Border Crossing and Reader Reception in "The Emperor’s Babe", "Mr. Loverman" and "Girl, Woman, Other" by Bernardine Evaristo

Inhaltsverzeichnis (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

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This paper aims to analyze reader reception of Bernardine Evaristo's works, focusing on how her novels encourage readers to cross cognitive borders and engage with diverse perspectives. It examines how Evaristo's use of experimental forms, approachable characters, and humorous style fosters reader engagement and empathy.

• The impact of literature on social cognition and personal lives.
• The subversive and transformative power of literature.
• The role of narrative techniques in shaping reader reception.
• The crossing of cognitive borders and the breakdown of social categorizations.
• The role of reader profiles, ratings, and reviews in understanding reception.

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

• I. Border-Crossing Fiction: Introduces the concept of border crossing in fiction, highlighting the potential of literature to challenge established social and cultural structures. It discusses the use of both distant and close reading methods to analyze reader reception, highlighting the importance of examining both textual and reader variables.
• II. Theoretical Introduction: Provides an overview of the theoretical framework for the study, exploring the evolution of border studies and its relevance to literary analysis. It delves into the concepts of reader transportation, reader-response criticism, cognitive literary studies, and the empirical study of reception data.
• III. Methodological Introduction: Outlines the methodology used in the research, including the use of Goodreads data and a combination of distant and close reading techniques to analyze the reception of Evaristo's novels.
• IV. Results: Presents the general findings of the study and delves into individual analysis of each novel, examining reader profiles, ratings, reviews, and specific narrative techniques. This section explores the reception of The Emperor's Babe, Mr. Loverman, and Girl, Woman, Other, analyzing key features like historicity, character development, humor, and form.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

Key terms and concepts in this study include border crossing, reader reception, cognitive literary studies, narrative empathy, distant reading, close reading, social categorizations, diversity, intersectionality, and the works of Bernardine Evaristo.