Abstracts
| Symposium: “Working Towards a Broader Conceptualization of Transformative Reading: Shared Reading, Possible Selves, and Socioemotional Skills” | |
| Giulia Scapin, Utrecht University, The Netherlands | Video Link: https://youtu.be/3cA-dZVh61Q |
| Cristina Loi, University of Basel, Switzerland | Self-Schemas and Possible Selves: Locating the Effects of Transformative Reading on the Self-Concept According to the Aristotelian concept of mimesis, the core property of fiction is that it represents not reality as it is, but as it could be. The encounter between fictional worlds and readers can elicit transformative effects, and the aim of this study is to locate where in the self-concept these effects occur. Although transformative reading (Fiahlo 2019) is usually studied within the domain of literary fiction, this presentation will adopt a comparative perspective, with the further aim of shedding light on the peculiarities of transformative effects in different reading practices: books, digital fiction (hypertext, interactive fiction) and Wattpad (the most popular digital social reading platform). A mixed methods study (N= 532) distributed across the three target groups gathered data on self-selected transformative reading experiences that occurred within the last two years. We conducted content analysis on participants’ reports, employing a coding framework informed by Markus and Nurius’ distinction between self-schemas (present and past selves) and possible selves (mental representations of what a person might become in the future) – with the addition of “alternative identities”, a concept put forth by the TEBOTS model (Slater 2017), which argues that through fictional characters that are different from us, we can experience a temporary extension of the boundaries of the self. Furthermore, results showed that the activation of “storyworld possible selves” (mental projections of readers inside the fictional world through a story character, Angeles Martínez 2014, Alber 2021) is predicted by two dimensions of absorption (Kuijpers 2014): transportation and emotional engagement. As these concepts are respectively related to ontological crossing and self-recognition, these findings suggest a key role of the mutual relationship between fictional worlds and reality, as well as the importance of recognising aspects of one’s self in a text as a precondition of experiencing fiction-elicited transformative effects. Video Link: https://youtu.be/Awpugd4Fwrk |
| Lovena Moneva, Trnava University, Slovakia | Developing Children’s Socioemotional Skills Through Picturebooks At the beginning of children’s lives, different domains of development are only starting to progress (Stitt, 2013). Children’s concepts of the world are just beginning to expand through their experiences (Byrnes, 2020). At the same time, they learn behaviours from their interactions with other people (Lindemann, 2013). Because of their still developing cognitive and language skills, they may not yet be able to fully express how stories impact their lives. Instead, the transformative impact of literature on the concepts of “others” and “self” can be linked to the development of social and emotional skills and are demonstrated as behaviours. This study will explore the use of children’s picturebooks in developing socioemotional skills relevant to today’s digital world. Specifically, the presentation will focus on a newly developed conceptual framework showing how story characters can be used to model target behaviours to children. Data will be gathered in autumn 2022 from early childhood classrooms in Slovakia. These classrooms will implement a literature-based intervention program designed by the researcher. This study hopes to provide empirical evidence to support the use of picture books in children’s socioemotional development and show the transformative effects of engaging with narratives at an early age. Video Link: https://youtu.be/f0EfeU1Cfdk |
| Tine Riis Andersen, The Reading Center, University of Stavanger, Norway | “The Poem Opened a Door to… Something”: Investigating Transformative Reading in Shared Reading Groups for Cancer Patients A transformative reading experience is when “both text and reader are mutually modified (Fiahlo, 2019). This understanding, that the text, and especially, the reader is modified, e.g., through self-modifying feelings (Fialho, 2012; Kuiken 2004), will be central for this conference paper which presents instances of transformative reading in and between Shared Reading sessions for cancer patients. Experimental studies have found that life-crises increase the likelihood of transformative reading experiences that alters the self through expressive enactment (Kuiken et al, 2004; Tangerås, 2018). As cancer patients are going through a significant life change, they might be particular