READER RESPONSE

BEGINNING WITH PERSONAL MEANING AND SOCIAL CONTEXT

• READER-RESPONSE THEORY ENCOMPASSES AN ARRAY OF
APPROACHES TO LITERARY AND CULTURAL TEXTS THAT FOCUS
ON THE ROLE OF THE READER IN THE CREATION OF MEANING.
• CONTEMPORARY READER-RESPONSE THEORY DEVELOPED OUT
OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL HERMENEUTICS AND
PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE 1950S.
• READER RESPONSE CRITICISM IS NOT A METHOD SO MUCH AS AN
ATTITUDE ABOUT READING.
• IT CLAIMS THAT THE MEANING OF ANY LITERARY WORK IS NOT
JUST WHAT THE AUTHOR PUT INTO THE TEXT.
• RATHER, A TRANSACTION OCCURS BETWEEN AUTHOR AND READER,
AND INDIVIDUAL READERS CONSTRUCT MEANING AS THEY
INTERACT WITH THE TEXT.
• EACH READER
• A UNIQUE BACKGROUND AND SET OF PREFERENCES.
• DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF TEXTS.
• LITERARY WORK IS ESSENTIALLY BRAND NEW EACH TIME IT IS
READ BY A NEW READER, AND READERS CREATE ITS MEANING
AS MUCH AS THEY DISCOVER ITS MEANING.
• THUS, THERE ISN’T A UNIVERSALLY “CORRECT”
INTERPRETATION OR SINGLE MEANING OF ANY WORK OF
LITERATURE—JUST THE VITAL DIFFERENT PERSONAL
EXPERIENCES THAT INDIVIDUAL READERS HAVE.
• THE JOY OF READING LITERATURE IS TO MAKE A PERSONAL
CONNECTION,
• FOR EACH OF US TO SEEK IDEAS OF IMPORTANCE TO US,
• TO FIND CHARACTERS WHOSE HOPES AND PROBLEMS WE CAN
RELATE TO,
• TO EXPERIENCE DILEMMAS WE MAY FACE.
• READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM ATTEMPTS TO DESCRIBE WHAT
HAPPENS IN THE READER’S MIND WHILE INTERPRETING A
WORK OF FICTION.
• A TEXT IS NOT COMPLETE UNTIL IT IS READ AND INTERPRETED.
• RE-READING
• DIFFERENT RESPONSE
• READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM EXPLORES HOW DIFFERENT
INDIVIDUALS SEE THE SAME TEXT DIFFERENTLY.
• READER RESPONSE CRITICISM OPERATES ON THE FOLLOWING
PREMISES:
• TEXTS AFFECT READERS IN UNIQUE AND SUBJECTIVE WAYS.
• READERS PARTICIPATE IN DETERMINING THE MEANING OF
LITERARY WORKS.
• ANYTHING THAT CONTRIBUTES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A
READER INFLUENCES HIS/HER INTERPRETATION OF A READING
SELECTION.
• AN INDIVIDUAL'S SOCIAL CLASS, RACIAL BACKGROUND,
ETHNICITY, GENDER, NATIONALITY, AGE, PHYSICAL CONDITION,
EMPLOYMENT, VOCATIONAL INTERESTS, AND SO ON, MAKE A
PROFOUND IMPACT ON HOW THAT PERSON SEES AND
UNDERSTANDS THE WORLD.
• WE ALL MAKE ERRORS OR MISJUDGMENTS ABOUT WHAT WE
READ.
• BUT THERE IS A SIMPLE STANDARD OF “CORRECTNESS” IN READER
RESPONSE.
• ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS BACK UP OUR INTERPRETATIONS WITH SPECIFIC
EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT.
• IF WE SAY A BOOK IS BORING, WE’RE RESPONSIBLE FOR FINDING A
SPECIFIC BORING PASSAGE THAT WE CAN SHARE WITH CLASSMATES
AND TELL WHY WE THINK IT’S TEDIOUS.
• IF WE SAY THE DESCRIPTIONS IN A WORK ARE TOO LONG,
• WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO CITE A SPECIFIC PAGE NUMBER THAT
SHOWS ONE OF THOSE WORDY DESCRIPTIONS AND TELL WHAT WE
THINK THE AUTHOR SHOULD HAVE DONE TO CUT IT DOWN
• FREE TO INTERPRET TEXTS OUR OWN WAY, BUT WE NEED TO
JUSTIFY OUR INTERPRETATIONS WITH EVIDENCE.
• TEXTUAL EVIDENCE? NOT QUITE
• COMPARING OUR IDEA TO THE IDEAS OF OTHERS.
• CLASS DISCUSSION
• HELP US THINK BEYOND OUR INDIVIDUAL PERSPECTIVES

• PERSONAL INTERPRETATIONS TO MORE COMPLEX AND

REASONED RESPONSES.
• D. H. LAWRENCE NOTED THAT WRITERS MAY HAVE
INTELLECTUAL EXPLANATIONS FOR THEIR FICTIONS, BUT
GREAT STORIES OFTEN HAVE AT THEIR HEART SUBCONSCIOUS
THEMES AND LAYERS OF MEANING OF WHICH EVEN THE
AUTHOR ISN’T AWARE. THUS, LAWRENCE SAID, “NEVER TRUST
THE ARTIST. TRUST THE TALE” (1923, 31).
LIMITATIONS AND CRITIQUES OF READER
RESPONSE

