| Conventional views of genre classify fictional texts on the basis of textual features but these approaches risk the dissociation of genre definitions from the reading activities of real readers. The present study considers reading engagement within the combination of experiences surrounding reading in an initial empirical examination of genre understood as types of reading orientation. In the study, 163 participants completed a two-part questionnaire that asked about the memorable aspects of their experience of reading fiction. Cluster analysis revealed six polythetic classes of reading orientation, each with a characteristic profile of reasons for reading. Ludic exploratory and educational exploratory readers were found to be associated with other-oriented and self-oriented forms of reading engagement, respectively. For self-designated literary fiction readers, self-perceptual depth was associated with using fiction to escape, whereas for self-designated popular fiction readers, self-perceptual depth was associated with using fiction to learn about other cultures. The results give indication of how readers understand their orientations within particular reading events, as well as pointing to their association with distinctive reading outcomes, in a novel study of genre. |
