Literature, Psychoanalysis, and the Re-Formation of the Self: A New Direction for Reader-Response Theory

PMLA ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marshall W. Alcorn ◽  
Mark Bracher
Keyword(s):  
Reader Response ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
The Self ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Cognitive Structures ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Reader Response Theory ◽  
Engaged Reading ◽  
And Behavior

An examination of the similarities between the experience of reading and the transference process of psychoanalysis demonstrates that, by activating the mechanisms of projection and identification, reading literature can function to re-form the self. After outlining the general workings of the self, we look at those elements that are called into play by engaged reading, showing how reading can serve to alter both cognitive structures and the deep structures of the self. Like successful psychoanalysis, a literary text often evokes grandiose aspiration and later frustrates the most unrealistic avenues of that aspiration, thereby decommissioning those routes of desire and behavior. And just as psychoanalysis develops more fulfilling patterns of desire and action through the patient's identification with new ego ideals offered by the analyst, so reading can promote such structural changes through identification with characters and personae of literary texts.

scholarly journals Reader’s Consciousness in Literary Interpretation with Special Reference to Stanley Fish’s Reader Response Theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Chhabi Seth
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Reader Response ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Literary Interpretation ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Reader Response Theory ◽  
Reading Processes ◽  
Reading Experience ◽  
Interpretive Communities

Reader Response Theory is a broad, exciting, evolving domain of literary studies that can help us learn about our own reading processes and how they relate to specific elements in the text we read. The readers do not passively consume the meaning presented to them by the objective literary text. Stanley Fish’s Reader Response Theory originated with an interesting experiment that was conducted by him for proving that, ‘Interpretation is not the art of construing but the art of constructing. Interpreters do not decode poems; they make them.’ It is the consciousness of the reader that makes the text relevant and significant. The text has no meaning and relevance before the reader reads it and presents his own judgement and experience regarding the text. The readers are termed as the ‘interpretive communities’ as they analyze the text and play an active role in a reading experience. The paper will focus on highlighting the reader’s consciousness, his perception and experience which gives meaning and significance to a literary text. It will point out that the meaning does not lie in the text, but it is the consciousness of the reader which creates it and adds meaning to the text.

scholarly journals The Imaginary Self-portrait in the Poem Roman de la Rose

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-105
Author(s):  
Barbara Peklar
Keyword(s):  
Reader Response ◽  
The Self ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Roman De La Rose ◽  
Guillaume De Lorris ◽  
Reader Response Theory ◽  
External Appearance ◽  
Outer World ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
The Invisible

“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter…It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself,” explains the painter who created the evolving portrait of Dorian Gray. Guillaume de Lorris, the author of the medieval poem Roman de la Rose, also presents his soul through the character of the ideal lover, so Amans is a kind of self-portrait. But unlike an ordinary self-portrait, this one does not present the author’s personality. It is painted with words, and such an ekphrastic image is universal or influences the reader in ways that can be explained by the Iser’s reader-response theory. The poem enables the reader to feel love, and transforms him into the ideal courtly lover. As distinct from a painting, the invisible ekphrastic image in this text surpasses appearances and presents the reader with a hidden side of his soul. The object represented by ekphrasis does not exist in the outer world, therefore in the example examined here the reader’s other self is brought into existence. In contrast to a painted self-portrait, which represents the identity of the author, since the picture and the pictured are identical, a word is a sign which refers to something else. A verbal self-portrait which expresses the author’s feelings opens itself up to the reader, who has to complete the image with his imagination. This imaginary image then differs from the external appearance, because it reveals the associated feelings, enables the reader to feel what the author feels, and presents the reader with his other self. The imaginary self-portrait thus does not represent the actual self, but the self that is transformed or improved by the art of love.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Critical Thinking Skills for English Literature Study with Reader Response Theory: Review of Literature

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farah Qamar
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Reader Response ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Reader Response Theory ◽  
Theory Review

