Research Methods in Literary Reception Studies

Jeroen Dera is Associate Professor of Dutch Literature at Radboud University. Anne Oerlemans works as a publisher and obtained her PhD from Radboud University in 2026. Frederik Van Dam is Assistant Professor of European Literature at Radboud University.

• Chapter 1. Introduction Jeroen Dera, Anne Oerlemans and Frederik Van DamPART I. EMPIRICAL METHODSChapter 2. Designing Self-Completion Questionnaires in Literary Reception Research Jeroen DeraChapter 3. Using Interviews in Literary Reception Research Jeroen DeraChapter 4. Using Focus Groups in Literary Reception Research Helleke van den BraberChapter 5. Analysing Elicitation Data in Literary Reception Research Jeroen Dera and Helleke van den BraberPART II. SOCIOLOGICAL METHODSChapter 6. Field Theory: Researching and Mapping the Literary Field Anne OerlemansChapter 7. Posture Analysis Jos JoostenChapter 8. Material Analysis and Book History Methods Alicia C. MontoyaPART III. DIGITAL METHODSChapter 9. Literary Evaluation and Argumentation Analysis Esther Op de Beek and Bea RosChapter 10. Computer-Assisted Qualitative Analysis Dennis Kersten and Usha WilbersChapter 11. Computational Analysis: Fanfiction as Literary Reception Julia NeugartenChapter 12. Corpus Analysis: Distant Reading Digitized Periodicals Maaike KoffemanPART IV. TEXT-FOCUSED METHODSChapter 13. Literary Discourse Analysis Aukje van HoutChapter 14. Close Reading and Reception Studies Frederik Van DamChapter 15. Translation as Reception Elke Brems and Jan CeuppensGlossary Contributors

Research Methodologies in Literary Reception Studies is a timely contribution that fills a clear gap by offering a systematic and methodologically explicit overview of approaches to literary reception research. Its organisation into four complementary methodological clusters, combined with a strong interdisciplinary scope, makes it both conceptually coherent and highly accessible to researchers at different career stages. The volume stands out for its balanced integration of qualitative, quantitative, and digital methods, and for its consistent critical reflection on methodological affordances, limitations, and combinations. It will serve as an indispensable resource for both research and teaching, stimulating further methodological awareness and innovation in literary reception studies. - Jack McMartin, KU Leuven