THE “PODCAST” AS A LIVING LITERARY ARCHIVE: REIMAGINING PRESERVATION, ACCESS, AND INTERPRETATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE
PUNNYA KALLIYAT
Research Scholar
The Research & Post Graduate Department of English
St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Devagiri
Affiliated to University of Calicut
Abstract: The rise of podcasting has introduced new dimensions to how literature is preserved, circulated, and interpreted. Traditionally, literary archives have been housed within institutional frameworks like libraries, museums, and research centres, where access is often restricted by geography, expertise, or institutional affiliation. In contrast, podcasts create an alternative literary archive that is widely accessible, fluid, and participatory. This paper examines the podcast as a living literary archive that both preserves and reinterprets literature for twenty-first-century audiences. Drawing on analysis of prominent literature-based podcasts, such as Poetry Unbound, The New Yorker: Fiction Podcast, The History of Literature, LeVar Burton Reads and Literary Friction, the study investigates how podcasts serve as repositories of texts, authorial voices, and critical discourses. These audio archives not only capture readings and discussions of literary works but also frame them within contemporary cultural, political, and social contexts, thereby shaping interpretation and reception. Unlike static print archives, podcasts are episodic, dialogic, and ongoing. This allows them to continuously expand and adapt to audience engagement. Methodologically, the paper employs a combination of content analysis and reception studies to explore how podcasts democratise access to literary knowledge and provide platforms for marginalised or underrepresented voices. The analysis highlights the podcast’s role in challenging conventional notions of permanence and authority in archival practice, raising questions about ephemerality, digital sustainability, and the politics of literary preservation. Thus, the paper argues that podcasts must be recognised not merely as media of dissemination but as active agents in constructing cultural memory. By reimagining what counts as an archive, podcasts contribute to a more inclusive, participatory, and dynamic understanding of literature in the digital age.
Keywords: podcast, literary archives. digital age, authorial voice, literary preservation
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