READER RESPONSE THEORY

Prepared By Muhammad Khan Qadir Khetran Abdul Latif

INTRODUCTION

MK… Reader Response Theory emerged in 20th century.

Primary focus on reading. It is text based not author based. Also called Affective Fallacy

THEORETICAL ASSUMPTION L… The literary text possesses no fixed and

final meaning literary meaning is created by the interaction of the reader and text.

Role of reader cannot be ignored

READER RESPONSE Q… When we refer to something as subjective

we mean that it pertains to the individual(the reader). A subjective reading of a text is one in which emphasis is placed on the attitudes, moods, and opinions of the reader.

When we refer to something as objective we mean that it pertains to an object(the text) separate from the individual(the reader). An objective reading of text is one that is uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices.

Reader response criticism offers a subjective reading of a text. It refers to anything that regards the self of the individual as the center of all things

. MK… Attention to reading process emerged

during 1930s as a reaction against the growing tendency to reject the reader’s role in creating meaning Principles of New Criticism that dominated. Timeless meaning of text

“Text and text alone”

. L… RR critics believe that a reader’s

interaction with the text gives the text its meaning. The text cannot exist without the reader.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?

. Q… our life experiences and the

communities we belong to greatly influence our reading of a text.

Because each reader will interact with the text differently, the text may have more than one valid interpretation.

SALIENT FEATURES MK… Acknowledged importance of text and

reader. Text relationship with reader. Reality exists in readers mind

TECHNIQUES OF READING L… Reader extracts the meaning

through Experiencing Hypothesizing Exploring synthesizing

TEXT IDENTITY

Q… Two time reading of single text produces great insight in the reader.

Text alone is nothing as a unit but it completes identity after the reader interpretation.

. Leading proponents: MK… Focuses on readers’ responses to

literary texts. Stanley Fish Wayne Booth Louise Rosenblatt RR didn’t receive much attention until

1970s

2 basic beliefs of RR

L… The role of the reader cannot be omitted from our understanding of literature.

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.

Jonathan culler (1981)

Q… RR examines the reader’s response to a text as a response to a horizon of expectations, is meant that there is multiplicity of meanings of interpretations in a text and these can be accessed by the reader according to his or her level or literary competence.

Ref.. Norman N. Holland, "Unity Identity Text Self" (1975, Tompkins, Reader-Response Criticism)

.MK…Reader is necessary third party in the relationship that constitutes the literary work.

Text

Reader

Author

JONATHAN CULLER (1981)

L… in RR, there is an interaction between the structure and the text and the reader’s response. It evokes a situation where individual readers give meaning to the text. This is because each reader will interact with the text differently, as the text may have more than one vivid interpretation.

. Q… Kinds of Reader Response Theorists Individualists Experimenters uniformists

. MK… Work is not fully created until the

readers: assimilate it actualize it In light of their own knowledge and

experience.

TYSON (2006) L… “Reader Response Theory is the reader’s

response to literary text. Tyson describes in Critical Theory Today the five types of Reader Response Theory and the difference that lie within each”.

L…

Q…

Types of Responses

MK… Initial emotional response Interpretive Analysis Questions Summary Arguing with author (believability of text) Intertextuality Rethinking one part of text after reading another.

. L… Analyzes the transaction between reader

and text both the reader and the text are necessary in the production of meaning. As we read, the text acts as a stimulus to which we respond feeling, association, and memories all influence the way we make sense of a text as we read it.

. Q… Each individual reads literary work for

herself/himself Draws on past experiences Molds new experiences from new text

QUESTIONS

MK… What does this work mean to me, in my

present intellectual & moral makeup? What particular aspects of my life may help

me understand and appreciate the work? How can the work improve my understanding

and widen my insights? How can my increasing understanding help me

understand the work more deeply?

. L… Even same reader reading same text on

two different occasions will probably produce different meanings because of so many variables contributing to our experience of text.

. Q… Knowledge acquired between first and

second reading of text, personal experiences that have occurred, change in mood between two encounters Change in purpose

TYPES OF READING

MK… Efferent Reading for information Telephone book

History text

Aesthetic Reading for pleasure Emotional focus Literature

According to Iser

L… 2 kinds of meaning every text offers: Determinate .Facts of textCertain events in plot or

physical descriptions clearly provided by words on page.

Indeterminate .“gaps” in text such as actions that are not clearly explained or have multiple explanations allow and invite reader to create her/his own interpretations

Ref..Wolfgang Iser, Prospecting: From Reader Response to Literary Anthropology (1993)

Kinds of reader Q… Implied Reader finds out the

determinate meaning of the text Actual Reader fills the gap in the text and

find out the indeterminate meaning of the text.

. MK… Text acts as blueprint

Corrects our miss-interpretations when we go back and re-read

Acts as guide to self-correct

Benefits

L… broadening the horizon of mind . Multiple interpretation. Dependence on the teachers is discouraged. Students trust their own responses

BENEFITS CONT…..

L… Students ability of responsibility and authority is increased.

Personal responses are valued Help reader to become better and

critical reader

limitations

Q… Not every interpretation may be valid. Students can also go beyond the

interpretation level. Students can also disagree.

Conclusion

Q… Reader response theory is the best theory which make the reader and students to be active and to analyze a text by their own ways. It achieved great importance in 19th century and for students and teachers. It is the most reliable method of studying and teaching.

REFERENCES Stanley Fish, "Literature in the Reader: Affective

Stylistics" (1970, Tompkins, Reader-Response Criticism

Jerome J. McGann, The Beauty of Inflections: Literary Investigations in Historical Method and Theory (1985)

Jane P. Tompkins, Reader-Response Criticism (1981)

Tony Bennett, "Marxism and Popular Fiction," Literature and History 7 (1981)