prone to transformative reading. This paper is based on data from two groups of 16-weeks (one online and one physical) for cancer patients (N=13) carried out in Norway Sep. 2021-Jan 2022. Transcripts from selected sessions and participant’s audio diaries recorded at home between sessions will be analyzed using qualitative coding. Moreover, quantitative data of reader responses have been collected by using “The Experiencing Questionnaire” (Kuiken et al., 2012) and the “Aesthetic Emotions Scale” (Schindler et al., 2018) to locate the occurrence of self-modifying feelings (Fialho, 2012; Kuiken, 2004) in response to specific texts. The study found that transformation often happened through strong attachment (Felski, 2020) to a text. The participants from the study reported that the text stayed ‘inside’ of them and that the text ‘kept coming back’ to their mind. The active verbs used by the participants suggests that transformation took place in participants between sessions and that the text has some kind of ‘agency’. This also showed in situations where concrete poems or short stories moved and inspired the participants to think, act and share in and outside the reading group. Developing children’s socioemotional skills through picturebooks. Video Link: https://youtu.be/H889JADeP3M |
| Parallel session 1: Narrative Elements | |
| Jonathan Frome, National University of Singapore | Viewer’s Mental Framing of Fiction Film The cognitive frameworks, or appraisal frames, viewers use to watch a film strongly affects their response, but almost no research to date has measured viewer adoption of specific frames. This study aims to assess the extent to which appraisal frames are influenced by viewing instructions and cinematic style. Participants thought aloud while viewing one of two versions of the same script. They did so under instructions to reflect upon their understanding of the story or the intentions of the film maker. The frames participants adopted were affected by instructions and film version. Video Link: https://youtu.be/7W36ioWxBqI |
| Melissa Seipel, Cornell University, New York, US | Audience Understanding of and Allegiance to Fictional Antihero Characters in Television and Film Qualitative analysis of three studies (focus groups, interviews, thought-listing) found participants used complex processes to understand and develop supportive, unsupportive, or mixed opinions and stances towards an antihero – a character with both good and bad traits and behaviors. Participants considered an antihero’s traits, states of mind, actions, relationships, and contexts as part of these dynamic processes. As story events unfolded and the nature of the antihero developed, participants often reconsidered previous judgments about the antihero. The results explained how audiences can sometimes root for an antihero to be successful and/or avoid negative consequences despite the antihero’s sometimes immoral behavior. Video Link: https://youtu.be/VBwANmODKF4 |
| Carmen Tu, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada | Comparing Plot Structure and Character Agency in Mimetic vs. Diegetic Narratives Traditional plot models, such as the five-act model and the hero’s journey, do not describe plot differences between mimetic and diegetic narratives. We present a cross-modal analysis of plot structure based on the character’s emotional trajectory in a story to quantify similarities and differences among folk tales, novels, films, and video games. We observed that plot length can be similar across diegetic and mimetic narratives, but that the emotional progression of a protagonist (e.g., their agency) varies significantly. Our analysis demonstrates that a plot model based on protagonist psychology can detect both similarities and differences in plot structure across various media formats. Video Link: https://youtu.be/QyegIEzzWk0 |
| Mesian TilmatineFree University of Berlin | Neurocognitive processes in narrative poetry reading The process of foregrounding is crucial to the appreciation of literary texts, but it can fail for various reasons, excluding many readers from valuable cultural heritage. In the proposed poster, we will present a possible approach to studying the mechanisms of failure in narrative poetry. We present the results of our cross-methodological study on neurocognitive poetics and relate them to the NCPM, the PIA, and the model of failed foregrounding. Specifically, we highlight the roles of narrative styles, aesthetic appreciation, and cognitive costs for the individual emotional engagement in literary reading. Video Link: https://youtu.be/QYLVzvhkyRA |
| Parallel session 1: Poetry | |
