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ISBN Print: 9783847113232 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737013239
wasultimatelyexcusedbyanengrossingplot,asoneexplains:“itendedupthatI
got used to the phrasing but I didn’t like theway shewas trying to embody the
character as illiterate, andwhat shewas trying todowith the phrasing” (DG2).
Readersalsoengagedinsense-makingaroundcharacters’actions.Therealism
and“humanness” (DG1)of the characterswasa strong theme in thediscussion
groups, and readers considered characters’motivations, misunderstandings,
fears,andfoibles.Onedescribedhow“Sarahhadflaws,andsheconfessedtothat.
Imean,we foundoutabouther goodandherbad side.”Another agreed saying,
“that was good. She was very real” (DG1). The readers connected with the
characters in the novel; and readers focused onwhether characters’ behaviour
wasrealistic.Onereadernotedthat“evenifyoudidn’t like[acharacter],youhad
… some feelings for them” (FG1).
Participantsindicatedthatuncertaintyaboutmotivationsdoesnotnecessarily
detract fromtheauthenticityofcharacters. Ifreadersareunsurewhyacharacter
acts in a particularway, for example acting rashly, or out of guilt, this is often
taken to bemore indicative of understandable emotions, or the human con-
dition, thanamischaracterizationby theauthor.Forexample,membersof FG1
questionedtheseeminglymodernbehaviourofSarah, intravellingalonetoNew
Zealand.This senseofunderstanding thecharacter allowed the readers toenter
into thediegesis, resulting inanemotional response to the story:
I mean, oddly enough it was very moving, and it was shocking, what happened to
[Sarah’sniece].…I foundthedepictionof thatmorepersonally,emotionallyaffecting,
emotionally, than the actual Aboriginal atrocity that took place at the end of Secret
River,…….And tome, thatwas likea– interesting thatwehumansare–wecanget
more boundup in thedeath of oneperson thanwe can in the death of thousands of
people. (DG1)
This final quotationprovides auseful link to the second themeof interest, self-
reflexivity,bywhichwemeantheprocessthroughwhichreadersusenarrativeto
reflect on themselves and their lives.
Participantsconsideredreadinghistorical fictionasa“doorway” intohistory:
it isdifferentreadingit inanovelversusreadingit inanewspaperversusreadingit ina
history book. You relate to the characters in a differentway, you aremorewilling to
interactwiththecharacters… [it takesyouintothehistory]yeah, it takesyouin,gives
you thatdoorway. (DG1)
As readers discussed the facts of history, they actively reflected on the sig-
nificance of these for themselves and for others: both in the past and in con-
temporary social relations.Readers’ responses, and the subsequentdiscussions
that book clubs generate, go beyond a literary analysis of authenticity. They
representaformofactiveengagementthatwerefertoasreflexivity,whichspans
ReadingFiction,TalkingReconciliation 237
Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0
Über Bücher reden
Literaturrezeption in Lesegemeinschaften
- Titel
- Über Bücher reden
- Untertitel
- Literaturrezeption in Lesegemeinschaften
- Autor
- Doris Moser
- Herausgeber
- Claudia Dürr
- Verlag
- V&R unipress
- Datum
- 2021
- Sprache
- deutsch
- Lizenz
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-7370-1323-9
- Abmessungen
- 15.5 x 23.2 cm
- Seiten
- 262
- Kategorie
- Lehrbücher