The two Theories of Reception and Communication between Western Thought and Arab Reading, Al-Ghathami as a Model

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the concepts of the Reception Theory, as stated in the sayings and visions of the Reception Theory theorists: Hans Robert Yaus and Wolfgang Iser, and the Literary Communication Theory as presented by its pioneer Roman Jacobson. It presents the principles of the two theories, provides an approach to their ideas and visions, gives a balance of what unites the two theories and what divides them, as both theories agree in the role of the reader in determining the meaning, and his role in literary work in general, as the meaning in the text never shapes itself. Indeed, the reader should be present in the text in order to deduce the meaning, as the reader’s role does not stop at the mission of traditional interpretation only, but the literary work - as it is known - consists of him as an implicit reader who forms the content of the text and its subject. However, the Communication Theory is unique with multiple communicative elements as formed by Jacobson's model of communication, which contains the three basic elements for producing the communicative process, namely: the author, the literary work, and the reader, in addition: the context, the communication channel, and the code. We added to these elements the Arab vision in terms of its agreement or disagreement, as described by the Saudi and critic writer Abdullah Al-Ghathami.