Participation, Perplexity and Plurality: Exploring the Shared Reading of a ‘Difficult’ Poem

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this article, we explore how adults in a community shared reading group discuss the notoriously difficult poem ‘The Emperor of Ice-Cream’ by the American poet Wallace Stevens. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s notion of action, we explore how participants negotiate the poem, actively constructing meanings from their shared personal experiences rather than simply reading off meanings contained in and bounded by the poem, a text which continues to be divisively contested by literary ‘experts’. In enabling them to act collectively in such a purposive and immersive fashion, shared reading, we suggest, constitutes a public space where participants experience the plurality that Arendt argues is central to the human condition. At a time when tolerance of difference has been compromised by divisive politics, a focus on the collaborative aspect of shared reading contributes to a greater understanding of the role it can play in supporting inclusive, participatory arts practices in communities.