The Bookshop as an Experiencescape: the future of the physical book and the bookshop in the digital era

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to position the physical and independent bookshop in the digital era, claiming that they do have a strong place there. The rationale of viewing the bookshop as a space in which an experience can be had, intends to give independent bookshops a guide on how to remain as such. I focused on an English language bookshop in Istanbul, Turkey and conducted fieldwork for 3 months. To evaluate and learn from the findings I used the concept of Experiencescapes and the theories of liminality, fetishism and sign value. The material gathered was all primary and collected by means of interviews, observations and walk-along interviews. The significance of these results is that the shop is to be seen as not only a space in which a book is sold, but also an experience and the values imposed on English language books in Istanbul. These findings will act as a guide for independent bookshops in their battle against digital technologies and alternatives.