👉This post is updated regularly, and information is subject to changes. Please contact a.mendhakar@uw.edu.pl for details👈
The ELIT final conference was organized on the 26th of September 2023 in the charming coastal town Monopoli of Puglia region.
With the ELIT conference kicking off the scientific conference series, most of the participants started landing in Monopoli on the 25th of September, 2023. Upon arrival, We were mesmerized by the town of Monopoli by its rich historic heritage and its natural beauty. We spend our evening time walking around the town, admiring the high medieval walls and the photogenic streets with whitewashed houses. Discussing our scientific work and Catching up with each other’s ELIT journey, the view of turquoise waters that crash along the coast was an ideal setting for the start of the stay in Monopoli.
The prestigious archaeological museum as the conference venue facilitated the presenters to channel the scientific rigour of their presentation.
The conference started with an address by Prof.Massimo Salgaro, the coordinator of the ELIT network. His address highlighted the aim and activities carried out as part of the ELIT Network. The address also highlighted the major activities along with the research carried out as part of the ELIT network, and they include
• 3 Training schools;
• 3 Seminars;
• 6 Workshops (+ additional training and workshop activities);
• and 4 General Assembly + Supervisory Board.
At the conference, all ESRs from our project gave a talk with a presentation showing their subproject results and interpretation of them.
The session started with a talk by Mesian Tilmatine, who shared in detail his research focused on extending the Neuro-Cognitive poetics model (NCPM). He briefly described the studies he conducted for the past 3 years and how they enriched our understanding of Neurocognitive poetics.
This was followed by Kirren Chana, who extended our knowledge of empirical aesthetics and how art, beauty and literature are intertwined. Her field study focused on reading in the city and evaluated the intricacies of literature and how it is integrated into our daily lives.
Akshay Mendhakar gave the last talk in Work Package 1. He shared his research on using text mining to improve reading perception and comprehension. The computational linguistic experiments focused on understanding the linguistic composition of fiction and non-fictional tests sparked interest in the audience. The eye-tracking reports on use cases of text mining in a lab setting were also discussed during this presentation.
Julia de Jonge presented three quantitative experiments and one qualitative study on how readers shift their moral compass during fiction reading. She discussed how readers used the cognitive mechanisms of moral disengagement and suspension of moral judgement in favour of empathising with fictional characters who have committed immoral actions and to aesthetically appreciate the stories of such characters.
Giulia Scapin walked the audience through her PhD project, which focused on using literary texts to stimulate empathy for people living with depression and reduce stigma. Through four empirical studies with multiple research methods, she found that the processing of stylistic features is related to the empathic response of readers toward the story’s characters, leading to attitude change.
Tine Riis Andersen presented her project on Shared Reading experiences of people living with cancer. The project is based on data collected from two reading groups at a cancer organization. She walked us through the findings from three studies which together informed the ways Shared Reading helped the participants to cope with their treatment and illness.
Ma. Lovena Moneva shared the preliminary results of the intervention study conducted in Slovak Kindergarten schools. She described the design of the literature-based program using picture books and its effects on the socioemotional development of 4- to 6-year-old children. The results show potential in translating the program to other languages to be implemented in a wider variety of early childhood settings.
Cristina Loi presented the results of her doctoral project, aimed at identifying which temporal dimensions of our self-concept (past selves, present self, desired and feared possible selves) are activated and transformed by reading fiction. In this context, she reported on the three main empirical studies, which are grounded in a panorama of various contemporary reading practices: fiction books (both in print and e-books), digital fiction (e.g., hypertexts, interactive fiction, visual novels) and Wattpad (i.e., the most popular digital storytelling platform).
Ainur Kakimova talked about counterfactuals, i.e., thought experiments about what might have been in literature and how readers perceive and evaluate them. Her eye-tracking studies showed the cognitive processing of counterfactuals both as a literary device and as a genre representing alternative reality. The effects of literature on changing readers’ views were also discussed.
Detailed information is coming soon!!
