In this paper we explore the perception of Borges’ The Garden of the Forking Paths by American, Hungarian and Italian university students, with the aim of seeing: affective reaction, appreciation of text properties, meaning assignment, perception of the protagonist and the author and attitudes toward those from other cultures. Borges’ text was appropriate to disclose common ways of understanding practiced by these so-called ‘naïve’ (not expert) readers. The story is a brand of modern fiction which eschews traditional psychological elements, a de-personalized kind of narration. All the same, these readers tended to personalize the characters and action in the story. Our findings indicate that, regardless of their culture, readers try to shape their reading experience toward producing a simultaneous understanding of their inner and external worlds while interpolating a realistic frame into a (post)modern narrative.

Traversing a Borges labyrinth: searching for the transcultural aspects of literary reading

NEMESIO, Aldo Severino
2012-01-01

Abstract

In this paper we explore the perception of Borges’ The Garden of the Forking Paths by American, Hungarian and Italian university students, with the aim of seeing: affective reaction, appreciation of text properties, meaning assignment, perception of the protagonist and the author and attitudes toward those from other cultures. Borges’ text was appropriate to disclose common ways of understanding practiced by these so-called ‘naïve’ (not expert) readers. The story is a brand of modern fiction which eschews traditional psychological elements, a de-personalized kind of narration. All the same, these readers tended to personalize the characters and action in the story. Our findings indicate that, regardless of their culture, readers try to shape their reading experience toward producing a simultaneous understanding of their inner and external worlds while interpolating a realistic frame into a (post)modern narrative.
2012
XI
59
76
http://www.libraweb.net/riviste.php?chiave=69
psychology of reading; empirical research on literature; J.L. Borges; literary characters; modern fiction; literary cultural studies
L. HALÁSZ; E. THURY; A. NEMESIO
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/97569
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