This research investigates whether teenagers miss important socio-emotional development when they stop reading fiction. Using a 2.4 million-word corpus compiled from books read by nearly 700 adolescents, it found rich emotional vocabulary and physical descriptions of emotions that may strengthen emotion recognition, emotional regulation, empathy, and adolescent mental health.

This research examines truth in the age of “post-truth,” linking ancient concepts of parrhesia to modern storytelling. Using Blue Is the Warmest Color, it shows how fiction fosters empathy and challenges power structures. The work argues that literature remains a vital force for social change, justice, and understanding marginalized experiences.

This talk examines how nineteenth-century British novels portray domestic violence as a necessary tool for women to escape the restrictive inside–outside gender model. Using Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre, it shows how violent acts disrupt patriarchal structures, granting women agency, identity, and a path toward equality.