This paper uses both distant and close reading methods to analyse reader reception of Bernardine Evaristo’s works “The Emperor’s Babe”, “Mr. Loverman” and her Booker Award winning publication “Girl, Woman, Other”. Through experimental form and style, approachable characters and humorous style of writing, Evaristo successfully draws the contemporary reader into the story world and educates her on the constructedness of cognitive borders and social categorizations (sex, gender, age, race, class et cetera). After the reader crosses the border into the story world, she follows the individual journeys of the fictional characters with the help of mind-reading and narrative empathy and leaves the story world with differences in cognitive processing” followed by effects on “cognition, perception and action.
To empirically analyse the educational, border-crossing effect of a literary work that reaches beyond the reading experience, this paper uses reception data from Goodreads in the form of reader profile information and reviews on “The Emperor’s Babe”, “Mr. Loverman” and “Girl, Woman, Other”. After a theoretical introduction to the historic development of the academic interest in both border and (empirical) reception studies, the results section will outline the major findings of a descriptive statistical analysis of the retrieved data for the reception of all novels. Each novel’s reception will then be looked at individually through distant and close reading of the respective book’s narrative techniques. A discussion section will compare the findings of the distant and close readings of all three books under discussion. The paper will close with a critical summary of the findings in the conclusion and give an outlook on the advantages and opportunities provided by the study of the subversive, border-crossing effects of literature in general.
The influence of fiction on a reader’s personal life and social cognition has been of interest to academia ever since the beginnings of reader-response criticism and the cognitive turn of the 1980s. Literature, after all, has the power to serve as a springboard for subversive thought, the precursory movement of a transformation of social and cultural structures. Reader response and reception theorists, cognitive literary critics and empirical receptionists have thus been trying to empirically explain the transformative, subversive powers of literature.
Table of Contents
I. Border-Crossing Fiction
II. Theoretical Introduction
1. Border Crossing and Reader Transportation
2. Reader-Response Criticism and Reception Theory
3. Cognitive Literary Studies: Theory of Mind & Narrative Empathy
4. The Empirical About Literary and Reception Studies
III. Methodological Introduction
IV. Results
1. General Findings
2. The Emperor’s Babe (2001)
a) Reader Profiles, Ratings and Reviews
b) Historicity
c) Zuleika
d) Language
e) Form
3. Mr. Loverman (2013)
a) Reader Profiles, Ratings and Reviews
b) Barry
c) Carmel
d) Morris
e) Humour
4. Girl, Woman, Other (2019)
a) Reader Profiles, Ratings and Reviews
b) Intersectionality
c) Polyphony
d) Form
e) Stereotyping
V. Discussion
VI. Conclusion & Outlook
VII. Appendix
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this thesis is to empirically analyze the border-crossing and educational effects of literature by examining the reception of Bernardine Evaristo’s novels. The research aims to understand how textual strategies, such as narrative techniques and character development, intersect with reader variables to facilitate cognitive transportation into story worlds and influence real-life cognition.
- Empirical analysis of reader reception using Goodreads data
- Application of "distant" and "close" reading methods
- Investigation of cognitive literary theories including Theory of Mind and narrative empathy
- Examination of intersectionality, identity, and social categorization in contemporary British literature
- Evaluation of how narrative structures, such as polyphony and experimental form, influence reader engagement
Excerpt from the Book
b) Historicity
The Emperor’s Babe’s epigraph by Oscar Wilde (“The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it” (Evaristo, TEB viii) already hints at the verse-novel’s temporal border crossing. Set in 211 CE, The Emperor’s Babe takes the 21st century reader on a historical journey to Roman Londinium. Similar to historical novels, The Emperor’s Babe is set more than 40 to 60 years in the past (3rd century CE), evolves around important, public events, which affect the fictional characters (i.e., war with Caledonia, “from Hadrian’s Wall // to the Antonine Wall // and way up to the North Sea” (Evaristo, TEB 130f.)), and features a real historical figure (Septimius Severus, the Roman Emperor) (Fleishman qtd. in Gendusa 50).
The Emperor’s Babe’s historicity is paired with 21st-century references to facilitate reader transportation into the story world. For example, several geographical references to present-day London like “Fenchurch” street (Evaristo, TEB 11) “Kent”, “Greenwich”, “River Fleet”, “River Ravensbourne” and “Thamesmead” (168), amongst many others, complement the novel’s historicity as observed by one reviewer: “While the setting is Roman Londinium AD and many of the details of living conditions, clothing, and food are historically accurate, modern idioms and place names like St. Paul’s and Greenwich establish links with present-day London”8.
Summary of Chapters
I. Border-Crossing Fiction: Introduces the theoretical framework regarding literature's power to influence social cognition and outlines the dual method of distant and close reading used to analyze Evaristo's works.
II. Theoretical Introduction: Provides the academic background on border studies, reader-response criticism, and the cognitive turn in literary theory, specifically focusing on Theory of Mind and narrative empathy.
III. Methodological Introduction: Describes the data collection process using Goodreads, detailing the extraction of reader reviews and the rationale for using internet-based empirical data.
IV. Results: Presents the statistical findings and thematic analyses for each of the three novels, examining how narrative strategies influence reader reception.
V. Discussion: Compares the findings across the novels, evaluating the role of extra-textual factors like gender and location in shaping reader engagement and empathy.
VI. Conclusion & Outlook: Summarizes the research results and suggests future directions for empirical reception studies in the context of transformative literature.
Keywords
Border-crossing, Reader Reception, Empirical Literary Studies, Narrative Empathy, Theory of Mind, Bernardine Evaristo, The Emperor’s Babe, Mr. Loverman, Girl Woman Other, Distant Reading, Close Reading, Cognitive Literary Studies, Intersectionality, Polyphony, Reader Transportation
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
This thesis explores the intersection of literature and social cognition, specifically how fictional works can influence a reader's real-life beliefs and values through "border-crossing" narratives.
Which specific Evaristo novels are analyzed?
The study examines "The Emperor’s Babe" (2001), "Mr. Loverman" (2013), and "Girl, Woman, Other" (2019).
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to empirically evaluate whether narrative strategies in these novels effectively transport readers into story worlds and induce educational effects regarding social categorizations.
What scientific methods are utilized?
The research employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including distant reading (statistical analysis of Goodreads data) and close reading (hermeneutic analysis of narrative techniques).
What themes are central to the main chapters?
The chapters focus on historicity, character perspective, language usage, intersectionality, polyphony, and the role of stereotyping in guiding reader empathy.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key concepts include border-crossing, narrative empathy, cognitive literary studies, empirical reception, and intersectionality.
How does the author analyze reader reception?
The author scrapes and analyzes 714 reader reviews from Goodreads to identify patterns in rating and thematic focus across different demographic reader groups.
How is the "polyphony" in "Girl, Woman, Other" defined?
Polyphony is analyzed based on Bakhtin's concept, where the novel's twelve female characters each provide an internally focalized perspective, creating a multi-voiced narrative that challenges absolute truth.
What role does humor play in "Mr. Loverman"?
Humor is identified as a narrative strategy that serves as a coping mechanism for the protagonist, Barry, while simultaneously engaging the reader and facilitating empathy for a flawed, complex character.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Marnie Hensler (Autor:in), 2021, Border Crossing and Reader Reception in "The Emperor’s Babe", "Mr. Loverman" and "Girl, Woman, Other" by Bernardine Evaristo, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1060169
