About the Project
Project Summary
Understanding why reading can be immersive, emotionally engaging and potentially beneficial to wellbeing requires attention to the cognitive processes that underpin readers' encounters with texts.
This project will make a significant contribution to knowledge in applied cognitive stylistics, and to the integration of empirical reader response research and text analysis. The successful candidate will join the Aston Stylistics Research Centre, a group of internationally-renowned scholars and doctoral researchers committed to applied, external-facing work in linguistics and the humanities.
Project Details
Understanding why literary reading can be immersive, emotionally engaging and potentially beneficial to wellbeing requires attention to the cognitive processes that underpin readers' encounters with texts. This is particularly important given growing recognition of the relationship between reading for pleasure and wellbeing, alongside increasing concern about declining reading habits. The UK Literary Association (UKLA, 2026) reports a strong correlation between reading for pleasure and a person's overall wellbeing, while the Department for Education, in collaboration with the National Literary Trust, has created the National Year of Reading (2026) campaign to address declining reading habits, particularly among children and young people.
This funded PhD project addresses these intersecting concerns by inviting the successful candidate to:
- Examine how cognitive stylistic frameworks can explain the distinctive attentional processes experienced by readers;
- Critically review the interdisciplinary work on the relationship between reading and attention, and reading and emotions, including empirical work in narratology, stylistics, literary studies, psychology and cognitive linguistics;
- Design and implement an empirical reader study to generate data that captures real readers' responses to reading experiences; and
- Investigate the relationship between reading and empathetic alignment, emotional responses and/or reader wellbeing.
A stylistic approach to language involves the applied and systematic analysis of textual choices and patterns, and the various contexts in which texts are written and received by readers. This emphasis means that stylistic analysis is both situated and meaningful. A cognitive stylistic approach explicitly draws on concepts from cognitive linguistics and cognitive psychology for the study of literary texts, offering tools through which to explore processes of the mind.
Researchers in cognitive stylistics are increasingly turning to data from real readers to help situate and contextualise reading experiences (Bell et al., 2021) and to support text analysis. Data from real readers will situate the analysis for RQ1 of the project; while the application of cognitive stylistic concepts and frameworks (RQ2) will support the examination of psychological, cognitive and attentional processes that take place during reading. RQ3 addresses the emotional, immersive and parasocial implications of reading as a wider practice. Overall, this PhD project will contribute to burgeoning empirical research on the wider relationship between reading and wellbeing (Boucher et al., 2024; Billington & Steenberg, 2021).
Key research questions
- RQ1: How and why do readers read texts to support their wellbeing?
- RQ2: How can cognitive stylistic frameworks explain the strategies used, and attentional and emotional changes experienced, by readers?
- RQ3: What is the relationship between reading and emotions, reading and empathy, and/or reading and wellbeing?
Person Specification
The successful applicant should hold, or expect to achieve:
A First or Upper Second Class Honours undergraduate degree, and a Masters degree with Merit or Distinction, both in relevant subjects.
Qualifications from overseas institutions will be considered, but performance must be equivalent to that described above, and the University reserves the right to ascertain this equivalence according to its own criteria.
Desirable / Essential Skills or Experience
Required characteristics
The ideal candidate for this post will have a background in applied linguistics and/or cognitive stylistics.
Desirable characteristics
Candidates with experience of empirical literary studies, or reader response analysis in the context of applied literary linguistic research, are particularly welcome.
Submitting an application
We can only consider applications that are complete and have all supporting documents. Applications that do not provide all the relevant documents will be automatically rejected. Your application must include:
- English language copies of the transcripts and certificates for all your higher education degrees, including any Bachelor degrees.
- A Research Statement detailing your understanding of the research area, how you would approach the project, and a brief review of relevant literature. Be sure to use the title of the research project you are applying for. There is no set format or word count.
- A personal statement which outlines any further information which you think is relevant to your application, such as your personal suitability for research, career aspirations, possible future research interests, and further description of relevant employment experience.
- A Curriculum Vitae (Resume) which details your education and work history.
- Two academic referees who can discuss your suitability for independent research. References must be on headed paper, signed and dated no more than 2 years old. At least one reference should be from your most recent University. You can submit your references at a later date if necessary.
- Evidence that you meet the English Language requirements. If you do not currently meet the language requirements, you can submit this at a later stage.
- A copy of your passport. Where relevant, include evidence of settled or pre-settled status.
Contact Information
Please contact Dr Chloe Harrison, c.harrison10@aston.ac.uk, for more information or for an informal discussion
Location
This position will be based on the Aston Campus in Birmingham, UK. The successful candidate will need to be located within a reasonable distance of the campus, and will be expected to visit in person regularly.
Interviews
Interviews will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. If you are shortlisted, you will be contacted directly with details of the interview.
Apply for this position here
If you require further information about the application process, please contact the Postgraduate Admissions team at pgr_admissions@aston.ac.uk
Funding Notes
This project covers all tuition fees and includes an annual stipend.
Please note that the successful candidate will be responsible for any costs relating to moving to Birmingham and/or visiting the Aston campus. International students must meet the financial requirements for the visa, flights, and NHS Surcharge. Applicants should be confident that they can meet these costs before applying.
Further information can be found here: Financial Requirements | Aston University
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