Abstract:

The article proposes a new educational interpretive perspective for reading literary works, grounded in the understanding that literary reading is not solely an individual act but a social process. Textual interpretation emerges within interpretive communities shaped by social, cultural, and educational contexts, which carry norms, values, and expectations that inform the understanding of characters, plot, and literary conflicts. This is evident in the growing emphasis on inclusion within the education system and the increasing recognition of neurodiversity, developments that expand the range of possible identifications and assign new significance to characters previously perceived as different or deviant.

The study adopts a qualitative interpretive methodology that combines close reading with interdisciplinary analysis. Drawing on insights from special education and autism research, it develops a set of interpretive criteria for identifying autistic characteristics in literary characters and poetic voices. These criteria include patterns of social communication differences, atypical sensory experiences, and distinctive modes of language, cognition, and emotional expression, as reflected in narrative and aesthetic features.

The aim of the article is to propose an interpretive model that enables the identification of narrative and aesthetic elements supporting the reading of characters or poetic voices as exhibiting autistic characteristics, even in the absence of explicit textual reference. The analysis focuses on three works from different genres, including contemporary prose and modern poetry: Etgar Keret's "A Hole in the Wall", Yishai Sarid's "The Weakness Detector", and Agi Mishol's "The Silence". In each case, narrative and linguistic elements are shown to contribute to the shaping of experiences of difference.

The article also addresses key ethical and interpretive issues, including the risks of retrospective diagnostic labeling and the role of the reader in projecting contemporary frameworks onto literary texts. It therefore advocates for a cautious and reflexive interpretive stance that acknowledges both the potential and the limitations of such readings. The study’s originality lies in its interdisciplinary approach, bridging special education and literary studies. Its contribution is in positioning neurodiverse representations as a formative force within educational and interpretive contexts, while promoting more conscious, critical, and inclusive reading practices.

Keywords:

Education, discourse communities, autism, literature, inclusion.