| Willie van Peer, University of Münich, Germany | Psychopoetics. Literary Studies on a New Footing Traditional poetics attempts to elucidate how linguistic features of literary texts create certain effects in the reader. While this has led, through the ages, to an impressive arsenal of descriptive labels identifying phonetic, grammatical or semantic devices, relatively little has been done in terms of the psychological reality of the effects presumed. In this paper, we will demonstrate how emotional content of poetic texts may call forward emotional reactions opposite to what one may expect. We argue that a systematic investigation of the categories in traditional poetics should be undertaken: we propose to call this type of investigation PSYCHOPOETICS, the combination of poetics and psychology in the elucidation of literary functions. Video Link: https://youtu.be/QyegIEzzWk0 |
| David Hanauer, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, US | Poetry, Freewriting and the Self Discovery Process This study explores self-discovery in two distinct writing genres: Autoethnographic poetry and freewriting. Using a comparative design, 117 students conducted a two-stage writing process and completed insight and emotional clarity scales. Results from a two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant differences between the two writing processes. Poetry elicits significantly higher levels of response for insight and emotional clarity than freewriting and is characterized by an initial high-level response for insight in stage one and a significant decrease at stage two. Freewriting is characterized by low initial levels of emotional clarity followed by a significant increase at stage two. Video Link: https://youtu.be/NA9dCN2lPhY |
| Amir Harash, Tel Aviv University, Israel | Who likes medieval Hebrew Poetry? Our study aimed at explaining why Medieval Hebrew poetry, which excelled in stylistic and linguistic innovation, has failed to reach contemporary readers – is it because of the old Hebrew, or are other psychological aspects at play? We have thus conducted an internet-based experiment, in which 227 volunteers read four medieval poems and answered questions regarding aesthetic appreciation, their understanding of the text, and their psychological distance from the text and its authors. Our findings highlight the importance of psychological distance in reading medieval Hebrew poetry and especially the importance of ‘personal distance’, that is, the distance the reader feels from the poet. Video Link: https://youtu.be/rDt9t0WSlYo |
| Don Kuiken, University of Alberta, Canada | Procedures for Identifying the Figurative Forms that “Emerge” From Poetic Metaphors We will report evidence that the meanings of poetic metaphors emerge from a process that moves from a pre-reflective sense of “the same” in a topic-vehicle compound (A-B) to reflective identification of attributes that involve bidirectional interaction between the vehicle and topic. Two studies enabled identification of readers who reported: (1) unidirectional identification of vehicle attributes that also applied to the topic (AisB); (2) bidirectional interplay between the nominal (AisB) and reversed (BisA) metaphoric syntax; and (3) the specific explicative statements whose interaction (AisB*BisA) applied to both the topic and vehicle. Video Link: Video Link: https://youtu.be/bGGDnkIrk2M |
| Parallel session 2: Changing Hearts | |
| Victoria Pöhls, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics | Can Literary Refugee Narratives Decrease In-Group Bias? An Experimental Reader-Response Study Using Implicit Methods Can narrative empathy of engaged readers carry over to members of the represented group in real life? In this experimental study, it was examined whether readers of refugee short stories show less ingroup bias on an implicit measurement task when compared to a control group. Contrary to expectations, no general decrease was found. The narratives had opposite effects on different readers: While some became less biased and showed this effect even after being retested two weeks later, it had the opposite effect on some, making them more biased towards refugees. Video Link: https://youtu.be/9thssTJVseU |
| Ayelet Har-Even, Haifa University, Israel | Narrative Persuasion Through Transportation into Songs and Affective Responses Research demonstrates the persuasive effects of narratives. When people are transported into a narrative, it encourages them to align their attitudes with the narrative. Most of the studies use written narratives or movies. The current research demonstrates the persuasive effect of transportation into songs. The songs that we analyzed are commonly heard on Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel and tell the story of the Jewish people who suffered during World War II. We examined by online experiment how transportation into these songs changed nationalistic and universal attitudes among people of various political orientations. In addition, which emotions the transportation arouses. Video Link: https://youtu.be/STMfHiyaKkQ |
