Page - 233 - in Über Bücher reden - Literaturrezeption in Lesegemeinschaften

© 2021 V&R unipress, Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783847113232 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737013239 consumption patterns of different cohorts of readers. Examining how non- professionalreadersengageincriticismhas,untilrelativelyrecently,beenlargely absent. In this chapter, we examine vernacular criticism; specifically, book club readers’ talk and responses toKateGrenville’s SarahThornhill.Vernacular lit- erarycriticism isadiscourseof judgmenton theaesthetic, political, andethical merits and faults of writing, books, storytelling, and authors that takes place largely outside the education system, and other institutions crucial to what WendyGriswoldcallsthe“readingclass”suchaspublishing.6Indeed,thisformof criticismhas an ambivalent relationship to the education systemand the pub- lishing industry.Vernacular criticism is thebook talkof those readerswhoare imperfectly identified by terms like the ‘readingpublic’ and ‘general/ordinary/ lay/non-professionalreaders’. It is thekindof talkobservedinsitessuchasbook clubsandonline readingcommunities. Likeacademicliterarycriticism,vernacularliterarycriticismisaformofbook talk thathasaesthetic,moral, andpoliticalvalence.Oneof its central features is thatitmobilizesthereadinganddiscussionofbooksasacontextforreflectionon everydaymorality andpolitics.AsMichaelD.Bristol explains, vernacular criti- cism isnot simply“the interpretiveamateurism”ofdifferent classesof readers; rather it“isanattempt[byordinaryreaders] to findanorientation inaspaceof moral questions.”7 In the past, vernacular literary criticism has been cited in overlooked,undocumented,orephemeralspaces: indiaries; insalons;at literary festivals and other gatherings of readers; book clubs and reading groups; in newslettersandletterstoeditors;andintheconversationsof individualswithno formalinterestsintheindustriesofcriticismortheproductionof literatureother than through their statusas consumers andmembersof the readingclass. Wecancompareandcontrast thevernacularcriticismofbookclubswiththat of the literary studies classroom. Vernacular criticism takes place outside the academy, is values-driven, and tends towards ‘open’ discussions that invite disagreementanddissensus. It ispersonalandtentative. It isa formofcriticism that values playfulness, and is explicitly dialogical and context-specific. On matters of form, vernacular criticism focuses heavily on characterization and plot, andamongstother things, actively supports reader-identificationwith the text throughpersonal reminiscence andanalogical analysiswith contemporary eventsandsituations.Thebookprovidesacontext forconversation/conviviality andthe text is takenat facevalue—asElizabethLongputs it, readersassumean ontological equivalence between fictional characters and situations and real people andevents. 6 Griswold2008. 7 Bristol2000,p. 91. ReadingFiction,TalkingReconciliation 233 Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0