Pointers to further reading are at the right. We study the reading of literary texts, such as novels or poems. And we will often continue reading despite difficulties or uncertainty about what a text means.
Literary reading can be a demanding activity, both cognitively and emotionally.
So we want to know what readers are doing, especially why and how they do it. There's no single answer to this. Sometimes we read to learn something about our own situation or our own feelings. Sometimes we read in order to become immersed in another time or place, or to learn what it's like living in another culture. Sometimes we read to enjoy the sound and feel of the special language in which a literary text has been written.