| Claire Woodward, Indiana University, US | Victimization Triggers Spontaneous Side-Taking in narratives We study the effects of side-taking in narratives and find that when people spontaneously take a side for a victim, they do not remember the perpetrator well, assume the victim is the narrator of events, and judge the victim as more relatable and understandable. In ongoing narratives with escalations of violence between two characters, people remain highly committed to one side when they receive sympathetic background information about that particular character, but fail to maintain commitment without priming information. Our findings demonstrate how perceived disadvantages and victimization triggers side-taking in narratives and can potentially lead to ongoing polarization. Video Link: https://youtu.be/4QB7YVrF4ns |
| Parallel session 2: Computational Linguistics and Interactivity | |
| Olivia Fialho, Huygens Institute for Dutch History and Culture, The Netherlands | Impact and Fiction We present the first results of the Impact and Fiction project. The project will analyze the impact of fiction based on > 500.000 online reviews and the full text of a large sample of recent Dutch fiction. We present a conceptual model that merges work from the research traditions of empirical studies of literature and computational literary studies. We discuss the interdisciplinarity inherent in a project of this kind. We also present a data-driven typology of reading experiences as expressed in online reviews. Video Link: Video Link: https://youtu.be/iXU63Lxf0SY |
| Elizabeth Oakes, University of Helsinki, Finland | Void or Connection? Representations of Altered Consciousness in American Science Fiction 1960-1979: A Computational-Stylistic Corpus Analysis This paper discovers and describes two distinct styles of representing altered consciousness in a corpus of American science fiction published between 1960 and 1979 and demonstrates these styles’ relationship to common themes – void and, conversely, connection. A blended computational-stylistic methodology that facilitates a scalable approach to a corpus recontextualizes two well-studied subgenres of science fiction and offers new insights into the connections between style, theme, and cultural currents. It elucidates the impact representations of atypical minds had on speculation at a time when science fiction increasingly embraced diverse viewpoints. Video Link: https://youtu.be/uv61GYus3r0 |
| Heather Ness-Maddox, Georgia State University, US | Conceptualizing Narrative-Based Video Games as a Narrative Modality Researchers have explored the cognitive processes players engage in during video game play, such as problem-solving and attention (e.g., Hamlen, 2018). While they are viewed as interactive problem-solving tasks, video games are not often included in discussions of narrative modalities in the field of narrative research. However, some video games communicate a central story throughout game play, referred here as narrative-based video games (NBVGs). Throughout this paper I define and set parameters for NBVGs as a narrative modality, examine their adherence to traditional narrative structure, and discuss the potential narrative comprehension processes players may engage in during play. Video Link: https://youtu.be/x03AomGZY6s |
| Victoria Lagrange, Indiana University Bloomington, US | Pawn-Playing and Biased Empathy: Interactive Fiction Promotes Single-Perspective Empathy and Linear Fiction Multi-Perspective Empathy Interactive fiction, where the players make choices, is a mode of increasing importance. It has been of considerable debate whether interactive fiction leads to higher or lower empathy. We suggest that a key component to consider is the number of playable perspectives. We created a study in which readers make decisions for two characters where each decision impacts the other character, and we compare the interactive version to the same storyline written as linear fiction. We find that readers in linear fiction have comparatively more balanced empathy for both characters, while readers in interactive fiction mostly focus on one specific character and use the other character as a mere aid to the primary character – a process we call “pawn-playing.” Video Link: https://youtu.be/7MdJpLd4wyk |
| Parallel session 3: Emotions during Reading | |
