Running Head: READING IN TIMES OF LOSS Reading in Times of Loss: An Exploration of the Functions of Literature during Grief

This study examined the use of literature as a coping strategy among people who had experienced loss, comparing it to the use of music. Theory suggested that literature and music might facilitate insight, recognition, support, relaxation, new emotions, and/or distraction. Among 198 respondents, 64 (32%) reported that they used neither medium during their grief period, 65 (33%) used only music, 19 (10%) used only literature, and 50 (25%) used both literature and music. Those who used both media reported a more impactful loss experience than the other groups. Respondents using neither medium scored lowest on preference for emotional coping. Most importantly, the pattern of group differences pointed toward a coping process that alternates between recognition and distraction, perhaps especially – but not only – by alternating between the distraction provided by reading and the recognition afforded by listening to music