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Е-issn 81-1466 2 issn 181-6875 2 0 5Bog'liq Sharopova Sh OAK 2Results and discussions.
While doing a research Ad Bergsma identifies precisely the sort of self-help
books which are sold in greater amount and tries to distinguish this genre from others. He groups mostly sold
books into 4 categories:
1)
Growth
2)
Relationships
3)
Coping
4)
Identity
Furthermore he divided these two groups into two dimensions such as: problem-oriented and personal
growth. [2;54-59]
Starker in his research tries to identify the unique features of self -help books by finding similarities and
differences between the benefits of psychotherapy and self-help literature. He claims that these books purport
to drive the directions for personal well being like a traditional psychotherapy. Hence, they boast easy access,
anonymity, are relatively inexpensive and time-saving. [8;63-69]
Self-help books are usually non-fiction books and as these their authors use different techniques to
attract and hold their readers’ attention. In his book called “Minds made for Stories” Thomas Newkirk gives a
description about how authors of nonfiction establish an ‘ethos’ or a ‘persona’ that “a reader will stay with”.
He suggests that not only fiction writing, but all writing, is mediated through the “lense of a narrator, a teller”
and that authors have to “shape the reading so that the key ideas are remembered”. For this reason, a major
aspect that nonfiction writers should focus on in their work is to catch the attention of the reader. In order to
achieve this goal, the material should involve “patterning of change”. Readers likely pay more attention to
the three following aspects in books. First, incidents, facts, language and statements that are surprising and
unexpected. Second, outcomes of situations they are particularly interested in, e.g. human consequences of
scientific events. Third, variation and everything that is surprising and new. [7; 76-79]
According to Kraus while writing the narration plays an important role both for the individual and
society. He asserts that narratives are rarely written down but rather produced verbally when interacting with
others or through self-reflection. Narrative researchers usually write the stories out based on interviews. He
views narration as an important tool of building social bonds through the affirmation and rejection of collective
identities and others. Narration thus becomes a means to manage relations to others by producing an image for
oneself as well as for others. [6; 103-111]
Koay Dong Liang in his PhD dissertation claims that stories could be a feature of self-help genre. While
doing a research he analyzed the moves in body chapters and admits that he came across quite a number of
accounts of sequences of events that could be construed as stories. And in his study he used the term “story”
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