Helsingin yliopisto - Englantilainen filologia

Therman Cecilia

MA, Post-graduate student

Room: C520

E-mail: cecilia.therman(at)helsinki.fi

Member of The Finnish Graduate School for Literary Studies

Research Interests

Empirical study of readers’ responses and literature as a form of language use.

The following observation by Ludwig Wittgenstein in Philosophical Investigations continues to inspire and intrigue me.

Ҥ503. If I give anyone an order I feel it to be quite enough to give him signs.
And I should never say: this is only words, and I have got to get behind the
words. Equally, when I have asked someone something and he gives me an
answer (i.e. a sign) I am content—that was what I expected—and I don’t
raise the objection: but that’s a mere answer.

§504. But if you say: ‘How am I to know what he means, when I see nothing
but the signs he gives?’ then I say: ‘How is he to know what he means, when
he has nothing but the signs either?’”

Publications

Therman, C. 2008, Readers’ responses versus reader-response theories: An empirical study, VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrücken.

Therman, C. 2008, “Remindings, understanding and involvement: A close reading of the content and context of remindings” in New Beginnings in Literary Studies, eds. J. Auracher & W. van Peer, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle.

Therman, C. 2008, “Empiirisen kirjallisuudentutkimuksen näkökulmia tekijyyden tutkimiseen” in Tekijyyden ulottuvuuksia, eds. E. Haverinen, E. Vainikkala & T. Lahdelma, Jyväskylän yliopisto, Jyväskylä.

Therman, C. 2006, “Can readers infer authorial intentions? An empirical comparison of readers’ and author’s views” in Culture and Communication: Proceedings of the XIX Congress of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, eds. H. Gottesdiener & J. Vilatte, IAEA, Avignon.

Electronic Publication

MA thesis (October 2003, ECL):
Readers’ responses and reader-response theories: An empirical study.

MA thesis (October 2003, ECL):
Readers’ responses and reader-response theories: An empirical study.