It is a common intuition that we can learn something of moral importance from literature, and one of the ways in which we teach our children about morality is through stories. In selecting books for children to read a primary concern is often the effect that the moral content of the story will have on the morality of the child reader. In this thesis I argue in order to take advantage of the contribution that literature can make to moral development, we need to teach children to read in a particular way. As a basis for this argument I use an account of moral agency that places emphasis on the development of moral skills - the ability to critically assess moral rules and systems, and the capacity to perceive and respond to the particulars of individual situations and to choose the right course of action in each - rather than on any particular kind of moral content. In order to make the most of the contribution that literature can make to the development of these skills, we need to teach children to immerse themselves in the story, rather than focusing on literary criticism. I argue that, contrary to the standard view of literary criticism as the only form of protection against possible negative effects, an immersed reading will help to prevent the child reader from taking any moral claims made in the story out of context, and so provide some measure of protection against possible negative moral effects of the story. Finally I argue that there are certain kinds of stories - recognisable by features that contribute to a high literary quality - that will enrich the experience of an immersed reading, and will therefore make a greater contribution to moral development than others.

Um dos últimos textos a ser publicado em vida pelo autor, Le Voyage d\'hiver, de Georges Perec, teve um destino diverso no âmbito da crítica literária perecquiana e do OuLiPo. Essa disparidade de tratamento parece estar vinculada ao tipo de análise que o papel do leitor suscitou na crítica até então. O objetivo dessa dissertação é realizar uma análise alternativa deste papel de modo a explicar a diferença apontada. Tentando evitar as aporias que a crítica perecquiana enfrenta na compreensão da obra do autor, esta dissertação traz também a análise de alguns aspectos do manuscrito preparatório de Le Voyage d\'hiver. / Le voyage d\'hiver - one of the last texts to be written and published by Georges Perec- has drawn different levels of attention to itself. Not having been frequently analysed by the critics, it has been used by the literary group known as the OuLiPo as a springboard for the production of a series of texts that repeated and expanded the themes dealt in Perec\'s text. This difference of approach seems to be related to the way the role of the reader is viewed by the critics. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to propose an alternative approach to the study of the role of the reader in Le Voyage d\'hiver. Moreover, in order to deal with some of the problems that the critics face when studying the work of Georges Perec, this dissertation analyses certain aspects of the Le Voyage d\'hiver manuscript.

How can a character from a children’s book become so divisive that he causes arguments amongst adults? This essay uses transactional reader response theory to explain the reason why the character Severus Snape from the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling is so controversial. Applying notions from reader response theorists such as Rosenblatt and Iser together with earlier research on Snape will show how the reader’s opinion is affected by both the text itself and their own personal experience. A poll was created and posted on Facebook with over a thousand replies. This data is analysed and used to apply the theory on real examples. The conclusion of the essay is that Snape is both good and bad. He acts heroically but is also vindictive and petty. Snape is perhaps the most human of all Rowling’s characters and each reader recognises a little of themselves in him that they can relate to. Because of ongoing arguments regarding Snape readers have to constantly defend their opinion. As the opinion is re-evaluated it is also strengthened each time readers reconsider the story of Snape and, like Snape himself once asked Professor Quirrell to do, decide where their loyalties lie.