Cover not available

Article published In: Scientific Study of Literature
Vol. 4:1 (2014) ► pp.68–88

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Reading in times of loss

An exploration of the functions of literature during grief

 | Erasmus University Rotterdam
Published online: 22 September 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.4.1.04koo
This study examined the use of literature as a coping strategy among people who had experienced loss, comparing it to the use of music. Theory suggested that these artistic media can facilitate insight, recognition, support, relaxation, new emotions, and/or distraction. Among 198 respondents, 64 (32%) reported using neither medium during their grief period, 65 (33%) used only music, 19 (10%) used only literature, and 50 (25%) used both. Using artistic media was related to an emotional experience of the loss in two ways: 1) preference for emotion-focused coping was greater among those who used artistic media, 2) those who had used artistic media also reported greater impact of the loss. Reading was most strongly associated with distraction and listening to music with recognition. For those using both media, this suggests a coping process that alternates between distraction and recognition, in line with the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement.
References (44)
Andringa, E. (2004). The interface between fiction and life: Patterns of identification in reading autobiographies. Poetics Today, 25(2), 205–240. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beck, S.L.C. (1991). The therapeutic use of music for cancer-related pain. Oncology Nursing Forum, 181, 1327–1337.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bernstein, J.E., & Rudman, M.K. (1989). Books to help children cope with separation and loss. New York: R.R. Bowker.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boelen, P.A., Van den Bout, J., De Keijser, J. & Hoijtink, H. (2003). Reliability and validity of the Dutch version of the Inventory of Traumatic Grief (ITG). Death Studies, 27(3), 227–247. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cassileth, B.R, Vickers, A.J, & Magill, L.A. (2003). Music therapy for mood disturbance during hospitalization for autologous stem cell transplantation: A randomized controlled trial. Cancer, 98(12), 2723–2729. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cloïn, M., Kamphuis, C., Schols, M., Tiessen-Raaphorst, A., & Verbeek, D. (2011). Nederland in een dag. Tijdbesteding in Nederland vergeleken met die in 15 andere Europese landen. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cohen, L.J. (1992). Bibliotherapy: The therapeutic use of books for women. Journal of Nurse-Midwifery, 37(2), 91–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cupchik, G.C., Oatley, K., & Vorderer, P. (1998). Emotional effects of reading excerpts from short stories by James Joyce. Poetics, 25(6), 363–377. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DeNora, T. (1999). Music as a technology of the self. Poetics, 27(1), 31–56. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Early, B.P. (1993). The healing magic of myth: Allegorical tales and the treatment of children of divorce. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 10(2), 97–106. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eaton, L.G., Doherty, K.L., & Widrick, R.M. (2007). A review of research and methods used to establish art therapy as an effective treatment method for traumatized children. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 34(3), 256–262. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Folkman, S. (1997). Positive psychological states and coping with severe stress. Social Science and Medicine, 45(8), 1207–1221. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2001). Revised coping theory and the process of bereavement. In Stroebe, M.S., Hansson, R.O., Stroebe, W., & Schut, H. (eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping and care (pp. 563–584). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R.S., Gruen, R.J., & De Longis, A. (1986). Appraisal, coping, health status and psychological symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(3), 571–579. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Griffiths, S., & Corr, S. (2007). The use of creative activities with people with mental health problems: A survey of occupational therapists. The British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 701, 107–114. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2013). The attraction of tragic narrative: Catharis and other motives. Scientific Study of Literature, 3(2), 178–208. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kneepkens, E.W.E.M., & Zwaan, R.A. (1994). Emotions and text comprehension. Poetics, 231, 125–138. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kramer, P.A., & Smith, G.G. (1998). Easing the pain of divorce through children’s literature. Early Childhood Education Journal, 261, 89–94. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuiken, D., Miall, D.S., & Sikora, S. (2004). Forms of self-implication in literary reading. Poetics Today, 25(2), 171–203. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lazarus, R., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1985). If it changes it must be a process: Study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 481, 150–170. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McManus, I.C., & Furnham, A. (2006). Aesthetic activities and aesthetic attitudes: Influences of education, background and personality on interest and involvement in the arts. British Journal of Psychology, 97(4), 555–587. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miall, D.S., & Kuiken, D. (2002). A feeling for fiction: Becoming what we behold. Poetics, 30(4), 221–41. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
North, A.C., Hargreaves, D.J., & O’Neill, S.A. (2000). The importance of music to adolescents. British Journal of Education Psychology, 70(2), 255–272. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nussbaum, M.C. (1986). The fragility of goodness: Luck and ethics in Greek tragedy and philosophy. Cambridge, England; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pehrsson, D.E., & McMillen, P. (2005). A bibliotherapy evaluation tool: Grounding counselors in the therapeutic use of literature. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 32(1), 47–59. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saarikallio, S. (2011). Music as emotional self-regulation throughout adulthood. Psychology of Music, 39(3), 307–327. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saarikallio, S., & Erkkilä, J. (2007). The role of music in adolescents’ mood regulation. Psychology of Music, 351, 88–109. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schrank, F.A. (1981). Bibliotherapy as a counseling adjunct. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 601, 143–147. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shear, M.K. (2010). Exploring the role of experiential avoidance from the Perspective of Attachment Theory and the Dual Process Model. Omega, 61(4), 359–371. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shrodes, C. (1950). Bibliotherapy: A theoretical and clinical-experimental study. Doctoral dissertation. University of California, Berkeley (Dissertation Abstracts Online).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sikora, S., Kuiken, D., & Miall, D.S. (2010). An uncommon resonance: The influence of loss on expressive reading. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 28(2), 135–153. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stroebe, M.S., Hansson, R.O., Stroebe, W., & Schut, H. (2001). Introduction: Concepts and issues in contemporary research on bereavement. Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping and care (pp. 3–22). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stroebe, M.S., & Schut, H. (1999). The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies, 231, 197–224. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2001). Models of coping with bereavement: A review. In Stroebe, M.S., Hansson, R.O., Stroebe, W., & Schut, H. (eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping and care (pp. 375–403). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2010). The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement: A decade on. Omega, 61(4), 273–289. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stroebe, M.S., Schut, H., & Stroebe, W. (2007). Health outcomes of bereavement. The Lancet, 370(9603), 1960–1973. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tan, E.S. (1996). Emotion and the structure of narrative film. Film as an emotion machine. Mahwah (NJ): Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wells, A., & Hakanen, E.A. (1991). The emotional use of popular music by adolescents. Journalism Quarterly, 68(3), 445–454. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zeelenberg, L.W., & V. Spiertz. (1993). Depressie en bibliotherapie: Over het gebruik van boeken bij depressie. Doctoral dissertation. Utrecht University, Utrecht.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zill, N., & Winglee, M. (1988). Who reads literature? Survey data on the reading of fiction, poetry, and drama by U.S. adults during the 1980s. Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Arts.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zisook, S. & Kendler, K.S. (2007). Is bereavement-related depression different than non-bereavement-related depression? Psychological Medicine, 37(6), 779–794. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zisook, S., & Shuchter, S.R. (1991). Depression through the first year after the death of a spouse. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 1481, 1346–1352. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (8)

