The Naive Reader: Anarchy or Self-Reliance?

Abstract

Though literary theorists have increasingly placed the reader at the center of the literary transaction, the expert or ideal reader has received far more attention than the naive real reader often found in ordinary settings. This neglect is usually justified with the argument that, being outside the institutional framework of criticism and literary study, the naive reader is likely to respond in a mode of anarchy, of mere subjective chaos. This article reports the results of a project showing that when such readers are encouraged to be self-reliant and creative, their responses are far more likely to be systematic and coherent.