Reconfiguring Literary Engagement in Digital Reading Cultures: Experiences of Pre-Service Elementary Teachers

This study explores how literary engagement is experienced and negotiated by pre-service elementary teachers within contemporary digital literacy environments. Drawing on data from questionnaires, interviews, classroom observations, and documentation, the study examines the ways literary practices are shaped by digitally mediated forms of reading and participation. The findings indicate that literature remains meaningful to participants as a source of reflection, empathy, creativity, and personal growth. At the same time, literary engagement increasingly occurs through digital platforms, online communities, and multimodal forms of participation. Rather than suggesting a decline in literary engagement, these practices point to a reconfiguration of how literary experiences are accessed, shared, and interpreted within contemporary digital culture. The findings suggest that literary engagement is better understood as a process of reconfiguration in which continuity and transformation coexist across hybrid literacy environments.