Reader-response Theory Research Articles

Theory and Practice of Literature Circles: Literature as Transitional Space

Literature Circles, which are collaborative and student-centered reading groups, are a teaching method that draws students into increasingly abstract and relevant discussions about literature. This paper proposes a way to think about literature circles vis-a-vis a Winnicottian psychoanalytic approach to Reader-Response Theory. One conclusion is that reader-response theory considered in terms of a pedagogical practice in the form of literature circles emphasizes the student’s ‘true self,’ which includes his or her own experiences in interactions with a text and a community. After introducing and defining literature circles, the paper will discuss Reader-Response Theory and Winnicott. Then it will detail the implementation of literature circles together with observations of student responses that to varying degrees demonstrate their efficacy.

Baba Is You: Doing Things With Words

Baba Is You is a 2D electronic game in which the player-controlled character pushes
 word-blocks around in order to build sentences, which make up the rules governing the
 simulated environment. With Baba Is You as the case in point, we bring up parallels between
 video games and Wolfgang Iser’s reader-response theory, J.L. Austin’s pragmatics, and
 Gregory Bateson’s levels of learning. By considering self-reference paradoxes,
 metalanguage, and the map-territory distinction, Baba Is You becomes an intuitive
 philosophic playground by enticing players to question not only language and its uses, but
 some general conceptions about not just video games, but life itself.

Wholeness and disruption

This essay examines how the poetry of the late Romantic Cyprian Norwid became a particularly appealing case for Polish structuralist analysis. Polish formalists, such as Manfred Kridl, laid the groundwork for a linguistic reading of Norwid. Two detailed analyses by Roman Jakobson (1963 and 1975 respectively) constitute the most radical expression thereof. Curiously, the Polish structuralists, such as Aleksandra Okopień-Sławińska and Michał Głowiński as well as the major German scholar of Polish literature, Rolf Fieguth, only very partially followed Jakobson’s model. As this essay argues, they struggled with the total analytic integration and rationalization of all elements of a given poem that characterizes Jakobson’s grammatical and phonetic approach. What unites the structuralist readings of Norwid is that all, in different ways, address the problem of wholeness as posed both by Norwid’s poems and his aesthetic thought. Under the auspices of reader-response theory, the notion of wholeness became increasingly problematic to the structuralist interpreters but was never abandoned altogether.

Adapting the Australian Canon and Decolonizing the Tertiary Classroom: Settler Students Respond to Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife

Abstract The ‘Drover’s Wife Reading Group’ was a collaborative teacher–student project piloted between 2018 and 2020 at Federation University Australia with the intention to create spaces for decolonization, particularly settler (un)learning, beyond the limits of the tertiary English classroom. Drawing upon aspects of reader–response theory, the project began as a small constructivist study in that it sought, initially, to gauge the different responses undergraduate settler students had to a work of Indigenous Australian literary adaptation. However, the transformative nature of the text being engaged with – Leah Purcell’s play, The Drover’s Wife (2016), a literary work which has been widely recognized for the critical literacy it promotes – coupled with the sophistication of the participants’ various responses to it, quickly saw the project shift to one of intense collaboration, with the students involved becoming partners in shaping the project’s outcomes.

How Students' Perceptions in Narrative Class (The Lord of Flies) Through Online Collaboration Learning.

Mariwan Hasan (2020), suggests that Golding’s novel can be used in a second language classroom to teach democratic values such as the right to free speech using reader-response theory. Curriculum requires that democratic values be taught through each subject, suggests that students can be taught about democratic values through classroom discussions and writing assignments based on the novel (Ghazal Kazim Syed, 2020). In addition to academic learning, researchers believe that students also gain confidence through the collaboration work. When students conform each other’s opinions in activities involving group work, it makes them confident and comfortable with each other. When the teacher is not around to ask a question, they will be less at pressure. against them (Cynthia S, 2020). The practice of collaborative learning in online education is increasing steadily as many curriculum creators and online course teachers are starting to understand its positive effects on the learning of students. This study aimed to analyze students' perceptions in narrative class (The Lord of Flies) through online collaboration learningu used a qualitative research design was followed by this study. As it is a study of perceptions, a qualitative methodology using a phenomenological approach, the participants of this study were twelve the eleventh grade students, data for this article was gathered through semi-structured interviews. The researcher checked part of the coding against each other to ensure trustworthiness of data. Keeping in light the usefulness of online collaboration learning shown in this study, it is recommended that teachers should take effort to include students in literature online discussion group. Furthermore, it is recommended that similar studies should be conducted in schools and colleges. As this study is recommended for future researchers to check the adaptability of the findings in other contexts.

