Reading groups and the postmodern crisis of cultural authority

When readers talk about characters as if they were real, how do they talk about them? Empathy and gossip in reading group discourse

“…To better account for social reading and reading-in-talk, this study draws on book history (Feather, 2007;Gutjahr, 2002;Lamb, 2005;Rose, 2006) and, more specifically, reception studies (Hermes, 1995;Long, 1987Long, , 2003Radway, 1984) to provide a fuller understanding of reading as a situated and contextual response to the text. In doing so, it takes an empirical approach involving the analysis of naturally-occurring reading events, as reading group data better reflect the dynamic, social nature of reading (Allington & Benwell, 2012;Peplow, 2011) in contrast to responses triggered in experimental conditions.…”

“…As a starting point, we can draw on Long's (1986Long's ( , 1987Long's ( , 1992Long's ( , 2003 seminal work on reading groups. She argued that readers 'often respond directly to fictional characters as if they were real people, discussing whether they like or dislike, admire or despise them, rather than focusing on how or why authors may have constructed such characters' (Long, 1986, p. 606).…”

Τα Δώρα Της Ανάγνωσης

“…Έτσι, τα µέλη των αναγνωστικών οµάδων επιχειρούν ερµηνείες στο πλαίσιο µιας εξελισσόµενης αλληλεπίδρασης, τοποθετώντας της εκτιµήσεις τους σύµφωνα µε τους όρους των προσδοκιών της οµάδας (Peplow, 2011: 31). (Long, 1987;Marshall, 1995;Swanson, 1993). (Ιωσηφίδης, 2012: 213).…”