서양의 경우 고대, 중세를 거쳐 16-17세기까지 독서의 일반적 형태는 낭독이었고, '독자들'이란 낭독하는 소리를 듣는 청중이었다.
In the West, the general form of reading from ancient times through the Middle Ages to the 16th and 17th centuries was reading, and 'readers' were the audience who heard reading.