Psychological Effects of Sadaat Hasan Manto’s Fiction on Youth of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

This study aims to look at the idea that Manto straightforwardly expounded on man and woman’s intimate relationships. Reading fiction, dramatizations and books are similarly impacted personalities of the readers as visual screenplays, Manto's fiction engravings in all accessible mediums of print and electronic although quotes from his fictions likewise broadly tune in and share in online communities. This persistence of his work accessibility and appreciation touched the researcher to deal with his fiction to check its psychological effects on the youth of Lahore. This inquiry is strengthened by the reader-response theory to identify the youth perception and understandings about his fictions and Uses and Gratification for the resolutions and intentions of youth to escalate his work. The quantitative survey method utilized, and data collected with Purposive sampling, 500 respondents were chosen, the findings of the study showed, that Manto's fictions make anxiety and eroticism in youth along with this his fictions create mindfulness about social taboo`s and social associations.

Annette R. Federico. My Victorian Novel: Critical Essays in the Personal Voice.

Annette R. Federico. <i>My Victorian Novel: Critical Essays in the Personal Voice.</i>

Babel, a Neverending Story? Language and Fantasy Identities

"The end of the 19th century brought a major change in regards to humanity’s relationship with divinity and with the idea of creation. According to Friedrich Nietzsche, ‘God is dead’, so no one holds the supreme authority upon the creation act anymore. As a result, man himself began to create fictional worlds through logos, in order to fill the void left by the disappearance of divinity. Among the many methods that explain the generative process of these worlds there is the archetypal one from the Jungian psychology, the relational one from reader-response theories and the ‘chaotic’, theoretically objective one, based on hazard theories. Starting from here, this essay will try to analyze comparatively Michael Ende’s novel, The Neverending Story, and Jorge Luis Borges’ short story, The Library of Babel, with the purpose of exploring the contrast that is prefigured – at a structural, interpretive and text-reader relationship level – between the unconscious and the mechanical patterns of creating new worlds."

FORMING APPROPRIATE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS: TOWARDS A FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY OF LITERARY RESPONSE IN L2

The aim of this study is to look into the notion of literary reading and response in L2 by pre-service teachers in Malaysia in order to improve teacher education. The researchers will provide an outline of Reader Response theories and how they affect the learning of literature in L2 in this study. The researchers will go over their conceptual framework, which was developed based on past research. This conceptual framework will be developed in order to conduct in-depth research on pre-service teachers' perceptions of literary reading in L2 and to assist them in improving their practises in the classroom. Using the conceptual framework, based on Reader Response Theory, it allows researchers to explore what types of responses pre-service teachers have to literary texts while they are involved in the reading process. Hoping that the experience will aid in the improvement of teaching and learning.

CEFR Based Learning Approach: Using Literature to Enhance EFL Students’ Reading Skills and Critical Thinking Skills

The purposes of this research were to: 1) study whether the use of literature activities improved EFL students&amp;rsquo; reading skills and critical thinking skills according to CEFR at C1 level; 2) investigate students&amp;rsquo; critical thinking skills in studying a literature course; and 3) examine students&amp;rsquo; attitudes towards the use of literature activities in developing reading skills and critical thinking skills. The sample consisted of 47 second-year English major students who were enrolled in the Introduction to Literature Course in the academic year 2020 at a public university in the northern part of Thailand. The instruments included five lesson plans using literature activities to develop reading skills and critical thinking skills, a reading test, a reflective writing task, and a list of semi-structured interview questions. T-test, mean, and standard deviation calculations including content analysis were used for data analysis. This study found that the EFL students&amp;rsquo; reading skills and critical thinking skills improved significantly following participation in literature activities based on Reader-Response theory. The EFL students demonstrated average level critical thinking skills and they held positive attitudes towards the use of literature activities for developing reading skills and critical thinking skills.

Identity Construction in Adichies two texts Half of a Yellow Sun, and Purple Hibiscus

The study attempts to examine Identity construction in Adichies texts, Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) and Purple Hibiscus (2003). The study was guided by the reader response theory. A critical reading of the texts has revealed that, every character in both texts has been struggling in constructing his/her identity. The study involved three aspects of identity, which included self, social, and national identity. All children in texts struggle to carve out their own identities through interaction with the environment through which they pass they through. Chimamanfa Adichie is also introducing the concept of social identity, where by the elite in Half of a Yellow Sun organizes to meet in Odenigbo house and share different ideas concerning Pan Africanism, tribalism, nation, and race. Likewise in Purple Hibiscus, the family of aunty Ifeoma with father Amadi helps Jaja and Kambili to build their social identity through interaction, and engaging them into different activities. National identity is also discussed in this study by involving both children and adult characters from the texts. Everyone is looking forward on possible ways in which they can put their hands together to bring harmony and peace in their country. Keywords: Identity, Construction, Adichies texts, Half, Yellow, Sun, Purple, Hibiscus.

