1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Scientific Study of Literature
  4. Volume 6, Issue 2
  5. Article
Volume 6, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2210-4372
  • E-ISSN: 2210-4380
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

The experience of deviation is often referred to as foregrounding and contrasted with the experience of feeling absorbed in a narrative. However, instead of simply assuming that foregrounding and absorption are mutually exclusive, they should also be considered as co-occurring: being absorbed as a result of a deviating aspect of a story. In the present paper we examine the co-occurrence of responses by means of a data-driven qualitative approach. The analysis of interviews about absorbed experiences with written and cinematic fictional narratives focused on occurrences of and responses to perceived deviation. We identified seven strategies in response to deviation that may be described through three underlying dimensions: absorption, agency, and valence. Findings suggest that perceived deviation, rather than obstructing absorption, is associated with intense and meaningful engagement with narratives.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ssol.6.2.02bal
2017-03-20
2025-04-29

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/ssol.6.2.02bal
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Berlyne, D. E.
    (1974) Studies in the new experimental aesthetics. New York: Wiley.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Bordwell, D.
    (1985) Narration in the fiction film. London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Bortolussi, M. , & Dixon, P.
    (1996) The effects of formal training on literary perception. Poetics, 23, 471–487. doi: 10.1016/0304‑422X(95)00014‑B
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-422X(95)00014-B [Google Scholar]
  4. Bradley, M. M. , & Lang, P. J.
    (1994) Measuring emotion: the self-assessment manikin and the semantic differential. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 25(1), 49–59. doi: 10.1016/0005‑7916(94)90063‑9
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7916(94)90063-9 [Google Scholar]
  5. Braun, I. K. , & Cupchik, G. C.
    (2001) Phenomenological and quantitative analyses of absorption in literary passages. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 19(1), 85–109. doi: 10.2190/W6TJ‑4KKB‑856F‑03VU
     https://doi.org/10.2190/W6TJ-4KKB-856F-03VU [Google Scholar]
  6. Brecht, B.
    (1976) Kleines organon fur das theater. Gesammelte werke (pp.659–708). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Busselle, R. , & Bilandzic, H.
    (2009) Measuring narrative engagement. Media Psychology, 12, 321–347. doi: 10.1080/15213260903287259
     https://doi.org/10.1080/15213260903287259 [Google Scholar]
  8. Charmaz, K.
    (2006) Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative research. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Csikszentmihalyi, M.
    (1990) Flow. The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Culpeper, J.
    (1996) Inferring character from texts. Attribution theory and foregrounding theory. Poetics, 23, 335–361. doi: 10.1016/0304‑422X(95)00005‑5
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-422X(95)00005-5 [Google Scholar]
  11. Dissanayake, E.
    (1992) Homo aestheticus. Where art comes from and why. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Dixon, P. , Bortolussi, M. , Twilley, L. C. , & Leung, A.
    (1993) Literary processing and interpretation. Towards empirical foundations. Poetics, 22(1), 5–33. doi: 10.1016/0304‑422X(93)90018‑C
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-422X(93)90018-C [Google Scholar]
  13. Erlich, V.
    (1969) Russian Formalism: History, doctrine. The Hague: Mouton.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Fialho, O.
    (2007) Foregrounding and refamiliarization: Understanding readers’ response to literary texts. Language and Literature, 16(2), 105–123. doi: 10.1177/0963947007075979
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947007075979 [Google Scholar]
  15. Gillham, B.
    (2005) Research interviewing: The range of techniques. Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill Education.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Glazer, B. C. , & Strauss, A. L.
    (1967) The discovery of ground theory. Chicago: Aldine.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Green, M. C. , & Brock, T. C.
    (2000) The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(5), 701–721. doi: 10.1037/0022‑3514.79.5.701
     https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.79.5.701 [Google Scholar]
  18. Green, M. , Brock, T. , & Kaufman, G.
    (2004) Understanding media enjoyment: The role of transportation into narrative worlds. Communication Theory, 14(4), 311–327. doi: 10.1111/j.1468‑2885.2004.tb00317.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2004.tb00317.x [Google Scholar]
  19. Hakemulder, F. , & van Peer, W.
    (2015) Empirical stylistics. In V. Sotirova (Ed.), A companion to stylistics (pp.251–274). London: Continuum.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Hakemulder, F. , Fialho, O. , Bal, M.
    (2016) What do we learn from literature?In Burke, M. , Zyngier, S. , & Fiahlo, O. (Eds.), Scientific Approaches to Literature in Learning Environments, Amsterdam: Benjamins. 19–37.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Hakemulder, J.
    (2004) Foregrounding and its effects on readers’ perception. Discourse Processes, 38(2), 193–218. doi: 10.1207/s15326950dp3802_3
     https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326950dp3802_3 [Google Scholar]
  22. (2007) Tracing foregrounding in responses to film. Language and Literature, 16, 125–139. doi: 10.1177/0963947007075980
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947007075980 [Google Scholar]
  23. Hoorn, J.
    (1997) Electronical evidence for the anomaly theory of metaphor processing. A brief introduction. In S. Tötösy de Zepetnek , and I. Sywensky (Eds), The Systematic and empirical approach to literature and culture as theory and application (pp.67–74). Edmonton: University of Alberta.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Iser, W.
