Interpreting a tale: Three perspectives on text construction

Abstract

The theoretical framework of the present study is based on the view that meaning and text are constructed by the reader during the reading process. The literary text as a linear manifestation functions as a potential sign. During reader-text interaction, the aesthetic sign evolves as the reader constructs speech, content, and narrative structures. The major purpose of this study was to explore the nature of the constructed text in terms of speech, content and narrative dimensions by analyzing one folktale. A second purpose was to employ three approaches for analyzing the constructed text: speech acts, concepts and episodes. The analyses revealed first, that speech acts provide one important tool for approaching the speech structure and the development of the characters. Secondly, concepts revealed information about the content structure of the tale. Finally, episodic analysis provided important insights into the nature of the narrative structure and how content was structured. One implication of the study is that multiple perspectives are necessary if we are to understand the nature of the constructed text.