What is reading? The Oxford English Dictionary lists 10 basic
definitions for the verbal noun reading and 25 basic definitions
for the verb to read; several of these definitions have three or
more sub-definitions. The variety and complexity of the OED
entries point to the fact that we use the concept of reading and
the verb to readthe acquisition of knowledge via language;
although, the concepts surrounding reading have gone through
many theoretical transformations that serve to muddy our current
understanding of what it means to read.1 Hence, to begin
clarifying the concept while at the same time offering a diverse
set of references for further study, it will help to begin with
a particularly abstract picture of what it is to read and lay
out the various issues from there.  An abstract concept of
reading can be found in the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer:  The
mode of being of a text has something unique and incomparable
about it. It presents a specific problem of translation to the
understanding. Nothing is so