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka berättarna och narraterna i Rick Riordans The Lightning Thief (2005) och The Lost Hero (2010), samt att se vilka implikationer de har på berättandet i sig självt. Uppsatsen fokuserar på en komparativ undersökning av romanerna i fråga, och gör allt detta från en narratologisk utgångspunkt. Det narratologiska perspektivet kommer framför allt ifrån Gérard Genettes Narrative discourse och hans termer extra-, intra-, hetero- och homodiegetiskt berättande. Studien av narraten gör detsamma men med Gerald Prince artikel ”Introduction to the Study of the Narratee” i Reader-response criticism: from formalism to post-structuralism. För ett bredare perspektiv på flera, både nyare och äldre, narratologiska studier använder uppsatsen också Manfred Jahns ”Narratology 2.1: A Guide to the Theory of Narrative”. Genom analysen kan man utläsa att The Lightning Thief antar ett homo- och extradiegetiskt berättande med en specifik grupp av narrater. Detta kontrasteras med The Lost Heros hetero- och extradiegetiska berättande med en grundnarrat utan uppenbara kännetecken. I förlängningen kan man också upptäcka att det finns en skillnad mellan berättarens och narratens förhållande till en verklig läsare och hur, speciellt i The Lightning Thief, läsaren är tvingad att fundera på hur den relaterar till både narraten och berättaren. / This paper aims to study the narrators and the narratees in Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief (2005) and The Lost Hero (2010), and to see what implications they have on the narrative itself. The paper focuses on a comparative examination of the novels in question and does all this from a narratological standpoint. The narratological perspective first and foremost comes from Gérard Genette's Narrative discourse and his terms extra-, intra-, hetero-, and homodiegetic narrative. The study of the narratee does the same but with Gerald Prince's article "Introduction to the Study of the Narratee" in Reader-response criticism: from formalism to post-structuralism. For a wider perspective of several, both new and old, narratological studies the paper also uses Manfred Jahn's "Narratology 2.1: A Guide to the Theory of Narrative". Through the analysis, one can gather that The Lightning Thief takes on a homo- and extradiegetic narrative with a specific group of narratees. This is contrasted with The Lost Hero's hetero- and extradiegetic narrative with a "zero-degree narratee" that has no apparent characteristics. By extension, one can also notice that a difference lies with the narrator's and narratee's relationship to an actual reader and how, especially in The Lightning Thief, the reader is forced to figure out how it relates to both the narratee and the narrator.

The object of this study is the reading log that has been issued by the Swedish National Agency for Education’s teachers’ in-service training, The Literacy Boost or Läslyftet. The in-service training programme has been broken down into different modules, and the focus of this study is the reading log that has been addressed by a section of one of the modules. Essentially, this study aims to investigate six different teachers’ perceptions and experiences of the reading log. The method used for this investigation is semi-structured interviews. Consequently, the following research questions were outlined: 1.How do the teachers view the reading log and how have their views been altered by the in-service training?2.Which types of text are the teachers prone to use the reading log for?The results of the semi-structured interviews have shown that the different teachers’ perceptions of the purpose of the reading log were unanimous and aligned with theories addressed in the material. However, the necessity of writing for reflection was questioned by one. Further, all the teachers were acquainted with the reading log prior to the in-service training, and even though only a few new theories were acquired, many teachers benefited from new insights and various ways of using the reading log. Many had also experienced the repetition as positive. Lastly, the interviews also uncovered that the language teachers were more prone to using the reading log for literature studies, whereas teachers who also taught civics were prone to using the reading log for different types of texts.Key words: reading log, reflection, social development theory, reader-response criticism, discussion, the extended concept of text, formative assessment, efferent and aesthetic reading In Swedish with an abstract in English

The objective of this study is to investigate what the narrative of The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas (Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis), read in english translation by Herbert Musurillo, seeks to persuade its reader about, and how. The study takes a theoretical starting point in professor Ross S. Kraemer’s critical perspective on ancient narratives about women as sources not necessarily communicating historical truths and actualities of real women in the ancient world, but are more likely to be narratives consciously constructed by male authors using female characters as rhetorical tools to discuss or explore differing subjects such as gender and identity. Through the method of narrative criticism and reader-response criticism this study answers the following research questions: how are women being described in the narrative of The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas, and what function(s) do these descriptions of women have in the narrative of The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas?  