- 1. The Discourse of Reading GroupsAHRC-funded project,
2007/8Joan SwannThe Open University
2. Research questions What kinds of interpretations and
evaluations doreading group members provide of
contemporaryfiction/other literary texts? How are
interpretations/evaluations constructed? How is such critical work
interwoven with thesocial, interpersonal and affective demands of
groupinteraction? What kinds of reader identities are negotiated
byparticipants? How do interpretations/evaluations relate to
theprofessional judgements made by literary critics andacademics?
3. Main sources of data16 Reading groups meeting in diverse
contexts(geography, types of groups, types of readers): Reading
group discussion, audio-recorded/transcribed; Group interviews with
reading groupmembers, audio-recorded/transcribed; Non-participant
observation of meetings; Documentary evidence, including
publishedreviews/academic commentary on books selected
fordiscussion, group newsletters, group reviews. 4. Discourse
analysisInteractional sociolinguistics - socially-oriented
andcontextualised analysis of language in interaction:
Identification of emergent themes Discursive strategies adopted by
participants Informed by e.g.observations, interviews, relevant
documentsPlus: Atlas-ti Corpus linguistics 5. OutcomesPublications
(see examples) have focused on: Reading group talk as an act of
reading Reading and re-reading over time Literary readings as
creative/contingent Talking beyond the book Methodological
contrasts/combinations Reading groups and the academy 6. Sample
publicationsAllington, D. and Swann, J. (2009) Researching literary
reading as socialpractice, Language and Literature. 18 (3):
219-30.Allington, D. and Swann, J. (2011) Reading and social
interaction: a criticalapproach to individual and group reading
practices, in R. Crone and S. Towheed(eds) The History of Reading,
Vol 3: Methods, Strategies, Tactics.Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave
Macmillan, pp80-96.OHalloran, K. (2011) Investigating argumentation
in reading groups: combiningmanual qualitative coding and automated
corpus analysis tools, AppliedLinguistics 32 (2): 172-196.Swann, J.
(2012) Creative interpretations: a discursive approach to
literaryreading, in Jones, R. (ed) Discourse and Creativity.
Harlow: Pearson Education.Swann, J. (2011) How reading groups talk
about books: a study of literaryreception, in Swann, J., Pope, R.
and Carter, R. (eds)Creativity, Language, Literature: the state of
the art. Basingstoke, Hants: PalgraveMacmillan, pp217-230.Swann, J.
and Allington, D. (2009) Reading groups and the language of
literarytexts: a case study in social reading, Language and
Literature. 18 (3): 247-64.Swann, J. and Cremin, T. (2012)
Shadowing English, English DramaMedia, October 2012: 31-7. 7. 1.
Well I will startbecause I will start2. which I named mycardigan
after3. The thing thatstrikes me as anAmerican4. The thing I found
alittle difficult [narrator]was only 286. I also thought it
wasclever the wayeverything kept comingback 5. 8. 3.
MeaningofAswany,where thenamecomes from7. Where do Copts
comefrom?5. Author is a Dentist2. IsAswany[author]
aChristianname?Is the authora Christian?4. Does anybody know howthe
book?6. Author as Coptic dentist 9. Links to Cultural value themes
Instance of everyday cultural experience caught on the hoof
Aesthetic and discursive dimensions of culturalencounters
Informal/improvisatory (though cf publishingindustry) Intrinsically
rewarding + perceived benefits:personal, professional,
rehabilitative, educational Crosses boundaries:
private/public;individual/collective; intrinsic/instrumental 10. An
example of data: doctors,knowledge and powerContext: A reading
group in a university medicalschool is discussing Steinbecks The
Pearl. They referto the oppression faced by the main character
Kinoand his family, as well as by other poor villagers. Asan
example Meg refers to a corrupt doctor, whorefuses to treat Kinos
baby for a scorpion sting untilhe learns Kino has found a valuable
pearl. At thispoint the doctor visits the family and administers
apowder that makes the baby appear ill so that he canclaim a fee
for treating him. 11. Motivations for research Reading groups as a
widespread culturalphenomenon and as culturally salient The
significance of reading group discourse Reading groups as an
everyday literarypractice 12. East midlands: language inThe
Gathering- something incestuous about relationship?- sharing a bed
as children- close - came out like a gang bang- interesting use of
language- sexual language extremely crude- hate and love-
physicality of sex- train to Brighton guys erection- critic in here
hasnt liked it
