This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Janssen, A. Articles by Murachver, T. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Readers’ Perceptions of Author Gender and Literary Genre

University of Otago

Tamar Murachver

University of Otago, tamar{at}psy.otago.ac.nz

Objective analyses of the language used in published literature have revealed effects of both author gender and literary genre. It is unclear, however, whether readers are sensitive to these differences. Participants’ ratings of author gender and literary genre were evaluated against actual gender and genre and statistically predicted gender and genre. Statistical predictions of gender and genre were based solely upon the authors’ use of a selection of gender-preferential language features. Overall, participants were far more adept at judging author gender than genre. They were also more accurate in judging male than female authorship. Judgments of author gender were more closely aligned with actual than statistically predicted gender. This suggests that authors display their gender in ways that extend beyond the specific language features they employ. In showing this, the study helps explain why gender is often difficult for authors to hide and for readers to ignore.

Key Words: gender • language • readers • literature • genre

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?