Previous research shows conflicting findings for the effect of font readability on comprehension and memory for language. It has been found that—perhaps counterintuitively–a hard to read font can be beneficial for language comprehension, especially for difficult language. Here we test how font readability influences the subjective experience of poetry reading. In three experiments we tested the influence of poem difficulty and font readability on the subjective experience of poems. We specifically predicted that font readability would have opposite effects on the subjective experience of easy versus difficult poems. Participants read poems which could be more or less difficult in terms of conceptual or structural aspects, and which were presented in a font that was either easy or more difficult to read. Participants read existing poems and subsequently rated their subjective experience (measured through four dependent variables: overall liking, perceived flow of the poem, perceived topic clarity, and perceived structure). In line with previous literature we observed a Poem Difficulty x Font Readability interaction effect for subjective measures of poetry reading. We found that participants rated easy poems as nicer when presented in an easy to read font, as compared to when presented in a hard to read font. Despite the presence of the interaction effect, we did not observe the predicted opposite effect for more difficult poems. We conclude that font readability can influence reading of easy and more difficult poems differentially, with strongest effects for easy poems.

The cultural diversity of secondary literary education is often analyzed by examining teachers’ text selections. This article broadens this scope by exploring the cultural diversity of text selections in an educational system in which students have much autonomy to choose literary texts themselves. Using Dutch literary education as a case study, the article considers text selections from the perspective of both teachers, teaching packs and student choices. Specifically, three dimensions of diversity in text selection are analyzed: gender, ethnicity, and national diversity (Netherlands versus Flanders).Focusing on (1) reading tips given by teachers to students, (2) contents of frequently used teaching packs, and (3) book selections by students in upper-secondary education, the analysis reveals that Dutch literary education has much to gain in terms of diversity. Female and non-western authors are underrepresented, while Flemish authors are considerably less represented than Dutch authors. Almost without exception, this imbalance between male and female, western and non-western, increased when the number of unique authors in text selections was compared with the total number of selections of specific authors. Hence, the article argues that the cultural hierarchy in which ‘literature’ is automatically associated with male, western authors is very present in literary education.

This article poses the research question of how readers of poetry react to the phenomenon of "corona poetry" by assessing their attitude toward poems on Covid-19, especially focusing on the specific arguments these readers put to the fore. These arguments are interpreted in light of the opposition between autonomous and heteronomous poetry, thus revealing whether readers of poetry primarily affirm the idea that a poem is a linguistic work of art, or rather evaluate the genre in terms of its social, ideological or therapeutic function.By analyzing the results of a questionnaire that has been disseminated among readers of poetry in the Netherlands and Belgium, the article demonstrates that the attitude toward corona poems is primarily negative, although it becomes clear that many readers use poetry to deal with the global crisis. In readers' reflections on corona poetry, heteronomous arguments seem to prevail over autonomous arguments.

Wat mag er wel en niet op de leeslijst? Het is een vraag die soms tot hevige discussies tussen leraren Nederlands leidt. De onderliggende vraag daarbij is wat wel en niet tot de literatuur behoort, en hoe belangrijk het is dat leerlingen daar kennis van nemen. In deze bijdrage aan het handboek legt literatuurwetenschapper Jeroen Dera uit waarom er eigenlijk geen sluitende definitie van het begrip ‘literatuur’ mogelijk is. Hij zet daartoe een functionalistische definitie van literatuur af tegen een essentialistische definitie. Ook bespreekt hij hoe het literatuuronderwijs zelf voortdurend bijdraagt aan het beeld dat mensen van literatuur hebben, en verkent hij enkele onderzoeksperspectieven waarmee we dat beeld verder kunnen aanscherpen.

This chapter explores the self-branding of the contemporary Dutch poet Ellen Deckwitz. Explicitly referring to herself as ‘the product Ellen Deckwitz’, this author uniquely defines her career as a poet in terms of branding. The chapter provides a vivisection of this self-proclaimed ‘product’ through an in-depth postural analysis. It shows how Deckwitz creates the posture of an authoritative yet relatable poetry-entrepreneur who considers herself to be the flag-bearer of the younger generation, a rhetorical strategy that enables her to blend economic and symbolic capital. This, in turn, makes it possible for Deckwitz to cater to both a highbrow and a mass audience, by effectively resisting the widespread clichés evoked by the term ‘poetry’.