The Idea of Difficulty in Literature

This book redefines the nature of textual difficulty in literature and shows the implications of the new definition for teachers at all levels of education. Contrary to the traditional use of grade levels or readability formulae, the authors redefine difficulty in terms of readers and the texts they meet. They base their arguments on contemporary linguistic theory, on historical and comparative studies of criticism, on literary theory about readers and texts, on post-Freudian psychology, on empirical research concerning the nature of reading literature, and on studies of classrooms, curricula, and testing. What emerges is a coherent work that builds a case for seeing difficulty in literature as a human phenomenon more than a textual one.

About the author

Alan C. Purves is Director of the Center for Writing and Literacy, and Professor of English and Humanities at the State University of New York at Albany.

Product details

• Assisted by: Alan C Purves (Editor), Alan C. Purves (Editor)
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 10.09.1991
• EAN: 9780791406748
• ISBN: 978-0-7914-0674-8
• No. of pages: 176
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 25 mm
• Weight: 254 g
• Series: Suny Series, the Philosophy of; Suny Series, Literacy, Culture; Suny Series, the Philosophy of
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education