Reading and Trans-Reading. A Bibliotherapeutic Approach
Reading and Trans-Reading. A Bibliotherapeutic Approach

Summary/Abstract: This paper takes a new “trans” approach to the issues of reading literary fiction; it goes beyond a transdisciplinary approach, into a trans-functional one, investigating the way literature surpasses its initial function and works therapeutically, in the form of bibliotherapy, compensating for certain human psychological frailties and providing psychological explanations for the mechanisms involved. In this sense, reading can be understood as a form of trans-reading. Psychological studies demonstrate that the therapeutic reading of literature can be a valuable source of psychological understanding of human condition and its existential dilemmas. Moreover, a carefully guided excurse through the gallery of fictional works may provide relief from certain psychological disorders. The conclusions of such studies impact directly on the role of the comparatist, as well as of the psychologist. The article draws upon the analyses of Freud, Jung, and Yalom and tackles new trends in the field of bibliotherapy.

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