<p>Since Socrates’ time, reasoning is considered valuable for the justification of speaker’s belief along with Thomas Aquinas’ testing of his thinking to answer his own thinking. Critical thinking has been part of discussion among the educators for its significance and application for last many decades. Many educators have conducted researches on the assessment of critical thinking within a domain or across the domain in order to test students’ critical thinking skills and its effect on their learning. Similarly, critical thinking is highly valuable for the study of literature as it explicitly asked for learners’ beliefs, perceptions, and judgments in order to remove the ambiguity of thought. Perfection of thought can be achieved with the use of critical thinking skills while training of mind needs interaction between literary text and the reader as literature has the capacity to achieve mental traits specified to critical thinking. Accordingly, this report presents a relationship between critical thinking skills and English literature study along with reader response theory techniques considering that without the use of critical thinking skills and reader response theory, study of literature is haphazard hence for the application of reader response theory, literary text is inevitable. In essence, I aim to highlight the effectiveness of critical thinking skills for the study of literature while emphasizing the significance of reader response theory which is also inevitable for the study of literature and for the use of critical thinking skills.</p>

scholarly journals Reader-Response Theory and Approach: Application, Values and Significance for Students in Literature Courses

SEEU Review ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Spirovska
Keyword(s):  
Reader Response ◽  
English Language ◽  
Aesthetic Experience ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Reader Response Theory ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Literature Class ◽  
Role Of The Reader

Abstract This article discusses the implementation of the reader-response theory and approach in the context of a literature course (English Literature 1) taught to students enrolled at the Department of English Language and Literature, who are preparing to be future teachers of English language. This article aims to examine the benefits and values of the reader-response theory applied in the described context, as well as potential drawbacks. The basic postulates of the reader-response theory and reader-response approach in class emphasize the crucial role of the reader on the literary and aesthetic experience when reading a literary text. The reader’s way of understanding and perceptions of a literary text, as well as the experience of the reader, influence the interaction between the reader and a text. This interaction contributes to the development of interpretation of the text and reconstruction of the ideas expressed in the text. The article examines the possible ways of implementing the reader-response theory in a literature class, including written assignments, personal responses to a literary text and in-class discussions. The research focuses on qualitative data collection and on analyzing students’ responses to these activities. Furthermore, the research aims to provide a clearer picture of students’ attitudes, observations and personal reactions when interacting with a literary text. One of the aims of the article is to provide recommendations and suggestions regarding reader-response theory application in teaching literature courses at tertiary level, in addition to designing course curricula and selecting appropriate in-class activities.

scholarly journals An ASSESSING IRAQI UNIVERSITY READERS' CRITICAL THINKING DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE USE READER RESPONSE STRATEGY IN THE INSTRUCTION OF SHAKESPEARE'S LITERARY TEXT

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-133
Author(s):  
Qaysar Abbas Abudlridhadr ◽  
Hj. Azmi Abdul Latiff
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Reader Response ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Reader Response Theory ◽  
Post Test

Purpose: This study centers on the significant role of Reader Response theory in instruction literary text, this study also, affirms that there is a useful and progressive influence of the Reader-response strategy in the literary text to enhance and improve the level of EFL Iraqi learners’ critical thinking. This study proves that teaching literature, without Reader response strategies, the level of development of critical thinking becomes very passive and slow. Methodology: The researcher used one group “pre-post-test”. The study was conducted at the English department, Faculty of Education in Iraq. This study was carried out for fifteen weeks. The researcher administered Cornell Class-Reasoning Test as a pre-test in week 4 while post-test in week 12.The researcher used non-probability convenient sampling because it was probably the most common of all sampling techniques in social sciences and the proximity of the samples to the researchers (Patton, 1990).This test was run twice with intensive interventions for five weeks implemented between the two tests. Main Findings. Findings showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the EFL Iraqi learners' critical thinking skills between pre-test scores and post-test scores. There are statistically significant differences at the “p ≤ 0.05” level for the following item groups: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12. This study confirmed that participants significantly improved their level of critical thinking skills by implementing Reader- Response activities in teaching literary texts. Implications: This study proposes applying the strategies of reader-response theory as an effective and encouraging concept or stimulating approach to enhance the level of recognition and appreciation of the texts in literature. This experiment could be a positive study and applicable to different educational centers to teach all the texts in English literature. This study helps instructors to change their old-style manners of instructions. Novelty: The experiment focused on the vital and encouraging role of reader-response theory in fostering EFL Iraqi readers’ capacity to generate multi-layers of versions and meanings during reading literature. The study presents a helpful and successful manner to all the persons who work as teachers in educational systems. The study directs the instructors to follow the modern approaches in explaining the literary text to their learners instead of the old-style manner. EFL tutors should practice these strategies in EFL English classes of literature so that they could make the lecture full of activity and enjoyment throughout the interesting themes of literature.

