The open work and the closing reading

Navigating openness and ambiguity in literature discussions

Abstract

The tension between openness and ambiguity in literature and readers’ expectation of coherence and consistency (i.e., their ‘desire for closure’) may present a pedagogical dilemma in literature classrooms. While prior research has identified an educational potential of using open works to de-automatize students’ thinking, encourage tolerance for ambiguity, and shape literary awareness, empirically-based knowledge of such classroom practice is scarce. The present study examined the interaction between structured openness of literary texts and readers’ ‘desire for closure’ in the context of literature discussions in lower secondary school. Drawing on videotaped whole-class discussions about narratively complex short stories in an ongoing intervention to support quality of literature discussions, we identified six different closing mechanisms used by either the teacher or the students: 1) Forcing a one-sided interpretation; 2) Inferring new context, not given by the text, to embed already preferred interpretations; 3) Magnifying peripheral details to support interpretations; 4) Staying on the surface – concentrating on the empirically verifiable and determinate; 5) Skipping between inquiries instead of developing lines of thought; and 6) Encouraging readers to connect fictive elements to their own lives. Based on the analysis, we discuss how interactional closure of literary openness in the classroom context relates to principal educational ideals of promoting clarity, comprehension, and coherence.