Transformative Reading

Olivia Fialho | Utrecht University | Huygens Institute (KNAW)

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027214744 | EUR 120.00 | USD 156.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027246974 | EUR 120.00 | USD 156.00

Transformative Reading belongs to a growing tradition of studies investigating the functions of aesthetic experiences in our lives. Philosophers, literary theorists, and psychologists have suggested that aesthetic experiences implicate and develop our sense of ourselves. Literary texts, as one such experience, challenge readers and extend their imagination by means of complex or deviating plots. Reading literary narrative fiction helps readers develop imaginary selves in a safe way, enhancing their theory of mind. It might also contribute to the development of readers’ interpersonal competencies and foster pro-sociality, altruistic behaviour, and empathy. This book uses empirical research methods to focus on the processes of literary reading, revealing two pathways for the transformative powers of literature. It also reveals how an understanding of these pathways might be beneficial in educational settings – in schools, in the workplace, and in medical contexts.

[Linguistic Approaches to Literature, 42] 2024. xii, 263 pp.

Publishing status:

https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.42

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements | pp. xi–xii

Part I. Theoretical foundations

Chapter 1. The notion of reading | pp. 2–21

Chapter 2. Modalities of transformative reading | pp. 22–48

Chapter 3. The transformative reader | pp. 49–64

Part II. Tracking readers’ responses

Chapter 4. Lexical Basis for Numerically Aided Phenomenology (LEX-NAP) | pp. 66–89

Chapter 5. Applying LEX-NAP: An empirical investigation of transformative reading of the self | pp. 90–117

Chapter 6. A typology of reading experiences | pp. 118–148

Chapter 7. Discoursal basis for the typology | pp. 149–184

Chapter 8. Assessing the typology | pp. 185–196

Part III. Applications and future directions

Chapter 9. Uses in learning environments | pp. 198–210

Chapter 10. Looking ahead: Transformative reading in the third culture | pp. 211–224

References | pp. 225–245

Appendixes

Appendix 1. Degrees of intensity (a sample) | pp. 248–251

Appendix 2. Discoursal features of the prototypes | pp. 252–254

Appendix 3. Probing the corpus | pp. 255–259

Index | pp. 261–262

“Reading changes lives – but how can we study such transformative experiences with literature? Fialho’s book offers a new, compelling look at old questions, bringing into play aesthetic experience, readers’ sense of self and the literary text in her bid to understand the transformative power of literature.”

Karin Kukkonen, University of Oslo

“This book is a thoughtful and methodologically-sophisticated deep dive into one of the most essential questions in literary studies: how reading helps give meaning to people’s lives. It weaves together quantitative and qualitative approaches to provide empirical insights, a roadmap for future research, and valuable guidelines for improving literary education. It is a wonderful addition to the empirical literary studies tradition.”

Melanie Green, University at Buffalo

“A must-read for all literature, stylistics, and cognitive poetics scholars and teachers of literature, Fialho’s book is a major step forward in contemporary literary studies, offering a theoretically rich and analytically productive approach to the process of reading. Relying on an innovatively construed range of theories and developing a compelling empirical paradigm, it offers a typology of reading experiences which brings the conversations on ‘reader response’ to a whole new level.”

Barbara Dancygier, University of British Columbia

“This erudite volume on transformative reading is a must read for anyone working in literary pedagogy. Fialho succeeds admirably in bringing clearly argued empirical research to bear to highlight the effects that literary reading can have on our perceptual cognitive and emotional capacities, as cultured human beings. Reading this book on transformative reading is a transformational act in itself. Teachers of literature will find it truly inspirational.”

Michael Burke, University College Roosevelt, Utrecht University

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