Poetry Beyond Text: Vision, Text and Cognition

诗歌超越文本：视觉、文本和认知本研究项目采用心理学、批评和创造性的方法来研究读者对诗歌视觉方面的反应。它涉及英语和比较文学，美术和心理学方面的专家。这些包括视觉或具体的诗歌的形状（其中文字在页面上以特定的模式在空间上排列），诗歌与图像的结合（在艺术家的书籍和印刷品中），以及在数字诗歌中发现的动人的文字和图像（一种相对较新的诗歌形式，通常是基于网络的，通常是互动的）。心理学家已经建立了阅读文本和看图片的典型眼球运动模式，以及这种注视行为所反映的认知过程的模型。我们感兴趣的是，当读者看到联合收割机结合文字和图像的艺术作品时，会发生什么。如果文本和图像是单独的元素，我们应该先看文本还是图像？还是我们从一个快速移动到另一个？如果文本和视觉元素完全融合，我们对文本采取“阅读”还是“观看”的方法？例如，我们是从上到下，从左到右阅读，就好像我们在看一首更传统的诗一样？或者我们把诗当作一种意象？从这些问题中产生的是更普遍的问题。我们的视觉探索策略如何受到艺术作品的呈现和读者先前知识的影响？不同的阅读策略如何影响我们对作品的兴趣、意义和美学价值的评估？是什么决定了视觉方面是否丰富了词语的含义（反之亦然），或者每个元素是否限制了另一个元素的力量？例如，有时一首诗的形状，或伴随的图像，似乎可以确定诗的主题，减少解释的可能性。在其他情况下，这两个因素都可以引发进一步的解释可能性。为了研究这些问题，我们计划使用文学批评，心理学和创作实践相结合的方法。文学批评发展了读者反应的理论，包括“期待视野”（一系列期待，这些期待决定了我们如何接近文本的阅读）的概念，以及许多解释和审美价值评估的描述。心理学方法包括眼动追踪（非常精确地测量眼球运动）和瞳孔扩张（与认知过程的复杂性有关）。我们把创造性实践，包括新艺术作品的创作和个人对作品的口头反应，看作是思考和理解这些问题的另一种方式。因此，我们将使用基于论证的话语方法，基于分析的实验方法，以及基于想象力参与的创造性方法。我们将评估阅读策略如何影响记忆，解释和感知美学价值，使用定量测量和读者反应理论。我们已经开发，在这方面的工作的基础上，以前的“反思反馈环”的策略，在实验中的参与者被视为共同研究者。当他们阅读各种类型的诗歌时，在某些情况下，他们的认知过程将使用各种实验方法进行评估。至关重要的是，这些结果也将呈现给参与者，他们将被要求写下自己的回应，让我们在收到反馈之前和之后探索他们的审美体验和对诗歌的解释。此外，将邀请参加适当学位课程的学生以及诗人和艺术家根据调查创作作品。该项目的艺术作品和材料将出现在展览和在线画廊中，结果将在期刊文章中讨论。

Poetry Beyond Text: Vision, Text and CognitionThis research project uses psychological, critical and creative methods to study how readers respond to the visual aspects of poetry. It involves specialists in English and Comparative Literature, Fine Art and Psychology. These include the shape of visual or concrete poetry (where words are arranged spatially in particular patterns on the page), the combination of poetry with images (in artists' books and prints), and the moving words and images found in digital poetry (a relatively new form of poetry which is usually web-based and often interactive).Psychologists have established typical patterns of eye-movements for reading text and looking at pictures, as well as models of the cognitive processes reflected by such looking behaviour. We are interested in finding out what happens when readers are presented with art works which combine text and images. If the text and image are separate elements, do we look at text or image first? Or do we move rapidly from one to the other? If textual and visual elements are fully integrated, do we adopt a 'reading' or a 'viewing' approach to the text? For example, do we read from top to bottom and left to right, as if we were looking at a more conventionally-arranged poem? Or do we treat the poem as a form of image?Arising from these questions are more general ones. How are our visual exploration strategies affected by the presentation of the art work and the previous knowledge of the reader? How do different reading strategies influence our assessment of the interest, meaning and aesthetic value of the work? What determines whether the visual aspect enriches the meaning of the words (and vice versa), or whether each element limits the force of the other? For example, sometimes the shape of a poem, or an accompanying image, can seem to determine the subject of the poem, reducing the possibilities of interpretation. In other cases, the two elements can each prompt further interpretative possibilities.To study these questions, we plan to use a combination of methods from literary criticism, psychology, and creative practice. Literary criticism has developed theories of reader response, including the idea of a 'horizon of expectation' (a set of expectations which conditions how we approach the reading of a text), as well as many accounts of interpretation and the assessment of aesthetic value. Psychological methods include eye-tracking (which measures eye-movement with great precision) and pupil dilation (which relates to the complexity of cognitive processes). We see creative practice, involving both the creation of new works of art, and individual spoken responses to works, as another way of thinking about and understanding these questions. So we will be using discursive methods based on argument, experimental methods based on analysis, and creative methods based on imaginative engagement.. We will assess how reading strategies affect memory, interpretation and perceived aesthetic value, using both quantitative measures and reader-response theories.We have developed, on the basis of previous work in this area, a strategy of a 'reflective feedback loop', in which participants in experiments are regarded as co-researchers. Their cognitive processes will be assessed, using various experimental methods, while they are reading the various types of poetry, in some cases with modifications of layout. Crucially, these results will also be presented to participants, who will be asked to write their own responses, allowing us to explore their aesthetic experience and interpretation of the poems, before and after receiving such feedback. Furthermore, participants on appropriate degree programmes, together with poets and artists will be invited to create works in response to the investigations. Art works and materials from the project willappear in exhibitions and an on-line gallery, and results will be discussed in journal articles.