The study shows that women are described as either weak feminine mothers or, according to Greco-Roman antique conceptions of gender and sexuality, a masculine male, transformed from a former state of femininity and motherhood. The descriptions are closely tied to the bodies of the women and there is a clear hierarchy where the masculine martyr is ascribed a higher status with a point of view closely related to that of God’s. The descriptions of women have both ideological and theological functions as a way to discuss questions regarding power, motherhood and masculinity. The hierarchy between the characters functions as a rhetorical tool to exemplify what can stand in the way for christians to seek martyrdom, which in the perspective of the narrative is the way someone, through her body and masculine behaviour in the face of torture and sexual humiliation, can communicate the truth about God’s power to the assembled crowds of onlookers. Contrary to previous studies, this study shows that the text communicates ascetic tendencies towards its readers concerning motherhood and are not to be interpreted as a celebration of women or femininity. The descriptions of women functions as a way to demonise the empire - but not the empire's perspective on gender. This is also a contrast to previous feminist studies of the text. The masculine male transformed from a former phase of femininity and motherhood is the exception that proves the rule about the perception of female weakness and lower status in power. The text appropriates the gender power order and the Greco-Roman ancient construction of gender and sexuality to ascribe the martyrs and God the true power. The rhetoric of female weakness being transformed in to masculine strength, self-restraint and body control through the works of God, functions to convince readers about the narratives ideological perspective and message about the martyrs being the true rulers. The motive is that the antagonist, the empire, the main masculine power in the world, is defeated and proven to be false through submissive feminisation.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: My provisional identification of chiasm in Mark 7:24-31 initiated this multidisciplinary study of the literary shape of this interesting text. New Testament scholars tend to agree that the genre (form, content and function) of the Gospel of Mark exhibits the literary characteristics typical of ancient, first century AD, Greco-Roman biography thereby evidencing, in a broad sense, Greco-Roman form and function, and Jewish content. As a result, the New Testament Gospels have been described as a "tertium quid'. However, until fairly recently, few scholars appear to have taken the possibility of finding Jewish rhetorical form, in the shape of chiasm, into account in their examination of New Testament texts and have almost exclusively tended to focus on classical Greek rhetorical forms. As a result, this study opens itself to the possibility of finding both Jewish and Greco- Roman literary forms in the text, thereby attempting to obtain a greater presence of understanding of what the implied author was doing with the text. This study therefore endeavours to understand, not only what the implied author intended to communicate through the literary form of the text to the implied reader but also, at the level of discourse, the "how" of that communication within the literary context of the Gospel as a whole. In the light of the aforegoing, the research questions appear as follows. (1) What, on a balance of probability, is the literary form or structure of Mark 7:24- 3 1 within its literary context? If the form of the text is found, on a balance of probability, to exhibit the characteristics of chiasm: (2) What implied effect would this have on an implied reader when understood and interpreted within the context of Greco-Roman biography? And, (3) what effect would the answers to (1) and (2) above have on a modern (present) reader of the Gospel of Mark? After a brief overview of the socio-historical and cultural setting to the Gospel of Mark that serves as essential background material necessary for an understanding of the text, this study proceeds to consider the ancient roots of chiasm with regard to the literature of the Ancient Near East and briefly traces its prevalence from the ancient past through to the period of the New Testament. Because chiasm is a particular form of parallelism, the importance of understanding Biblical parallelisms in the Hebrew literature in general and its significance with regard to the New Testament and Mark's Gospel in particular is considered. A discussion of various definitions of chiasm follows. After considering the Gospel of Mark and the literary context of the subject text, its literary form is examined in the light of known ancient literary conventions, including Biblical narrative and the various forms evidenced in the exchange of dialogue are considered and the text examined for further correspondences. Thereafter the text is reviewed within its literary context and, what follows, is an explanation of how the form of the text may function within its literary location. