On Tuesday, May 6th: selection by Eik Hermann

Playing with Form

While the other displays in this week’s Microlibrary series are built around the contrast between matter and form, emphasizing the physical presence of books, this particular display is centered on the contrast between content and form, with a focus on form itself. In that sense, it can be seen as a kind of “warm-up” for the rest of the week.

Of course, these two contrasts—matter/form and content/form—are related, but not in a straightforward way. In the matter/form contrast, form points to structure, core meaning, or essence. In the content/form contrast, form refers to how that content is shaped or presented. Often, what is “form” in one sense is “matter” in the other, because it seems secondary. Surely, the essence of a novel, dissertation, or encyclopedia would remain the same even if presented in a slightly different form?

All the books in this display question that assumption by bringing form—and more broadly, what is often considered “peripheral,” such as margins—into play in various ways.

This microlibrary display was created with the support of the EKA Library, Karin Oolu, and Tarmo Jüristo.