Abstract
Based on Kuzmičová’s [1] phenomenological typology of narrative styles, we studied the specific contributions of mental imagery to literary reading experience and to reading behavior by combining questionnaires with eye-tracking methodology. Specifically, we focused on the two main categories in Kuzmičová’s [1] typology, i.e., texts dominated by an “enactive” style, and texts dominated by a “descriptive” style. “Enactive” style texts render characters interacting with their environment, and “descriptive” style texts render environments dissociated from human action. The quantitative analyses of word category distributions of two dominantly enactive and two dominantly descriptive texts indicated significant differences especially in the number of verbs, with more verbs in enactment compared to descriptive texts. In a second study, participants read two texts (one theoretically cueing descriptive imagery, the other cueing enactment imagery) while their eye movements were recorded. After reading, participants completed questionnaires assessing aspects of the reading experience generally, as well as their text-elicited mental imagery specifically. Results show that readers experienced more difficulties conjuring up mental images during reading descriptive style texts and that longer fixation duration on words were associated with enactive style text. We propose that enactive style involves more imagery processes which can be reflected in eye movement behavior.
Highlights
Whatever genre of fiction we happen to favour, one of the things that make us prefer a given author over another is their way of expressing everyday sensory experience
Based on Kuzmičová’s (2014) phenomenological typology of narrative styles, we studied the specific contributions of mental imagery to literary reading experience and to reading behavior by combining questionnaires with eye-tracking methodology
We propose that enactive style involves more imagery processes which can be reflected in eye movement behavior
Summary
Whatever genre of fiction we happen to favour, one of the things that make us prefer a given author over another is their way of expressing everyday sensory experience. Invocations of what it is like to experience the world through our senses have always been an important part of the creative writer toolkit. When such devices succeed in Magyari, L., Mangen, A., Kuzmičová. (2020) Eye movements and mental imagery during reading eliciting mental imagery, they can become a source of pleasure to readers (De Koning & van der Schoot, 2013; Mol & Jolles, 2014) as well as an aid to immersion (Green & Brock, 2000; Kuijpers, Hakemulder, Doicaru, & Tan, 2014), memory for text (De Koning & van der Schoot, 2013; Sadoski, 2018), or even deeper insight (Schrijvers, Janssen, Fialho, & Rijlaarsdam, 2019; Sikora, Kuiken, & Miall, 2011). According to some phenomenological theories, “having a rich, immersed reading experience requires active presentification (perception) of the fictional world” Concretization and filling-out, as well as motor enactment are assumed to be central to this (Grünbaum, 2007; Kuzmičová, 2012)
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