• SHALLOW JUDGMENT
• “I LIKE THIS NOVEL, THEREFORE IT’S GOOD,” OR,
• “I DON’T LIKE THIS NOVEL, THEREFORE IT STINKS”?
• MISREADING
• MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF A WORK
• READER RESPONSES THEORY ENCOMPASSES AN ARRAY OF
APPROACHES AS FOR THE READER’S ROLE IN EVALUATING,
ENRICHING, ADDING, OMITTING OR MODIFYING ON THE
ALREADY EXISTENT SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASSUMPTIONS OF THE LITERARY TEXT.
• SENSE OF EXPERIENCE. TEXT CAN BE MODIFIED, SHIFTED BY
THE READING EXPERIENCE.
• READING PROCESS WE EVALUATE EVENTS TO OUR
EXPECTATIONS
• UNEXPECTED TEXTUAL OCCURRENCES  REFORMULATE OUR
EXPECTATIONS TO REINTERPRET.
AESTHETIC OF RECEPTION
• LITERARY TEXTS INTERACT WITH THEIR RECIPIENTS, AND
DEPLOY THEIR POTENTIAL MEANINGS AND THE ROLES THEY
ASSIGN TO THEIR READERS.
HANS-ROBERT JAUSS

• JAUSS POINTS THAT TEXT IS NOT A “MONOLOGIC” MONUMENT,

THAT IS TO SAY, IT WILL PRODUCE DIFFERENT IMPACT ON
DIFFERENT READERS, BESIDE ITS IMPACT WILL ALSO CHANGE
ACCORDING TO TIME.
• LITERARY WORKS DO NOT MAGICALLY APPEAR ON AN EMPTY
STAGE BUT ARE FRAMED BY THE LITERARY CONTEXT OF THEIR
PERIOD.
• HORIZON OF EXPECTATIONS. EACH READER IN EACH PERIOD.
• WHEN A READER OPENS A NEW NOVEL, (S)HE HAS ALREADY READ
OTHER NOVELS AND DEVELOPED CERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS OF
WHAT A NOVEL IS AND SHOULD BE; THE NEW TEXT WILL BE READ
AND UNDERSTOOD AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THESE
ASSUMPTIONS
WOLFGANG ISER

• THE TEXT IS A POTENTIAL STRUCTURE, CONCRETIZED BY THE

READER.
• LITERARY TEXTS ALWAYS CONTAIN BLANKS, ONLY THE
READER PRODUCES MEANING.
• THE MEANING OF TEXT IS NEVER SELF-FORMULATED. THE
READER PRODUCES MEANING.
• METHOD  INDETERMINACY AND THE READER’S RESPONSE
IN PROSE FICTION
• THIS CONCEPT DESCRIBES THE ROLE OF THE READER SUCH AS IT IS
INSCRIBED INTO THE TEXT; ANY INDIVIDUAL READER MUST
ASSUME THIS ROLE IN ORDER TO REALIZE THE POTENTIAL
OFFERED BY THE TEXT.
• ISER IS SERIOUS IN CLAIMING THAT TEXTS BECOME ALIVE
ONLY THROUGH BEING READ; BEFORE THEIR RECEPTION, THEY
ARE MERELY BLACK SPOTS ON WHITE PAPER.
• THEY NEED TO BE CONCRETIZED IN THE “ACT OF READING,”
WHICH, IN THE CASE OF LITERARY TEXTS, IS CHARACTERIZED
BY THE FACT THAT THEY CONTAIN LEERSTELLEN, “EMPTY
PLACES” WHICH NEED TO BE FILLED BY THE READER.
HERE ARE SOME POSSIBILITIES OF WHAT SUCH INDETERMINACIES
CAN BE:
• BY OMITTING ELEMENTS WHICH ARE SELF-EVIDENT,
NARRATIVES CREATE GAPS WHICH THE READER HAS TO FILL;
• TEXTS PROVOKE READERS TO THINK ABOUT POSSIBLE
CONTINUATIONS (THIS IS ESPECIALLY VISIBLE IN THE CASE OF
NOVELS WHICH ARE PUBLISHED IN SEVERAL INSTALLMENTS);
• MODERN LITERARY WORKS OFTEN HAVE AN “OPEN” END
WHICH DOES NOT SOLVE ALL MYSTERIES AND LEAVES
UNANSWERED IMPORTANT QUESTIONS WHICH READERS MIGHT
HAVE.
• READER-RESPONSE THEORY ISN’T MERELY TO RESPOND BUT TO
ANALYZE YOUR RESPONSE, OR THE RESPONSES OF OTHERS.
• READER-RESPONSE THEORISTS SHARE TWO BELIEFS:
• (1) THAT THE ROLE OF THE READER CANNOT BE OMITTED FROM
OUR UNDERSTANDING OF LITERATURE AND
• (2) THAT READERS DO NOT PASSIVELY CONSUME THE MEANING
PRESENTED TO THEM BY AN OBJECTIVE LITERARY TEXT; RATHER
THEY ACTIVELY MAKE THE MEANING THEY FIND IN LITERATURE.