land (Joshua 8:30-32).
To illustrate this, Watts draws on a vast array of traditions, with examples extending beyond Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scriptures to include the Jain, Sikh, Native American, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, Tamil, Zoroastrian, and Manichean traditions (Mormon examples are notably absent) as well as ancient Near Eastern, modern American, and British secular texts, such as, the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence. In so doing, he demonstrates the simplistic nature of German scholars' characterization of “book religions” as unique, noting their misleading tendency to lump diverse traditions together while treating only a single aspect of these traditions.
Watts' exploration of the implications of the difference between scrolls and codices clearly illustrates Marshall McLuhan's claim that “the medium is the message” by pointing out how the former (the scroll) makes it difficult to move quickly from one section to another while the latter (the codex) facilitates the isolation of individual sections. As a result, he is able to contrast the codex's freedom with the scroll's “strait-jacket” (p. 170). At the same time, he challenges those who claim that digital media will ensure the long-term survival of texts, pointing out that, while it is true that digital texts cannot be burnt, the frequency of technological change regularly renders earlier “copies” of such works inaccessible. On the other hand, he cites the Bible itself as noting the immateriality of scripture (cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34 and 2 Corinthians 3:3, 6).
Sadly missing from Watts' extensive bibliography is Wilfred Cantwell Smith's book What is Scripture? (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), though Smith's earlier essay “Scripture as Form and Content” (1989) is cited as well as his student William Graham's book Beyond the Written Word (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987).
Still, the volume is filled with insightful observations, beginning with Watts' comment about reading not being the only thing people do with books (p. 31). He also contrasts evangelicals' frequent treatment of the Bible as an icon with Protestantism's aniconic tradition and Christianity's honoring of translations (i.e. content over form) with Islam's prioritizing of the Arabic Qur'an, while pointing out the parallel between burning scripture (whether the Bible or the Qur'an), which hardly destroys works for which there are many copies, and the desecration of American flags or statues of the Buddha.
The book's final chapter turns to changes taking place in university libraries, which are increasingly moving much of their collections off-campus or even eliminating them altogether. In a stunning paragraph that describes a scene played out at many colleges, Watts points to one university where librarians saw their purpose as the accessing, distribution, analysis, and use of information as well as collaborative learning and utility while faculty members were concerned with them as places for reading, browsing, and viewing along with solitary research, faculty recruitment, and institutional prestige (pp. 167-68).
Although the book's title doesn't signal its heavy emphasis on sacred books and the writing is occasionally choppy, this is an immensely important work that brings together a vast array of information that is sure to challenge widely shared assumptions and stimulate deep thought. The breadth of the author's knowledge and insights is stunning, and his juxtaposition of different traditions cannot help but draw attention to how much we have in common, even with those from whom we most firmly differentiate ourselves. It will be hard for anyone to come away from this book, or even its individual chapters, without having learned something about other traditions and, often, one's own.