The formation of literary texts readers: modes of text appropriation

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the reading continuity of young people who have completed their pre-university education. Several previous studies confirm that, in post-school education, adolescents and young people tend to choose best-sellers when reading for pleasure. This might be because the education system does not prepare students to distinguish between academic and more commercial readings, and we believe that changes in the method of teaching Literature are required to solve this problem. In the present essay we take into account several theories regarding literary reading, and consider the way these theories might contribute to changing the current methodology. We analyse studies by several authors (C. S. Lewis, U. Eco, B. Lahire, Pérez Tornero and Sanagustin), who distinguish two principal models of literary text appropriation - one more naive, which focuses on the contents, and the other, more elaborated and conscious, which also deals with formal and pragmatic aspects. Based on those studies, we examine reports completed by 54 student teachers, and engage them in debates and interviews. Analysis of the data provided leads us to conclude that the people