Contemporary Fictions of Attention: Reading and Distraction in the Twenty-First Century by Alice Bennett (London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2018)

Abstract

This article has been peer reviewed through the double-blind process of C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-century Writings, which is a journal of the Open Library of Humanities.

Attentional modulation in literary reading: A theoretical‐empirical framework

“…Focusing on the contemporary context, David Letzler (2017) believes that 1,000‐page “mega‐novels” like Infinite Jest offer a training in sorting important and meaningful from useless text (he calls these useless passages “cruft”). Alice Bennett, in Contemporary Fictions of Attention , argues that today's literary fiction is capable of orchestrating different forms of attention besides “deep, slow, sustained linear attention” (Bennett, 2018, 23). Depending on the interpreter's attitude, a text can incite “vigilance, noticing, absorption, a broad or narrow focus, single‐minded fixation, or expansive flexibility, and so on” (p. 13).…”

“…The medium or textual/material substrate has an influence on how attention is allocated during reading (Mangen, 2016). Though hyperreading is associated with screen media, the codex with its “footnotes, cross‐references, indexes, margins, chapter breaks, subheadings, page numbers, bookmarks” also asks for selective and modulating processes (Bennett, 2018, 17). In screen reading, it is important to differentiate between media, which vary in sensorimotor affordances and thus distraction potential.…”

“…In addition, we need explorations of situated reading practices (Trasmundi et al., 2022) with attention to all facets of the model, including the role of readers' background knowledge and personal memories as well as textual and narrative characteristics, text length, and paratextual elements that steer attention (Bennett, 2018). Ecological studies of reading in naturalistic environments can be conducted with video observations.…”

Leaving class behind?

“…Brian McHale cites Toni as an example of the connection between the ability to concentrate, or “‘immersive’ talent,” and childhood trauma (McHale, 2013, 201). Likewise, Alice Bennett construes Toni’s story as showing the ability of intense concentration to be the result of traumatic events (Bennett, 2018, 41–42). Clare Hayes‐Brady lauds “Toni’s capacity for literal self‐denial,” which enables her to transcend objectification (Hayes‐Brady, 2018, 148).…”