Background: The digitalisation of literature is proliferating, and the increasing spread of digital reading devices and the availability of digital texts is likely to make books on screen a lasting phenomenon, but little attention has been paid to the consequences of digitalisation for the experience of narrative fiction. While on the one hand, reading literature on a digital reading device might trigger a superficial processing of the text, and problems regarding orientation within the narrative, the awareness of reading a literary text might, on the other hand, lead to more in-depth and complex processing, independent of reading medium. This study examines whether the reading performance and the emotional and cognitive experiences of the reception of a literary text vary between reading a printed book or an e-reader.
Methods: Using a between-subjects experimental design, 207 participants read the beginning of a novel either in a printed book or on an e-reader. They then completed a reading comprehension test and questionnaires about their cognitive and emotional experiences.
Results: Overall, the results do not suggest the clear superiority of either of the two reading media. Neither reading speed nor reading comprehension differed significantly between the two groups. Even though a broad range of reading experiences was measured, neither cognitive nor emotional reading experiences differed significantly between the groups.
Conclusion: An e-reader does not affect either reading performance or cognitive and emotional experience of reading a narrative text, compared with a printed book.
Keywords: digital reading; e‐reader; fiction reading; literary reading; reading comprehension.
© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Research in Reading published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of United Kingdom Literacy Association.