Processing punctuation and word changes in different editions of prose fiction

Carrol, Gareth; Conklin, Kathy; Guy, Josephine; Scott, Rebekah

Abstract

The digital era has brought with it a shift in the field of literary editing in terms of the amount and kind of textual variation that can reasonably be annotated by editors. However, questions remain about how far readers engage with textual variants, especially minor ones such as small-scale changes to punctuation. In this study we present an eye-tracking experiment investigating reader sensitivity to variations in surface textual features of prose fiction. We monitored eye movements while participants read textual variants from Dickens and James, hypothesising that readers may pay more attention to lexical rather than punctuation changes. We found longer reading times for both types, but only lexical changes also increased reading times for the rest of the sentence. In addition, eye movement behaviour and conscious ability to report changes were highly correlated. We discuss the implications for how such methods might be applied to questions of “literary” significance and textual processing.

Citation

Carrol, G., Conklin, K., Guy, J., & Scott, R. (2015). Processing punctuation and word changes in different editions of prose fiction. Scientific Study of Literature, 5(2), https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.5.2.05con

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 30, 2014
• Publication Date: Mar 30, 2015
• Deposit Date: Mar 17, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 17, 2016
• Journal: Scientific Study of Literature
• Print ISSN: 2210-4372
• Electronic ISSN: 2210-4380
• Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.5.2.05con
• Keywords: Text-editing, Prose fiction, Textual variants, Punctuation, Reading, Eye-tracking
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/746415
• Publisher URL: http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/ssol.5.2.05con
• Additional Information: Copyright John Benjamins Publishing. The publisher should be contacted for permission to re-use or reprint the material in any form.
• Contract Date: Mar 17, 2016