Young Adults in Sweden on Reading Literary Fiction in Print and Electronic Media

In her article "Young Adults in Sweden on Reading Literary Fiction in Print and Electronic Media" Skans Kersti Nilsson analyses 16-25 year old young adults' reflections on the reading of fiction in printed books versus electronic media. In Nilsson's study focus group interviews were conducted to gauge how conversations on the importance of reading literary fiction develop inside and outside the learning environment of school. The results suggest that young adults derive benefit from reading fiction and that they think this activity yields more benefits than reading fiction on electronic media or viewing filmed literature. Results also suggest that participants in Nilsson's study think reading fiction is important for self-insight and personal development. Skans Kersti Nilsson, "Young Adults in Sweden on Reading Literary Fiction in Print and Electronic Media" page 2 of 7 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 18.2 (2016): Thematic Issue New Work in the Empirical Study of Literature. Ed. Aldo Nemesio Skans Kersti NILSSON Young Adults in Sweden on Reading Literary Fiction in Print and Electronic Media Research on the reading abilities and competence of children and young people today is a steadily growing field. This should be seen against the background of the opportunities afforded by digital technology in presenting texts and knowledge in a new way, for example by the linking of images and sound. The rapid expansion of digital media regarding information seeking and learning has contributed to digital reading competence being prioritized and developing quickly. According to the 2012 Nordicom-Sverige survey, young adults in Sweden devote approximately nine times more hours to digital media than to reading literature the weekly reading of literature in the 15-24 age group has reduced by 4% (). The consequences of this digital expansion have begun to cause criticism (see, e.g., Carr; Piper). Research shows that screen-based reading involving scanning of large amounts of data, searching for keywords, non-linear reading, etc., has an influence on traditional reading abilities (see Liu; Wolf). Comparative studies of reading comprehension in different formats such as paper-based textual reading versus screen reading show clear differences in results (see Mangen, Walgermo, Brønnick). Brain activity, characterized by slowness and contemplation, cannot develop deep reading (see Wolf and Barzillai). Moreover, surveys and research show that students do not consider reading fiction to be essential to their lives (see, e.g., Fialho, Zyngier, Miall). Scandinavian longitudinal studies show reduced interest in reading classics and high-brow literature in favor of popular genres like fantasy and crime fiction (see, e.g., Gripsrud, Hovden, Moe; Nordberg). In the present study I address the question of how today's young adults growing up in the age of the internet and the new media regard the significance of traditional reading of fiction in terms of their own thoughts and opinions. In particular I discuss the reading of fiction in printed books versus electronic media and the benefit the reading of fiction is seen to give (on this see, e.g., Foasberg). Here are some of the questions asked from research subjects: How is the importance of reading fiction experienced? How is reading fiction in book form experienced as opposed to the experience of fiction in other media and formats? How do the respondents regard the importance of reading fiction as far as self insight and personality development are concerned? Following the structure and content of the questions asked, the objective of the study is not on reading habits or preferences, but on young adults' understanding of and arguments on why reading fiction today is of importance and what benefits reading fiction might have for self-understanding. I also posit what Joan Swann and Daniel Allington suggest: reading group members enjoy hearing the views of others and that this affects their own interpretations of books. The target group for this research project comprised young adults in Sweden in the age range 1625 years at various levels of high school in the Swedish educational system. This means that literature didactics and pedagogy is located nearest to the objectives of the project. In this connection it is, however, the metacognitive significance and function of reading fiction to which attention is given, independent from aspects of pedagogy at the schools where the project's participants come from. The focus is linked to the technical cut-off point in terms of format in which society finds itself today where the reading of literature seems to have become side-lined in scholarly discourse and pedagogy. At the same time, my study links with research in Sweden and on the international landscape of scholarship (see, e.g., Langer; Molloy; Olin-Scheller; Persson; Tengberg) including the 2011 curricula for Swedish upper secondary schools, which in its description draws attention to the importance of reading literature for personal development: "The core of the academic subject Swedish is language and literature. Language is the primary instrument/tool of man for reflection, communication and development of knowledge. Through language man can express his personality, and with help of fiction, texts of different kinds and different types of media mankind is able to learn about the world surrounding him, his fellow men and himself" (Läroplan 160; unless indicated otherwise all translations are mine). The literary perspective on the importance of reading literature for the development of identity in its broad meaning is described by Rita Felski in Uses of Literature as a chain of events staged by "recognition" in the text: "Recognition is about knowing, but also about the limits of knowing and knowability, and about how self-perception is mediated by the other, and the perception of otherness by the self" (49). The invitation of literature to recognition is, in other words, about a form of mirror phenomenon, an invitation to transgressional reflection on the human condition without directly confronting real people. A more connected way of looking at things by means of neurology and the Theory of Mind (ToM), explains the ability of mankind to transfer and foresee the thoughts, feelings, beliefs