| Federico Pianzola, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands | Book Reviews as a Proxy for Reader Response: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Focusing on Emotions We present the results of two research using computational methods to detect emotions in book reviews in Korean, English, and Italian. In recent years there has been an increasing adoption of computational methods to simulate reading processes and the reception of literature. Here, we present a reflection on the relation between actual reading practices and their spontaneous verbalization in the form of reviews is needed. We make recommendations for the collection and analysis of data on digital reading platforms, showing how both the digital infrastructure and the context can strongly influence the results of research. Video Link: https://youtu.be/tnCXNHOQ_2k |
| Fritz Breithaupt, Indiana University Bloomington, US | The Emotional Rewards of Narratives We recently conducted the largest multiple-iteration retelling study to date with 12,840 participants and 19,086 retellings (serial reproduction of narratives). In the study, we found that emotional appraisals are transmitted across retellings with astonishing accuracy, while other elements of the story, including coherence and rationalization deteriorate. It appears that the causal connections in the plot do not tend to provide stability across retellings, while nevertheless emotional appraisals are preserved. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that narratives provide an emotional reward for storytellers and recipients. The talk will include the data analysis and a proposal for the Emotional Reward of Narrative model (ERN). Video Link: https://youtu.be/NYvDVjpQI_U |
Elena Prat | Exploring the semiotics of reading emotions through an innovative annotation tool for text-based sources: A preliminary study based on a sample of letters written by French contemporary readers. This paper aims to contribute to the scholarship on the semiotics of reading emotions. It presents an annotation experiment conducted on 10 letters by French ordinary readers, applicants to the jury of a literary prize in 2010. The sample was annotated with a tool developed by the European project READ-IT. Reading emotions were labeled based on the 21 subscales included in AESTHEMOS, an assessment tool for aesthetics emotions. Whilst still preliminary, the results open up some promising perspectives with regards to the construction of an annotated dataset of reading emotions, suitable for being further enriched and compared with other datasets. Video Link: https://youtu.be/Oik8mNV0ahI |
| Parallel session 3: Cognitive Aspects of Literature | |
| Inge van de Ven, Tilburg University, The Netherlands | Are Literary Readers Close Readers? An Explorative Survey Study of Reading, Attention, and Cognitive Patience Are literary readers better at focused and prolonged concentration? Are they exclusively ‘close readers’, or do they combine different modes of reading? This survey-based study assessed the relations between reading literature, concentration, and perseverance (‘cognitive patience’). We looked at the correlations between hyper-reading (e.g., skimming, scanning, and skipping) and cognitive patience, and the influence of preference for longer text length. Our results suggest that reading literature correlates with cognitive patience. Literary readers score high on perseverance and concentration, yet they are not exclusively ‘close readers’: when information is ‘too obvious’, they skim or skip. Insights could help improve reading education. Video Link: https://youtu.be/Teh6iVcAq6E |
| Shawn Douglas, University of Alberta, Canada | Emergent Meaning II. An SEM model of the Relations Between the Emergent Meaning of Poetic Metaphors, Metaphors of Personal Identification, and Sublime Feeling We will report evidence that the emergent meanings of poetic metaphors mediate the effects of reflective explication on metaphors of personal identification and sublime feeling (Kuiken & Douglas, 2017; 2018). An SEM model of undergraduate readers identified a path that led from explicative statements whose interaction (AisB*BisA) described both the topic and vehicle to (1) metaphors of personal identification (Cohen, 1999) and then (2) sublime feeling (Kuiken et al., 2012). Results also suggested that personal memories contributed to the meanings that emerged from this complex metaphoric process. Moreover, this pattern was observed in a replication study. Video Link: https://youtu.be/SKpNnJRdOM8 |
| Lovro Škopljanac, University of Zagreb, Croatia | “All my Characters Die”: Bibliotrauma in Memories of Literature Works of literature occupy a myriad of affective and cognitive spaces in their readers’ memories. One possibility for learning more about such textual memories is by analyzing the diversity of affective and cognitive recollections which are most negative – i.e. bibliotraumatic content – and most positive – i.e. eudaimonic content. In order to address both of these opposites – and to study how opposite to each other they really are – the proposed research will be looking into an archive of about 200 interviews with contemporary non-professional readers, focusing on the most revealing examples of bibliotrauma and eudaimonia among them. Video Link: https://youtu.be/qX2y-EUY29k |