Cited by eight other publications

Wilson, Julia M. & Emily Moyer-Gusé
2025. Sad Stories as Grief Support: Understanding the Processing and Well-Being Outcomes of Biographic Resonance with Meaningful Entertainment. Media Psychology ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Batchelor, Kathryn
2023. Translation and (im)mortality. The Translator 29:4 ► pp. 464 ff. DOI logo
Nag, Srijani & Sayan Chattopadhyay
2023. Discourse and Madness inShadows in the Sun. Interdisciplinary Literary Studies 25:4 ► pp. 437 ff. DOI logo
Schott, Gareth Richard
2023. Expressions of Grief: Creative Processing and Reflections. In The Art of Dying, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Joubin, Alexa Alice
2021. Screening Social Justice: Performing Reparative Shakespeare against Vocal Disability. Adaptation 14:2 ► pp. 187 ff. DOI logo
Kuzmičová, Anežka & Katalin Bálint
2019. Personal Relevance in Story Reading. Poetics Today 40:3 ► pp. 429 ff. DOI logo
Koopman, Eva Maria (Emy)
2015. Why do we read sad books? Eudaimonic motives and meta-emotions. Poetics 52 ► pp. 18 ff. DOI logo
Montoro, Rocío
2015. The Year’s Work in stylistics 2014. Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 24:4 ► pp. 355 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue