Ritið : tímarit Hugvísindastofnunar - 01.10.2015, Page 112

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fiction, the short story “Grimmd” by the author Halldór Stefánsson, while the other
involved reading fragments from two different novels, Fjallkirkjan by Gunnar Gunn-
arsson and Samastaður í tilverunni by Málfríður Einarsdóttir. The research process,
the difference between the two researches and their main theses is described, as
well as the different approaches to reporting their conclusions. When examining
the reaction to “Grimmd”, the most interesting finding was that the participants’
transportation into the narrative world happened at the same spot for the majority
of those who dived into the reading, and that news reports on certain current affairs
had evident influence on their opinion of the story. Two different age groups were
compared when researching the fragments from Gunnarson and Einarsdóttir, and
the most interesting findings were the vast difference between the reaction of young
readers (ages 24–28) and older readers (ages 68–82), their sentiment towards certain
characters and their ability to envision the narrative world they were presented with.
The findings of both researches are gathered and interpreted, and suggestions are
made for useful future research. Finally, possible motives are discussed for the lack
of interest for empirical research within the field of literary study and the authors
recount the usefulness and shortcomings of the two researches, as well as providing
an insight into how they were later followed up.
Keywords: literature, reading, empirical research, qualitative research, emotional
reaction

„MéR FANST EG FiNNA TiL“