Citizenship through Fiction

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 468-487
Author(s):  
Ghazal Kazim Syed
Keyword(s):  
Reader Response ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Questionnaire Data ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Reader Response Theory ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Narrative Technique ◽  
Citizenship Identity

Abstract This study explores students’ responses to identifying two themes of citizenship, identity, and discrimination in literary texts taught to them at undergraduate level as part of their curriculum at a department of English at a government university in Sindh, Pakistan. The current study takes responses of the students who have read five novels as part of their curriculum, through questionnaires, to find out if they identify the two themes in those novels. Further to the questionnaire data, interviews are conducted under the framework of reader-response theory to investigate the factors that have led to students’ choice of certain texts over others. The study finds that students relate to and identify citizenship themes in the texts that are closer to their socio-geographic cultures. The students, however, do not identify themes in those novels that are difficult in structure as understanding the narrative technique takes up most of the effort of the readers. Based on the findings of this study, citizenship educators and teachers of English can recommend more appropriate texts to teach identity and discrimination through literature wherever explicit statutory teaching of citizenship may not be possible.

scholarly journals The Imaginary Self-portrait in the Poem Roman de la Rose

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-105
Author(s):  
Barbara Peklar
Keyword(s):  
Reader Response ◽  
The Self ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Roman De La Rose ◽  
Guillaume De Lorris ◽  
Reader Response Theory ◽  
External Appearance ◽  
Outer World ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
The Invisible

“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter…It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself,” explains the painter who created the evolving portrait of Dorian Gray. Guillaume de Lorris, the author of the medieval poem Roman de la Rose, also presents his soul through the character of the ideal lover, so Amans is a kind of self-portrait. But unlike an ordinary self-portrait, this one does not present the author’s personality. It is painted with words, and such an ekphrastic image is universal or influences the reader in ways that can be explained by the Iser’s reader-response theory. The poem enables the reader to feel love, and transforms him into the ideal courtly lover. As distinct from a painting, the invisible ekphrastic image in this text surpasses appearances and presents the reader with a hidden side of his soul. The object represented by ekphrasis does not exist in the outer world, therefore in the example examined here the reader’s other self is brought into existence. In contrast to a painted self-portrait, which represents the identity of the author, since the picture and the pictured are identical, a word is a sign which refers to something else. A verbal self-portrait which expresses the author’s feelings opens itself up to the reader, who has to complete the image with his imagination. This imaginary image then differs from the external appearance, because it reveals the associated feelings, enables the reader to feel what the author feels, and presents the reader with his other self. The imaginary self-portrait thus does not represent the actual self, but the self that is transformed or improved by the art of love.

scholarly journals Responding to literary texts through poetry writing

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Collin Jerome
Keyword(s):  
Reader Response ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Classroom Activity ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Literary Response ◽  
Reader Response Theory ◽  
Poetry Writing ◽  
Literary Characters

There are various ways in which readers respond to literature. This article discusses how readers (students in particular) can express their ideas and thoughts about the literary texts they have read through poetry writing. It begins with an overview of reader response theory and the field of literary response research, followed by a discussion of oral and written forms of readers’ responses to literature and a classroom activity that requires students to express their thoughts about literary characters in poetic forms. The article also highlights students’ proficiency, and literacy and literary skills as some of the factors that need to be considered when using poetry writing as a way of responding to literature.

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