Varieties of audience-oriented criticism have been around since before Aristotle
Early versions in the 20?s: Louise Rosenblatt and I.A. Richards
Main current of "Reader Response" gets started in the 70?s
Reaction to problems and limitations in New Criticism, especially assumption of objective existence of the text, stable unchanging meanings, and lack of accounting for different but acceptable readings
Part of a general cultural development towards more subjectivist perspectives, for example Thomas Kuhn?s Structure of Scientific revolutions (1962)
Central Assumptions
A text is subjective rather than objective
The affective fallacy is a fallacy: Can't do a reading without a reader
Meaning doesn?t exist within the text; it is either negotiated by text and reader or created by reader
Shift in focus from text to reader
Reading is a process ? takes place in time rather than space
Meaning is not univocal; there are many possible readings
Shift from staticà dynamic concept of the text: text is constantly being created
Shift from single ideal reader à reading community
Key Terms
Epistemology -- the study of how we know reality
Subjective vs. objective
Interpretive community
Dynamic dialogue
Response vs. knowledge
Analytical Methods
Begin with individual response; then move to build an interpretation, based on community interaction and standards (Bleich)
Fish reads sequentially, looking for "interpretive cruxes" and for line endings. "affective stylistics"
Collect responses and make hypotheses on the basis of analyzing them?about the work, about gender roles, etc.
Use responses to examine in detail the reading process
Historical Legacy/ Limitations and Rebuttals/ Problems
Allows for multiple interpretations, so it?s a lot more confusing
No right answer
Problem of drawing the line between idiosyncratic and acceptable interpretations is much harder
Political nature of the interpretive process can be foregrounded