    (1970) Die Appelstruktur der texte. Unbestimmtheit als wirkungsbedingung literarischer prosa. (The appel structure of texts. Undeterminedness as condition for the effect of literary prose). Konstanz: Universitätsverlag
     [Google Scholar]
  25. (1980) Interaction between text and reader. In S. R. Suleiman & I. Crosman (Eds.), The reader in the text (pp.106–119). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Jacobs, A. & Lüdtke, J.
    (in prep). Immersion into narrative and poetic worlds: A neurocognitive poetics perspective. In Hakemulder, F. , Kuijpers, M. , Balint, K. , Tan, E. , Doicaru, M. Handbook of Narrative Absorption. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Jacobs, A.M.
    (2011) Neurokognitive Poetik: Elemente eines Modells des literarischen Lesens (Neurocognitive poetics: elements of a model of literary reading). In: Schrott, R. , Jacobs, A.M (Eds). Gehirn und Gedicht: Wie wir unsere Wirklichkeiten konstruieren (Brain and Poem: How we construct realities) (pp.492–524). München: Carl Hanser Verlag.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Jakobson, R.
    (1960) Closing statement: Linguistics and poetics. In Sebeok, T.A. (Ed.) Style in language (pp.350–377). Cambridge: MIT Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Kätsyri, J. , Kinnunen, T. , Kusumoto, K. , Oittinen, P. , & Ravaja, N.
    (2016) Negativity bias in media multitasking: The effects of negative social media messages on attention to television news broadcasts. Plos One, 11(5) doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153712
     https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153712 [Google Scholar]
  30. King, S.
    (2010) On writing. A memoir of the craft. New York: Scribner.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Kneepkens, E. , & Zwaan, R.
    (1994) Emotions and literary text comprehension. Poetics, 23, 125–138. doi: 10.1016/0304‑422X(94)00021‑W
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-422X(94)00021-W [Google Scholar]
  32. Koopman, E. & Hakemulder, F.
    (2015) Effects of literature on empathy and self-reflection: A theoretical-empirical framework. Journal of Literary Theory, 9(11): 79–111. doi: 10.1515/jlt‑2015‑0005
     https://doi.org/10.1515/jlt-2015-0005 [Google Scholar]
  33. Kuijpers, M. & Hakemulder, F.
    (in prep). The nature of emergent literary effect. Depth of understanding in reading literature.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Kuijpers, M. M.
    (2014) Absorbing stories: The effects of textual devices on absorption and evaluative responses. (Unpublished PhD Disseration). Utrecht University,
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Kuijpers, M. , Hakemulder, F , Tan, E. , Doicaru, M.
    (2014) Exploring absorbing reading experiences: Developing and validating a self-report scale to measure story world absorption. Scientific Study of Literature, 4(1): 89–122. doi: 10.1075/ssol.4.1.05kui
     https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.4.1.05kui [Google Scholar]
  36. Kuiken, D. , Miall, D. S. , & Sikora, S.
    (2004) Forms of self-implication in literary reading. Poetics Today, 25(2), 171–203. doi: 10.1215/03335372‑25‑2‑171
     https://doi.org/10.1215/03335372-25-2-171 [Google Scholar]
  37. Kuiken, D. , Phillips, L. , Gregus, M. , Miall, D. , Verbitsky, M. & Anna Tonkonogy, A.
    (2004): Locating self-modifying feelings within literary reading, Discourse Processes, 38 (2), 267–286. doi: 10.1207/s15326950dp3802_6
     https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326950dp3802_6 [Google Scholar]
  38. Lee, K. M.
    (2004) Presence, explicated. Communication Theory, 14, 27–50. doi: 10.1111/j.1468‑2885.2004.tb00302.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2004.tb00302.x [Google Scholar]
  39. Leech, G. , & Short, M.
    (1981) Style in fiction. A linguistic introduction to English fictional prose. Harlow: Pearson Education.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Levine, L.
    (1990) Highbrow/ Lowbrow. The emergence of cultural hierarchy in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Lombard, M. , Snyder-Duch, J. , & Bracken, C. C.
    (2002) Content analysis in mass communication: Assessment and reporting of intercoder reliability. Human Communication Research, 28(4), 587–604. doi: 10.1111/j.1468‑2958.2002.tb00826.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2002.tb00826.x [Google Scholar]
  42. Miall, D. S.
    (1995) Anticipation and feeling in literary response: A neuropsychological perspective. Poetics, 23(4), 275–298. doi: 10.1016/0304‑422X(95)00004‑4
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-422X(95)00004-4 [Google Scholar]
  43. Miall, D. S. & Kuiken, D.
    (1994) Foregrounding, defamiliarization, and affect. response to literary stories. Poetics, 22(5), 389–407. doi: 10.1016/0304‑422X(94)00011‑5
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-422X(94)00011-5 [Google Scholar]
  44. Miall, D.S. , Kuiken,D.
    (1995) Aspects of literary response: A new questionnaire. Research in the Teaching of English, 29(1), 137–58.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Miles, M. B. , & Huberman, A. M.
