Cross-cultural Literary Comprehension: Theoretical Basis and Empirical Research

Abstract Literary communication is inference-based communication between recipients and texts. The textual world stimulates the recipients’ imagination by means of a structure of indeterminacy in the work. Readers use their world knowledge and cultural conceptualization to fill in the blank points in the story world and interpret the connotative meaning. Amidst the growing influence of globalization, people all over the world have more options to enjoy the same cultural products and cross-cultural studies are therefore more necessary. Research on cross-cultural literary reading responses can indicate the essential elements of literary comprehension. Under an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, the research on cross-cultural literary comprehension should be conducted to investigate whether readers from diverse cultural contexts differ in their reading responses and to explore the common ground of cross-cultural literary interpretation. Based on the theoretical foundation, empirical studies on cross-cultural literary comprehension are introduced, comprising perspectives such as differences and similarities in story interpretation, aesthetic appreciation of classical poetry and emotional responses. The empirical findings suggest the extent to which readers’ responses can transcend cultural boundaries and diverse cultural knowledge can activate different intercultural implications. Interdisciplinary research can provide new insights into the core issues regarding the cross-cultural reading of literary works against the backdrop of globalization.