Page - 226 - in Über Bücher reden - Literaturrezeption in Lesegemeinschaften

© 2021 V&R unipress, Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783847113232 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737013239 wouldconceptualise theseeventsaspartof the ‘building’, becausewithout them wecouldnot ‘test’ theapp, talk to readersabout it, and thenre-build it.During the test eventsTimandIbothworkedwith the readers. In thesummerof 2014 IaskedTimaseriesofquestionsaboutprogramming andworkingon theReadingLivesproject. Iwas curiousnot only to recordhis accountof theworkthathewasdoingatthattime,butalsotounderstandwhyhe enjoyedit,especiallysinceIwasnotabletopayhimverymuchandhewasdoing theworkon topofademanding full-time job. When IaskedTimwhathe likedaboutprogramminghewrote: It…allowsmeto takea setof knowntools (buildingblocks like lego)andbuild them into some new thing that hasn’t been done before – or at least not with the same combinationofblocksthatIhaveused.Therearealwaysseveralwaystobuildanything intheworldofprogramming–andhalf thetimetakendesigninganappisaboutfinding the right software tools for the job.21 Infact,Timhadtofindthe ‘rightsoftwaretools’ twiceoverbecausetheplatform uponwhichhebuilt the firstversionwasshutdown.Soforthisproject,building andre-buildingwasnot ‘just’aboutwritingcode. Ialsoaskedhim,“Howdoesit feelwhenyouareworkingwith theReadingLivesdata (coding,building, etc.)?” Hereplied, Ithasbeensaidbyothers thatwritingcode is likewritingpoetry.Therearestrict rules forhowthepoemshouldbeconstructed.Theemotionalandintellectualoutcomeis in nowaydefinedbythemeasureorstructure that isused,butbecomessomethingmore than thewordson thepage. Inadditiontoanotionofbuildingasacreativeact,whichisunderlinedinTim’s commentary,IunderstandTim’sroleasanintellectual-theoreticalone:hisastute questionsaboutourresearch imperativesandhis intelligencewithregard to the reading lifestorieswerepart-and-parcelof theprocessofmakingReadingLives. Itwas a very social process of collaboration and it required attentive listening, open-nesstonewideasandareadinesstoscraponeversionandtostartagain.So I would say that building as a method for reader research is a creative and dynamic method but one that is full of stops and starts: sometimes because fundingrunsout,atother times,because thetoolsdisappearandnewoneshave tobefound.Italsotakesawhilefortheacademicsandtechnicianstounderstand eachotherandtoaccommodate tonewintellectual conceptsandnewmethods. For example, conducting an on-going experiment in public can feel very uncomfortableattimes,especiallyif, likeme,youarenotusedtotestingouthalf- made objects. Tim andDeNel aremore used tomaking, failing, and then re- makingtools thanIam.AsPatrickJagodaremindsusinanarticleaboutgaming 21 Hodson2014,n.p. DanielleFuller226 Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0