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which can even lead to existential realisations while reading groups and author meetings can be seen
as extra productive additions to the reading experience itself (see Jantzen & Rasmussen: 27).
The reader’s inclination to participate in a reading group is found to be both literary and
socially motivated. When participating in reading groups, readers describe that they are more
concentrated while reading, and that the discussion gives their reading experiences more depth and
a more profound ‘profit’ from the books. Although readers can get a pseudo-social experience from
reading about believable characters, the reading group adds a real social layer to the psycho-
experience that reading is. Using Jerome McGanns extension of Gérard Genettes concept of
paratext, this thesis points out that the reading group can be understood as a paratext and as part of
the ‘textual condition’ which co-creates meaning for the reader. As the study shows, reviews can also
be a controlling factor for the reading experience, and they too can function as an addition to the
reader’s own reading experience. The desire of readers to learn more about the texts through the
knowledge of the author, can be explained by the fact that readers both idolise authors and mirror
their own role as readers in the role of the author.
Altogether, participating in activities outside the literary work clearly affects the evaluating
level in the structure of the readers’ experiences, and thus gives them an increased insight which
strengthens the ideo-level of their experiences (see Jantzen & Vetner: 242). In this way the reader’s
reading experience can be described as an extended reading experience.
The present empirical study fills out a gap in literary theory, and as such it forms an essential
supplement to the existing theoretical conceptions of readers. Hereby, this thesis can help qualify the
knowledge about readers in both literary theory and in the book industry, help vary the common
perception of readers as literary loners, and point out that literature has a social potential which is
both inherent and context-dependent.
Maria Louise Christensen: Den udvidede læseoplevelse
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