| Parallel session 4: Characters and Fictional Worlds | |
| Catherine Marple, Wake Forest University, US | The Role of Contextual Information in Identifying Character Motives: Proposing a Taxonomy of Content Features Textual portrayals of a character’s motives influence identification, moral judgement, and enjoyment. However, there is no systematic, theory-driven taxonomy of the narrative content features that indicate a character’s motive to audiences. Developing a taxonomy would improve precision in coding and experimentally varying the construct of motive. The construct of instantiation from motivational psychology is used to propose an initial taxonomy. Instantiation research identifies four categories of contextual information that lead observers to interpret behaviors in terms of the motives that initiate them. Narrative content that highlights the four types of contextual information, then, should indicate the character’s motive. Video Link: https://youtu.be/bt9yo55Obv4 |
| Julia de Jonge, University of Verona, Italy | “I’m not Bad, I’m Just Drawn that Way”: Immoral Characters, Aesthetic Appreciation and Sympathy in Literary Reading This paper argues it is not a fictional figure’s moral nature, as intended by the author, that affects the reader’s involvement with the story and the character, rather, readers’ moral judgement. The current experiment shows that while moral judgement of a character is mostly in line with intended character morality (e.g., doctor=good, Nazi=evil), moral judgement is a crucial aspect in reader’s aesthetic evaluation of a narrative and sympathy for its protagonist. Furthermore, an intercultural comparison was made between German and Italian readers showing that moral judgement differs among cultures when it comes to culturally sensitive figures (here, a Nazi-character). Video Link: https://youtu.be/-dmSHvCgn7g |
| Birte Thissen, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics | At the Heart of Optimal Reading Experiences: Cardiovascular Activity and Flow Experiences in Fiction Reading This experiment examined the cardiovascular underpinnings of flow experiences during reading, in which the reader becomes completely engaged with the text. A sample of 84 participants read one of three text versions of a chapter of Homer’s Odyssey that differed in terms of readability and thus cognitive challenge. Cardiovascular activity was assessed both prior to and during reading, whereas flow was assessed with a reading-specific self-report scale immediately afterwards. Results of regression analyses suggested that cardiovascular activation patterns that reflect high parasympathetic activity prior to reading serve as a catalyst for flow experiences when a cognitively challenging text is read. Video Link: https://youtu.be/zsU4gt-FDMg |
| Parallel session 4: Literature in/and Culture | |
| Margrit Schreier, Jacobs Universität Bremen, Germany | The Potential of Arts-Based Research for the Empirical Study of Literature Over the past 20 years, arts-based research has gained increasing importance as a new paradigm in the social sciences. It spans a wide variety of approaches and methods. This includes both the practice of art as a method for data collection and the use of artistic formats for the distribution of research findings. In this presentation I describe this paradigm and argue for the usefulness of arts-based research in the Empirical Study of Literature. Video Link: https://youtu.be/UIOmsfwxqIs |
| Lilla Magyari, Reading Center for Reading, University of Stavanger, Norway | The Nature of the ART: Challenges in Developing an Author Recognition Test for a New Population The Author Recognition Test (ART) is a widely used indirect measure of print exposure. In a list of author names, participants are asked to select those that they know to be authors. The underlying assumption is that the more participants read, the more author names they will recognize. The ART is available in just a few languages. In this paper, we reflect on the methodological challenges in developing an ART for a new population, using data from our own study in which we investigate the relation between perceived popularity and literary quality. Video Link: https://youtu.be/MD7li0C52LA |
| Simone Rebora, University of Verona, Italy | How Can I Attribute this Text? A Comparison Between Stylometry and Readers’ Perception The paper discusses the results of an experiment which presents readers with a typical problem in stylometry: the attribution of an anonymous text given the writing samples of candidate authors. Three Harry Potter fanfictions (average length ~ 1,500 words) were used for the experiment. Out of 142 participants, 60.56% were able to correctly attribute the anonymous text, while 87.11% of 12,793 stylometric analyses proved successful. A comparison is established between the motivations provided by readers and the working logic of stylometric methods, highlighting similarities and differences. Video Link: https://youtu.be/y9ls_WcZDr0 |
