Background: South Africa’s long-standing reading crisis is well recognised. At various stages since 2000, national government has presented the inculcation of a culture of reading as a solution to this crisis.Objectives: This article critically interrogated the term ‘culture of reading’ as used in national government discourse with reference to basic education. By tracing the patterns of use of the term since 2000, it aimed to show the shifts and continuities in the government’s understanding of the term ‘culture of reading’ and how this has shaped the reading landscape.Method: Drawn from a corpus of 331 texts, a sample of 58 texts produced by national government was analysed. Employing discourse and thematic analysis, key themes were extrapolated and their relation to reading within South Africa was explored.Results: The government’s call for a culture of reading occurs predominantly in response to poor literacy results and at launches of campaigns and strategies focused on addressing these results. This occurs repeatedly without clear delineation of the term or justification for recycling failed initiatives. Instead, the term acts as a rhetorical tool to obfuscate the unsuccessful implementation of reading programmes.Conclusion: The government’s failure to clarify what constitutes a culture of reading prohibits a clear picture of its understanding of the term. The frequency with which ‘culture of reading’ is promoted indicates a failure to consider alternative approaches to addressing the reading crisis.Contribution: This article highlights the need for government to re-evaluate its response to the reading crisis, taking cognisance of the South African context.

中文翻译：

---

追溯“阅读文化”一词在南非的使用情况：国家政府话语回顾（2000-2019）

背景：南非长期存在的阅读危机是公认的。自 2000 年以来的不同阶段，国家政府都提出了灌输阅读文化作为解决这一危机的方法。目的：本文批判性地质疑了国家政府话语中关于基础教育的“阅读文化”一词。通过追溯自 2000 年以来该词的使用模式，旨在展示政府对“阅读文化”一词的理解的转变和连续性，以及它如何塑造阅读格局。方法：取自 331 篇文本的语料库，对国家政府编制的58份文本样本进行了分析。运用话语和主题分析，推断出关键主题，并探讨了它们与南非阅读的关系。结果：政府呼吁建立阅读文化主要是为了应对糟糕的识字成绩，以及发起针对这些成绩的运动和战略。这种情况反复发生，没有明确界定回收失败举措的术语或理由。相反，该术语充当了一种修辞工具，以混淆阅读计划的不成功实施。结论：政府未能阐明什么构成了阅读文化，因此无法清楚地了解其对该术语的理解。推广“阅读文化”的频率表明未能考虑解决阅读危机的替代方法。贡献：本文强调政府需要重新评估其对阅读危机的反应，