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: My voorlopige identifiesering van chiasme in Markus 7:24-31 inisieer 'n multidimensionele studie van die literêre vorm van dié interessante teks. Nuwe-Testamentici neig om saam te stem dat die genre (vorm, inhoud en funksie) van die evangelie volgens Markus die literêre kenmerke toon, tipies van antieke, eerste eeuse (AD) Grieks-Romeinse biografie en stel so, in 'n breë sin, Grieks-Romeinse vorm en funksie sowel as Joodse inhoud ten toon. As 'n resultaat is die Nuwe Testamentiese Evangelies beskryf as 'n "tertium quid." Tog, tot redelik onlangs het weinig Nuwe-Testamentici die moontlikheid in ag geneem om Joodse retoriese vorm, in die vorm van giasme, te vind in hulle ondersoek van Nuwe Testamentiese tekste en het geneig om bykans uitsluitlik te fokus op klassieke Griekse retoriese vorme. As 'n gevolg open hierdie studie ditself tot die moontlikheid om Joodse, sowel as Grieks-Romeinse literêre vorme binne die teks te vind en sodoende 'n groter begrip mee te bring van wat die geïmpliseerde outeur met die teks gemaak het. Die studie onderneem dus om nie net aan te dui wat die geïmpliseerde outeur beoog het om te kommunikeer d.m.v. die literêre vorm van die teks aan die geïmpliseerde gehoor nie, maar ook op die vlak van diskoers, die "hoe" van die kommunikasie binne die literêre konteks van die evangelie as geheel. In die lig van die voorafgaande kan die ondersoekvrae as volg geformuleer word. (1) Wat is die literêre vorm of struktuur van Markus 7:24-31 binne die bepaalde literêre konteks? lndien die vorm van die teks die kenmerke van chiasme vertoon: (2) Watter geïmpliseerde effek sal dit hê op 'n geïmpliseerde gehoor indien die teks verstaan en geïnterpreteer word binne die konteks van Grieks-Romeinse biografie? En (3) watter effek sal die antwoorde tot vrae (1) en (2) hê op die moderne (eietydse) leser van die Evangelie volgens Markus? Na 'n kort oorsig oor die sosio-historiese en kulturele plasing van die Evangelie volgens Markus wat dien as noodsaaklike agtergrond materiaal, noodsaaklik vir 'n verstaan van die teks, gaan die studie voort om die antieke wortels van chiasme te oorweeg, met inagneming die literatuur van die ou Nabye Ooste en gaan kortliks die belang hiervan na, vanaf die antieke tye tot en met die Nuwe Testamentiese tydperk. Aangesien chiasme 'n spesifieke vorm van parallelisme is, word die belang van die verstaan van Bybelse parallelisme binne die Hebreeuse literatuur in die algemeen en die belang daarvan rakende die Nuwe Testament en die Evangelie volgens Markus in besonder, oorweeg. 'n Bespreking van verskeie definisies van chiasme volg. Na 'n bespreking van die Evangelie volgens Markus, sowel as die literêre konteks van die bepaalde perikoop, word die literêre vorm ondersoek in die lig van bekende antieke literêre konvensies, insluitende Bybelse narratief en verskeie vorme wat, waarneembaar binne die uitruil van dialoog ondesoek, en word die teks ondersoek vir verdere ooreenstemminge. Om hiedie rede word die teks oorweeg binne die literêre konteks en wat daarop volg is 'n verduideliking van hoe die vorm van die teks kan funksioneer binne die literêre plasing daarvan.

Thesis (DLitt)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation looks at the reception of Gen. 1-3, one of the most controversial parts in the Hebrew Bible. How was it interpreted by the Nguni speaking communities (e.g. Xhosa, Zulu, siSwazi and siNdebele) taking into consideration their background, culture and religious belief system? The reception approach is followed in the research because of its emphasis on the role of the reader in understanding texts. Sources that are utilized are Nguni Bible translations, selected preached sermons (which the researcher attended himself), Nguni stories and folk tales and reviews undertaken among selected Nguni groups. A close-reading of the texts under discussion is undertaken in order to determine the basic content and issues of interpretation involved. The central concepts of cosmogony as contained in Gen. 1-2 are studied, as well as the story of the Garden of Eden and the concept of the “fall” in Gen. 3. The map of the Nguni language group is described and the culture and belief system of the Nguni speaking communities. Central concepts to this belief system are the worship of ancestors, marriage, circumcision, and among the Swazis the incwala (annual national feast) Legends and folk tales were used as sources for the Nguni belief system. It was determined that the Nguni speaking people worshipped one God in their traditional way, but always through their ancestors as a sign of respect. The role of the missionaries is analyzed by describing the history of the various missionary societies and their influence on the Nguni peoples. A very short discussion is devoted to preached sermons by Nguni pastors in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Bible translations have always played a very important role among Nguni speakers (both Christians and non-believers). The need for translations using understandable contemporary terms is emphasized. This is the challenge to the Bible societies and Bible translators. Qualitative reviews were undertaken under selected Nguni speaking groups (Xhosa, Zulu, siSwati and siNdebele). Some of the results obtained from these reviews (full transcripts are included) are: (1) that there is a common understanding of the origin of the universe between the Hebrew Bible and the Nguni religious culture. (2) Serpent (Gen. 3): among the Zulus this concept is understood in terms of sexuality, but it can also be linked with the ancestors. (3) Both communities (Hebrew Bible and the Nguni) were tainted with the concept and ideology of patriarchalism. The crucial question in the research was: “what happens when a cosmogonic myth is transferred from one community to another?” In the case of Gen. 1-3 an ancient Hebrew text was transmitted to African cultures via missionaries and Bible translations. Nguni people react differently. Whereas some accept Gen. 1-3 (cosmogonies and the “fall”) as a detailed explanation of how creation and the “fall” came about, others reject it. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif kyk na die resepsie van Gen. 1-3, een van die mees kontroversiële dele in die Hebreeuse Bybel. Hoe word dit geïnterpreteer deur die Ngunisprekende gemeenskappe (Xhosas, Zoeloes, Swazi’s en Ndebele-groepe), met inagneming van hulle agtergrond, kultuur en stelsel van godsdienstige oortuigings? Die resepsiebenadering word in hierdie navorsing gevolg weens die klem op die rol van die leser in hoe tekste verstaan word. Die bronne wat aangewend is, is Ngunibybelvertalings, geselekteerde preke (wat die navorser self bygewoon het), Ngunistories en -volksverhale, en onderhoude wat met geselekteerde Ngunigroepe gevoer is. 'n In-dieptestudie van die betrokke tekste is onderneem ten einde die basiese inhoud en interpretasiekwessies te bepaal. Die sentrale konsep van kosmogonie, soos vervat in Gen. 1- 2, is bestudeer, asook die storie oor die Tuin van Eden en die konsep van die “sondeval” in Gen. 3. Die kaart van die Ngunitaalgroep word beskryf, asook die kultuur en geloofstelsel van die Ngunisprekende gemeenskappe. Sleutelkonsepte in hierdie geloofstelsel is die aanbidding van voorvaders, die huwelik, besnydenis, en onder die Swazi’s, die incwala (jaarlikse nasionale fees). Legendes en volksverhale is gebruik as bronne vir die Ngunigeloofstelsel. Daar is vasgestel dat die Ngunisprekende mense altyd een God aanbid het op hulle tradisionele manier, maar altyd deur voorvaders as 'n teken van respek. Die rol van die sendelinge word ontleed deur die geskiedenis van die verskeie sendinggenootskappe te beskryf, asook hulle invloed op die Ngunimense. 'n Baie kort bespreking word gewy aan preke gelewer deur Ngunipastore in die Sewendedaagse Adventistekerk.Bybelvertalings het nog altyd 'n baie belangrike rol gespeel onder Ngunisprekers (beide Christene en nie-gelowiges). Die behoefte vir vertalings wat verstaanbare, kontemporêre terme gebruik, word beklemtoon. Dít is die uitdaging wat aan die bybelgenootskappe en bybelvertalers gestel word. Kwalitatiewe onderhoude is afgelê onder geselekteerde Ngunisprekende groepe (Xhosas, Zoeloes, Swazi’s en Ndebele-groepe). Resultate wat verkry is van hierdie evaluerings (waarvan volledige transkripsies voorsien word) sluit in: (1) dat daar 'n gemeenskaplike begrip is van die oorsprong van die heelal by die Hebreeuse Bybel en die Ngunigeloofskultuur; (2) dat die konsep van die slang (Gen. 3) onder die Zoeloes in terme van seksualiteit verstaan word, maar dat dit ook met die voorvaders in verband gebring kan word; en (3) dat beide gemeenskappe (Hebreeuse Bybel en die Nguni) tekens dra van die konsep en ideologie van patriargisme. Die kernvraag in die navorsing was: “Wat gebeur wanneer ’n kosmogoniese mite oorgedra word van een gemeenskap na 'n ander?”. In die geval van Gen. 1-3 is 'n ou Hebreeuse teks oorgedra na Afrikakulture via sendelinge en bybelvertalings. Ngunimense reageer verskillend. Waar sommige Gen. 1-3 aanvaar (kosmogonieë en die “sondeval”) as 'n gedetailleerde verduideliking van hoe die skepping en die “sondeval” plaasgevind het, word dit deur ander verwerp.

How we approach a poem changes it. Recently, it has been suggested that one readerly approach - a bodily orientation characterised by distance, suspicion, and resistance - risks becoming reflexive, pre-conscious, and predominant. This use-oriented reading allows us to destabilise, denaturalise, dissect, defend, and define poetic texts through its manifestation in contemporary literary critique, yet it is coming to be regarded as the sole manner and mood of intelligent, intellectual engagement. In this thesis, I demonstrate the need to pluralise this attentive orientation, particularly when it comes to contemporary lyric poetry. I suggest how an overlooked mode of response might foster a more receptive mode of approach: the 'co-creative' response. Lyric poems mean to move us, and they come to mean by moving us. Recent 'simulation theories of language comprehension', from the field of cognitive neuroscience, provide empirical evidence that language processing is not a product of a-modal symbol manipulation but rather involves 'simulations' by certain classes of neurons in areas used for real-world action and perception. As habituation and abstraction increase, however, these embodied simulations 'streamline', becoming narrow schematic 'shadows' of once broad, qualitatively rich simulations. Poems, I suggest, seek to reverse this process by situationally novel variations of language, coming to mean in the broadly embodied sense in which real-world experiences 'mean'. Readers are asked to 'enact' the poem, to 'co-create' its meaning. Where critique traditionally requires that readers resist enactive participation in the aim of objective analysis, the co-creative response - a response 'in kind' by imitation, versioning, or hommage - asks readers to receive and carry forward the enactive unfolding of a poem with a composition of their own. I assert that, by thus responding with - rather than to - poems, we might foster an attentive stance of active receptivity, thereby coming to understand poems as the enactive phenomena they are.

Seguindo uma pista lançada pelo próprio Proust num texto crítico sobre a leitura, a crítica proustiana vem dedicando bastante espaço à compreensão deste tema na Recherche. Em geral, essa compreensão tem sido levada a cabo por meio da análise das figurações da leitura no romance de modo a construir o posicionamento teórico do escritor sobre a leitura que, por sua vez, funcionaria como modelo para a leitura da própria Recherche. Entretanto, essas análises apontam para incoerências e contradições que potencialmente poderiam invalidar seu caráter de modelo. Revisitando algumas das interpretações críticas bem como o próprio ensaio de Proust sobre a questão, esta tese defende que a compreensão da leitura da Recherche vai além da discussão da figuração do tema no texto. Para isso, propõe a análise do papel do leitor dimensão textual virtual que comporta diversas operações interpretativas potenciais. Controladas pela organização do texto, isto é, por sua disposição arquitetônica, em seus mais diversos planos, essas operações, uma vez percebidas pelos leitores (o que não se deu imediatamente na história da recepção da Recherche) sustentam essas leituras (críticas ou não) de modo que podem ser vistas como a base ou as condições de possibilidade de toda e qualquer interpretação. / Following the clue given by Proust himself on his essay on reading, recently, proustian critics have been paying a lot of attention to this theme in A la Recherche. In general, these interpretations analyse the figurations of reading in the text which, in turn, is used as a model for the reading of Prousts text. However, many of these analyses point out to incoherencies in Prousts theoretical discourse which can invalidate its status as a model for the reader. Revisiting some of the analyses on the topic and Prousts own essay On reading, this thesis tries to indicate that the understanding of the subject of reading should move beyond the discussion of its figuration in the text. In order to do that, we propose an analysis of the role of the reader a virtual textual dimension formed by the interpretive operations designed by the text itself. Controlled by the organization of the materials that form the text, these operations, once perceived by the reader, support many of the critical readings of Prousts text and so, they are, as it seems, the foundations for most of the readings of A la Recherche.