    (1994) Qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Mukařovský, J.
    (1964) Standard language and poetic language. In P.L. Garvin (Ed.), A Prague school reader on esthetics, literary structure, and style (pp.17–30). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Oliver, M. B. , & Raney, A. A.
    (2011) Entertainment as pleasurable and meaningful. differentiating hedonic and eudaimonic motivations for entertainment consumption. Journal of Communication, 61.5, 984–1004. doi: 10.1111/j.1460‑2466.2011.01585.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01585.x [Google Scholar]
  48. Osgood, C. , Suci, G. , & Tannenbaum, P.
    (1957) The measurement of meaning. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Payne, S.
    (2007) Grounded theory. In E. Lyons , & A. Coyle (Eds.), Analysing qualitative data in psychology. (pp.65–86). London: Sage. doi: 10.4135/9781446207536.d12
     https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446207536.d12 [Google Scholar]
  50. Ramachandran, V. & Hirstein, W.
    (1999) The science of art. A neurological theory of aesthetic experience. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6(6–7), 15–51.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Rimmon-Kenan, S.
    (1983) Narrative fiction: Contemporary poetics. London: Methuen. doi: 10.4324/9780203426111
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203426111 [Google Scholar]
  52. Sanford, A. J. , & Emmott, C.
    (2012) Mind, brain, and narrative. Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139084321
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139084321 [Google Scholar]
  53. Sanford, A. J. , Sanford, A. J. , Molle, J. , & Emmott, C.
    (2006) Shallow processing and attention capture in written and spoken discourse. Discourse Processes, 42(2), 109–130. doi: 10.1207/s15326950dp4202_2
     https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326950dp4202_2 [Google Scholar]
  54. Schrott, R. , & Jacobs, A. M.
    (2011) Gehirn und Gedicht: Wie wir unsere Wirklichkeiten konstruieren. (Brain and Poem: How we construct realities). München: Hanser.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Seidman, I.
    (2006) Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. New York: Teachers College Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Shklovsky, V.
    (1965) Art as technique. In L. T. Lemon , & M. J. Reiss (Eds.), Russian formalist criticism: Four essays (pp.3–24). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Slater, M. , & Wilbur, S.
    (1997) A framework for immersive virtual environments (FIVE): Speculations on the role of presence in virtual environments. Presence: Teleoperators and virtual environments, 6(6), 603–616. doi: 10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.603
     https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.603 [Google Scholar]
  58. Smith, E.A.
    (2012) Pulp sensations. In D. Glover & S. McCraken (Eds). The Cambridge companion to popular fiction (pp.141–158). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CCOL9780521513371.010
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521513371.010 [Google Scholar]
  59. Spencer, H.
    (2009) The philosophy of style. Auckland: The Floating Press. (orig. 1852).
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Stockwell, P.
    (2002) Cognitive poetics: An introduction. London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Tan, E. S.
    (1996) Emotion and the structure of narrative film. Film as an emotion machine. Mahwah (NJ): Erlbaum.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Twain, M.
    (2014) Fenimore Cooper’s literary offences. Auckland: The Floating Press. (orig. 1895).
     [Google Scholar]
  63. Tynyanov, Y.
    (1978) On literary evolution. In L. Matejka , & K. Pomorska (Eds.), Readings in Russian poetics. Formalist and Structuralist views. (pp.66–78). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
     [Google Scholar]
  64. van Peer, W.
    (1986) Stylistics and psychology. London: Croom Helm.
     [Google Scholar]
  65. van Peer, W. , & Hakemulder, J.
    (2006) Foregrounding. In K. Brown (Ed.), The Pergamon encyclopaedia of language and linguistics (pp.546–551). Oxford: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B0‑08‑044854‑2/00511‑3
     https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00511-3 [Google Scholar]
  66. van Peer, W. , Hakemulder, J. , Zyngier, S.
    (2007) Lines on feeling: Foregrounding, aesthetic appreciation, and meaning. Language and Literature, 16 (2), 197–213. doi: 10.1177/0963947007075985
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947007075985 [Google Scholar]
  67. Wirth, W. , Hover, M. , & Schramm, H.
    (2012) Beyond pleasure: Exploring the eudaimonic entertainment experience. Human Communication Research, 38(4), 406–428. doi: 10.1111/j.1468‑2958.2012.01434.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2012.01434.x [Google Scholar]
  68. Wundt, W.
    Grundriss der psychologie (Outlines of psychology). Leibzig: Entgelmann.
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Zyngier, S. , Hakemulder, J. , & van Peer, W.
    (2007) Complexity and foregrounding. in the eye of the beholder?Poetics Today, 28(4), 653–682. doi: 10.1215/03335372‑2007‑011
     https://doi.org/10.1215/03335372-2007-011 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/ssol.6.2.02bal
Loading
Reconceptualizing foregrounding
Scientific Study of Literature 6, 176 (2016); https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.6.2.02bal
/content/journals/10.1075/ssol.6.2.02bal
/content/journals/10.1075/ssol.6.2.02bal
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): deviating style; foregrounding; narrative absorption; narratives; qualitative approach

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error