| Anastasia Glawion, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany Co-authors: Zsofia Pilz and Thomas Weitin | New Insights on Fiction Feelings: The Impact of Frequent Reading on Eye-Tracking Data The talk presents preliminary results of a recently conducted reading experiment, in which eye-tracking, EEG and GSR data was collected, while participants were reading passages from “Harry Potter” along with two different types of fan fiction based on elements of that fandom. The findings shed light on the fiction feeling hypothesis as well as the connection between text-inherent sentiment and reader response. Our analyses combine results of the Reading Habit Questionnaire and physiological data connected to arousal. It appears that habitual consumption of literature influences the perception of passages that were considered “happy”, “fearful”, or “neutral”. Video Link: https://youtu.be/wVMa1Xb7OZM |
| Parallel session 5: Empathy | |
| Lynn Eekhof, Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands | Engagement with Narrative Characters as a Function of Social-Cognitive Abilities and Linguistic Viewpoint Emotional and cognitive engagement with characters is at the core of narrative reading. We collected data from 352 participants who read two short Dutch literary narratives that were manipulated for the presence of perceptual, cognitive, and emotional viewpoint markers. Our analyses revealed that character engagement is multi-faceted, and influenced by an intricate interplay of readers’ social-cognitive abilities and linguistic viewpoint. These findings suggest that the relationship between character engagement, reader characteristics, and text characteristics is more nuanced than previously thought and warrants more study. Video Link https://youtu.be/baSK7y57dbY |
| Jan Lenhart, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Germany | Does Viewing Fictional TV Series Improve Theory of Mind and Empathy? In a naturalistic online experiment, effects of viewing fictional TV series on theory of mind and empathy as well as moderator effects of narrative processes (i.e., transportation and identification) were examined. To do so, 221 participants viewed either three episodes of a fictional TV series or a documentary at their own convenience during the span of a week. Theory-of-mind performance increased and self-reported empathy decreased from pre- to posttest across both conditions. There were no differences between the conditions and neither transportation nor identification were significant moderators. These findings question beneficial effects of a brief exposure to fictional TV series. Video Link: https://youtu.be/Bup8EmyP8rE |
| Nicoletta Chieregato, University of Bologna, Italy | Democracy, Empathy, Literature: Encountering, Discovering, Listening to the Other in Formal Educational Contexts It is claimed that democracy requires empathy, and that empathy is fostered by literary reading. Starting from a critical analysis of these statements, the present study aims to understand if and how literary education can become an “empathy laboratory” and hence support democracy. A qualitative study carried out in schools explores how empathy occurs in reading experiences of 12-14 year-old students, and which factors facilitate or hinder such responses. Preliminary results reveal that empathy is a complex and dynamic process, requiring time, open discussions, teachers’ support, and sustained by specific texts features. Possible implications for designing literary education are proposed. Video Link: https://youtu.be/NC-PW7lfeR4 |
| Parallel session 5: Literature and Self-Reflection | |
| Jacob Wilson, Cardiff University, Ireland | Self as Point of View: The Authorial “I’s” Double-Presentation of Self as a Mechanism to Revise Core Beliefs I proceed from Donald Perlis rough definition of consciousness: “consciousness is the function or process that allows a system to distinguish itself from the rest of the world, conferring a point of view on the system”. Perlis suggests that by symbolling the world, the brain creates a double-representation. This process of creating a symbol that exists both inside and outside of itself is fundamental to our ability to re-evaluate beliefs. I argue the double representation required in Perlis’ symbolled-self is an analogous process to the doubling inherent in free indirect style/discourse. By drawing on similarities between Antonio Damasio’s neurobiological model of consciousness, what he calls the “enchainment of precedence’s” and Italo Calvino’s “levels of literature” I show that symbolling process is how a writer creates points of view (authorial “I”, Narrator, Character) and how the Damasio’s core and autobiographical selves create core and extended consciousness. Video Link: https://youtu.be/r37Ko0xdNYA |