and yearnings of other individuals. Lisa Zunshine argues in Why We Read Fiction that ToM can be transferred to the field of literature and this suggests that emotional engagement, insight, and empathy in the reading of literature can be explained on biological grounds. However, in Empathy and the Novel Suzanne Keen argues that a pre-mirrored connection between narrative empathy and altruism is too weak to be used as evidence of ToM. It is doubtful, according to Keen, whether this narrative empathy is capable of breaking into the reader's identity and reaching his/her individuality beyond common values of the collective. This would mean that the hypothesis of a connection between empathy and altruism is not valid for narrative empathy as a result of reading literary fiction. Scholars of reading in psychometrics investigate the empirically measurable effects of reading literature. For example, David S. Miall and Don Kuiken suggest in "A Feeling for Fiction" that aesthetic and narrative feelings interact to produce metaphors of personal identification that modify selfunderstanding. Further, according to Raymond Mar and Keith Oatley in "The Function of Fiction," literary fiction communicates experiences and knowledge about social reality. While we are reading fiction, our mental ability to imagine is activated. Reading fiction has, then, the possibility of involving the Skans Kersti Nilsson, "Young Adults in Sweden on Reading Literary Fiction in Print and Electronic Media" page 3 of 7 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 18.2 (2016): Thematic Issue New Work in the Empirical Study of Literature. Ed. Aldo Nemesio reader's personality, awakening feelings and, given a credible presentation, arousing in the reader insights as to her/his own and other individuals' experiences and reactions. This happens, according to Mar and Oatley, in the following way: while reading fiction the reader is transported to the simulated reality of the story and while the reader is absorbed by the story she/he is also receptive to its reality and thereby his/her own understanding of self: "stories simulate or model the social world through abstraction ... the abstraction of experience found in stories evokes, through various mechanisms of that depend on imagery and literary language, a simulative experience that allows for the compelling and efficient transmission of social knowledge ... we propose that the idea of fiction as a kind of simulation that runs through our minds will extend our understandings of selves in the social world" (187). Psychometric studies have also shown that the reading of fiction can contribute to a greater degree than factual material, to an increased understanding of the variation of different social abilities, something which can be assumed to contribute to the development of one's own personality towards a better understanding of others (see Djikic, Oatley, Zoeterman, Peterson; Mar, Oatley, Hirsch, dela Paz, Peterson). Oatley takes this even further in Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction: "In relational conversation, we don't just understand the words said by the other. We understand the other's meanings and intentions. This requires entering others' minds" (158). And results by David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castano in "Reading Literary Fiction" show evidence that reading literary fiction, apart from reading popular fiction and non-fiction, improves ToM. The main point in this connection is the significance of reading fiction for the development of personality and social orientation, when the cognitive development of young adults is characterized by a growing degree of integration with the surrounding world (see Appleyard). Identity means consciousness of oneself as a unique individual, a self with a sharp border against other individuals. The understanding of self relates in a philosophical perspective to the binary opposites between inner and outer reality. We understand our thoughts, ideas, and feelings as something within us while we see objects in the world upon which these mental imaginings are based, as something external (see Giddens; Taylor). For my investigation of young adults, focus group interviews have been chosen as a means of studying how conversations on the importance of reading fiction develop inside and outside of the learning environment at school. Among the advantages of the focus group interviews are that they offer opportunities to observe interaction within the group and also the character and formulation of the discussion. One of the advantages of focus group interviews are that one can gain insight into multiple perspectives at the same time (see, e.g., van Peer, Hakemulder, Zyngier). The philosophy of dialogue, particularly Mikhail Bakhtin's speech act theory, is the theoretical basis of the focus group interview (see Marková, Linell, Grossen, Orvig). According to Bakhtin, speech acts comprise "socially shared knowledge" (25) and discussions in focus groups can, then, be seen as dialogues between different ways of thinking and different socio-cultural traditions. Discussions where all participants are active can lead to a constructive interaction where associations from other people's assertions can lead to new insights. In order to achieve the maximum effect, it is recommended that there should be 4-6 respondents for each group. The interviewer should be restrained and not steer the discussion (see Wibeck). For my study, contacts were made with teachers of Swedish in the upper secondary school with responsibility for the university preparation and job preparation programmes, as well as with the folk high school, in order to obtain a good spread across the 16-25 year-old age range. The teachers were informed about the content of the project, how it would be carried out, and told that participation would be voluntary in accordance with research ethics. The information sheet was distributed among the students who were able thereafter to apply to participate in the project. The aim was for each type of school to be represented by three focus groups consisting of nine groups in all. The number of respondents distributed by school type and gender were: school type women men total Upper secondary school: preparation program for university 11 3 14 Upper secondary school: job preparation program 10 6 16 Folk high school 7 8 15