Handbook of Empirical Literary Studies (de Gruyter Reference)

Description

This handbook reviews efforts to increase the use of empirical methods in studies of the aesthetic and social effects of literary reading. The reviewed research is expansive, including extension of familiar theoretical models to novel domains (e.g., educational settings); enlarging empirical efforts within under-represented research areas (e.g., child development); and broadening the range of applicable quantitative and qualitative methods (e.g., computational stylistics; phenomenological methods). Especially challenging is articulation of the subtle aesthetic and social effects of literary artefacts (e.g., poetry, film). Increasingly, the complexity of these effects is addressed in multi-variate studies, including confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. While each chapter touches upon the historical background of a specific research topic, two chapters address the area's historical background and guiding philosophical assumptions. Taken together, the material in this volume provides a systematic introduction to the area for early career professionals, while challenging active researchers to develop theoretical frameworks and empirical procedures that match the complexity of their research objectives. Table of Contents Introduction: Reflections and Prognoses Section I: Modes of Textual Representation Sound Shape and Sound Effects of Literary Texts Contextual Meaning-Making in Reading: The Role of Affect Mental Simulation during Literary Reading Constructing Mental Models in Literary Reading: The Role of Interpretive Inferences Section II: The Form and Function of Literariness Empirical Studies of Poetic Metaphor Foregrounding The Psychological and Social Effects of Literariness: Formal Features and Paratextual Information Section III: Social Effects of Literary Reading Children’s Reading for Pleasure with Digital Books Stories and Their Role in Social Cognition Character Engagement and Identification Section IV: Narrative Engagement and Experiential Depth Narrative Absorption: An Overview Openness, Reflective Engagement, and Self-Altering Literary Reading Meaningful Responses to Narrative Digital Media: Research from a Media Psychology Perspective Audience Reception of Tragic Entertainment and the Value of Cathartic Reflection Section V: Enhanced Social Well-Being Literary Reading and Mental Wellbeing Poetic Writing Research: The History, Methods, and Outcomes of Poetic (Auto) Ethnography Section VI: History, Theory, and Empirical Methods Computational Stylistics Philosophy of Science, Methodology, and Theory Development in Empirical Studies of Literary Experience The History of the Empirical Study of Literature from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century Contributors Subject Index Name Index