A survey study was conducted to explore why people read about suffering, giving particular attention to the role that catharsis may play. Through an online questionnaire, respondents (N = 67) commented on a popular autobiographical Dutch novel about grief. The questionnaire contained closed and open questions, addressing motives for reading and thoughts and feelings while reading. Results indicated that curiosity about content, style and the author, fueled by media-attention and the author’s status, were the most important motives for reading the novel. Respondents who had experienced a significant loss themselves demonstrated a need for recognition and support. Responses further suggested that “clarification” (gaining deep insight) is a better explanation for the attraction of tragic narrative than “purgation.” Clarification did not appear to be related to fear, and the role of empathic emotions appeared questionable. Cluster analysis did identify a potential “catharsis group,” which combined fear, pity and appreciation for the articulation of grief.
2022. “They Never Really Leave Us”: Transcendent Narratives About Loss Resonate With the Experience of Severe Grief. Human Communication Research 48:2 ► pp. 320 ff.
van Krieken, Kobie & José Sanders
2021. Storytelling on Oral Grounds: Viewpoint Alignment and Perspective Taking in Narrative Discourse. Frontiers in Psychology 12
van Krieken, Kobie
2018. Ambiguous Perspective in Narrative Discourse: Effects of Viewpoint Markers and Verb Tense on Readers’ Interpretation of Represented Perceptions. Discourse Processes 55:8 ► pp. 771 ff.
Oosterwijk, Suzanne & Andreas B Eder
2017. Choosing the negative: A behavioral demonstration of morbid curiosity. PLOS ONE 12:7 ► pp. e0178399 ff.
Salter, Anastasia & Bridget M. Blodgett
2017. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, ► pp. 1 ff.
Knoop, Christine A., Valentin Wagner, Thomas Jacobsen & Winfried Menninghaus
2016. Mapping the aesthetic space of literature “from below”. Poetics 56 ► pp. 35 ff.
Koopman, Eva Maria (Emy)
2015. Why do we read sad books? Eudaimonic motives and meta-emotions. Poetics 52 ► pp. 18 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.