| María-Ángeles Martínez, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain | An Empirical Study of Fictional Abuse Narrative and Pro-Social Reader Outcomes Within the Framework of Storyworld Possible Selves This study uses the theoretical framework of storyworld possible selves theory (Martínez 2014, 2018) to investigate reader responses to Elif Shafak’s Booker-Prize-nominated novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (2019), a narrative about abuse and social exclusion. We expect engaged readers to project certain culturally predictable storyworld possible selves, or SPSs, such as the ‘protective’ self-schema SPS or the “abused” undesired SPS, likely to result in feelings of self-transformation related to pro-social behaviors, such as increased empathy towards victims or an improvement of protective behavior. Video Link: https://youtu.be/r37Ko0xdNYA |
POSTER ABSTRACTS
| Poster sessions | |
| Giulia, Scapin VU Amsterdam, Department of Communication Science, The Netherlands; the University of Haifa, Department of Communication, Israel; Utrecht University, Research Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON) of the Faculty of Humanities, The Netherlands; ELIT Network | The impact of foregrounding in literary texts on stigma reduction of depression through identification and empathy The present study explores the possibility to influence stigma about depression through exposure to a literary text. Such exposure is expected to foster identification, enhance empathic reactions and increase motivation for prosocial behaviour. In addition, foregrounding is expected to play a pivotal role in the potential effects of literary texts on readers by upsetting readers’ schemata. Therefore, in a correlational research design, the readers’ processing of foregrounding will be assessed for each participant, together with identification and empathy with the story character, prosocial behaviour and stigmatization; expected results will clarify the relationship between these variables in literary texts. |
| Toshihiko KubotaMeiji University, Tokyo | A Quantitative Study of the Reader’s Eye: The Reception of Haruki Murakami’s Four Works in Amazon Reviews in relation to the Structure of the Works This study uses multivariate analysis (mainly correspondence analysis) to analyze both readers’ reviews and the structure of the works they reviewed, in order to quantitatively reveal where readers’ focus is directed within the works. |
| Kathryn McCarthyGeorgia State University | Effects of Literary-Specific Knowledge on the Generation of Interpretive Inferences During Reading In two studies, we examined how providing information about how experts use literary-specific knowledge of conventions and themes to make sense of a short story. Specifically, we were interested in how this knowledge would influence readers’ generation of interpretive inferencing about the deeper meaning(s) of the work. Participants were asked to think-aloud as they read and to rate their appreciation of the story after reading. In Study 1, we examined how different types of knowledge (conventions, theme, both) influenced interpretive inferencing and appreciation. In Study 2, we examined how allowing readers to reread the text might augment these effects. |
| Kirren Chana,University of Vienna | Reading in the city: mobile eye-tracking and evaluations of text in an everyday setting. This research aims to establish an understanding of text and image interaction in everyday perception, particularly concerning natural reading experiences that occur in urban environments. The present study uses mobile eye-tracking to assess how people move through a city street, considering how design and text may guide and modulate our aesthetic reactions. |
| Si Jia, Wu,University of Toronto | Contactless measurement of emotion physiology during short films Emotions have three aspects: experiential, behavioral, and physiological. Measurement of the physiological aspect has been challenging. We hypothesized that different emotion-evoking films may produce distinctive facial blood flow patterns as physiological signatures of emotions. We created a novel contactless transdermal optical imaging system that uses a conventional video camera non-intrusively to capture facial blood flows. We imaged the faces of people viewing films that elicited joy, sadness, disgust, fear, or a neutral state. Using machine learning, these emotional states involved different blood flow patterns. This method would be useful to measure responses from people with diverse ethnic backgrounds. |