Story Message and Character Perception in Rereading Contexts. A Case Study on Zweig’s Schachnovelle with High School Students

The results of a re-reading experiment with 56 students between 16 and 19 using text passages from Stefan Zweig’s Schachnovelle (1942) reported in this contribution show that discussions in the literary classroom empower students to become more confident interpreters. The didactic focus of teaching units does not limit interpretative variability but instead upholds the ambiguity of literary texts. While a specific teaching focus guides students’ interpretations, it does not reduce overall variability. Through classroom discussions, students refine their interpretative skills, as seen in their more detailed and precise interpretations. They also become more adept at conceptualising character traits. However, this expertise does not translate into greater felt character understanding or empathy.

An experimental investigation of the effects of a potential teaching strategy – character-focused re-readings – to foster understanding was undertaken. The findings indicate that targeted re-reading exercises allow teachers to shift the focus to potentially overlooked aspects, reshaping students’ perceptions particularly of antagonists and further enhancing their ability to assess character traits based on textual clues. However, the present results suggest that no clear association can be demonstrated between the introspective experience of re-reading and the accuracy of character models. Moreover, re-reading does not increase the extent to which students demonstrate empathy or form an emotional and cognitive connection with the characters.