| Description |
The curative, therapeutic effects of literature have long been recognized by sensitive readers, if only in a vague or general way. Readers read not only for the information content of the text, but also, and often more importantly, for the enjoyment, peace of mind, broadened experience, alternative views and solutions to common problems, escape, and personal identification they can gain through their reading experience. These expansive, soothing possibilities of literature have often served as the justification for the reading of non-technical works. It is only essentially in the last forty years, however, that these interactive processes between reader and text have been formally studied with the intent of prescribing them as therapeutic adjuvants. Both the study of reader-text interaction and the prescription of reading, usually in a therapy setting, are termed bibliotherapy. |
