Understanding and Appreciating Literary Texts Through Rereading

TLDR

Literary narratives elicit greater appreciation on rereading, likely because readers recognize literary devices or simply experience enhanced comprehension. The authors conducted three experiments in which participants reread either original literary texts or style‑normalized versions, and used linear mixed‑effects models to analyze how literariness, perceived comprehension, and reading experience predict appreciation. Results indicate that higher appreciation after rereading is driven mainly by greater perceived comprehension, rather than the level of literary style.

Abstract

Previous research showed an emerging appreciation of literary narratives on second reading, whereas such effects fail to occur for the same narratives depleted of literary features. This might suggest that appreciation is associated with readers' acknowledgment of the purposefulness of literary devices on rereading. It may also be that the increase in appreciation is caused by a general sense of increased comprehension, a more common effect that may also occur on rereading nonliterary narratives. Three studies were conducted in which participants reread either original literary texts or manipulated versions in which literary style aspects were normalized. Using linear mixed models we examined the relationship between levels of literariness, perceived comprehension, and appreciation as well as the mediating influence of participants' reading experience. The results show that an increase in appreciation seems mainly related to an increase in perceived comprehension, independent of the level of literariness.