Question: How does the
complexity of the reader affect interpreting literary characters?
Answer/Quote:
“In the past, studies of complex perceivers have shown that they are more able
than noncomplex perceivers to take social perspectives, to empathize, to
account for multiple dimensions of people, to avoid stereotyping ,simplifying,
or projecting their own idiosyncrasies into their perceptions of others. For
years, it has been suggested that literature is the great educator, capable of
expanding horizons and transporting readers to strange and distant places. The
reading of literature, then, demands a flexibility, an openness, and a
willingness to perceive strange people and novel events in all their
multiplicity and dimensionality.” P. 390.
Comment: I’m not sure what this finding means. It can
mean that teachers urge students to deal with complex characters in literature
in an open-minded way. And that could lead to dealing with people in an
open-minded way. That might be a stretch. RayS.
Title: “Interpersonal
Cognitive Complexity and the Literary Response Processes of Adolescent
Readers.” SD Hynds. Research in the
Teaching of English (December 19985),
386-402,
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