Nurturing the Literate Mind through Group Interaction among Literary Thinkers

Conventional classroom discourse structure that nurtures literacy through the scientific way of thinking is argued to limit personal engagement and exploration of alternative thinking processes among literary thinkers. In nurturing literacy for the literate mind, this study investigated how the literary way of thinking through group interaction can become a powerful alternative avenue to complement the established scientific way of thinking. Based on the Reader Response and Envisionment Building theories, participants were given the freedom to wander and become personally involved in group interactions advancing thinking about meaning through exploring horizons of possibilities. Through peer-led group discussions, this case study examined a group of 31 undergraduate learners who discussed a short story as part of a literature course. The overall findings show that when given the freedom to explore horizons of possibilities through group interactions, the participants demonstrated personal engagement and the ability to explore different thinking processes. Among the common themes observed were that participants shared personal recalling of facts or literary devices, contemplated personal interpretations of meaning, discussed the personal evaluation of the text, expressed doubts or misunderstandings, made personal connections or extended the imaginary world. It may thus be concluded that to nurture the literate mind, the literary way of thinking should complement the scientific way of thinking to promote different thinking processes and personal engagement. Opportunities to explore horizons of possibilities through group interactions support literacy in literature classrooms. Keywords : the literate mind; literary thinking; horizons of possibilities; group interaction ; literature instruction

The Reader Response Theory in Arabic Criticism Mohammad Al-Mubarak's Book: Istiqbal un-Nass (Text Reception) as an Example

The last century witnessed a lot of changes in world literary criticism. The modern critical approaches with their different philosophical, literary and linguistic attitudes emerged giving us various rules and ways of reading a literary text. These theories were divided into contextual approaches (the historical, psychological and social) paying attention to the author and the political, cultural and psychological changes he/she has undergone and how these changes affected the text through the author and his life. Critical studies then shifted from the context into text with the emergence of the textual approaches which argue that the critical reading begins with text and ends with it. The critical act moves then from the text to the receiver/reader with the appearance of the reader response theories which focus upon the reader as one of the most important elements of constructing the literary text and participating in it. Amid the tumult of all these studies, there were those who deny the existence of Arabic critical studies concerned with the reader or receiver till Mohamd Al-Mubark pulished his study: Text Reception in Arabic Criticism, tracing in it classical Arab critics' opinions concerning critical reading, its levels and types, the reader, his types and attitudes. This book is an attempt by the author to highlight the ancient Arabic critical heritage and to show the place of Arab critics and their critical potentialities in reading and receiving the literary text. Keywords: criticism, critical approaches, reader-response theory, ancient Arabic criticism, text reception.

Beauty Pageants, Controverted Decisions and Emotional Outpour: An Analysis of Social Media Posts on GHANA'S MOST BEAUTIFUL

Since its emergence, beauty pageantry as a cultural even and entertainment programme has been predominantly characterized as controversial and an unwelcome social venture. Scholars like Cohen, Wilk and Stoeltje (1996) reiterate this by arguing that beauty pageants have become sites of controversy and resistance. In Ghana, most of these controversies take the form of audience uproar and outburst on social media, especially at the end of the contest when expectations are not met. Following the excessive amount of data social media generates on the beauty contest, it has become all-important for researchers to focus our attention on interrogating the posts shared by audiences as well as the emotions seeded in them. The study, therefore, examines social media posts of audiences on an indigenous beauty pageant in Ghana, Ghana’s Most Beautiful (GMB). The paper adopts the Reader-Response theory, Philosophical Hermeneutics and Ekman and Friesen's six basic emotions to interrogate Facebook users’ posts on the coronation of the 2017 and 2018 beauty Queens, Zeinab and Abena. Using qualitative content analysis, cyber ethnographic and thematic analysis of several purposively sampled Facebook posts, the study revealed that through emotional outpour of anger, disgust, sadness, surprise, and happiness, audience raised contemptuous and social issues such as corruption, aspersions, signification/ethnocentrism, and objectification. Withal, they also highlighted issues like glorification, and divination. Again, the study found that the beauty queens, through users’ posts were represented as commodities, assertive, purposeful, heroic and intelligent. The study concludes that organizers of GMB re-consider a total restructuring of the pageant into one that embraces cultural differences devoid of commodification and oppression of women. Keywords: Ghana’s Most Beautiful, Beauty pageants, audience emotions, emotional display, social media DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/97-05 Publication date: August 31 st 2021

Ermeni Çocuk Edebiyatı Eserlerinde Sürgün ve Göç Teması

This study aims to analyze a children’s and youth literature book taught as part of the so-called Armenian genocide teaching guidelines and curricula on the theme of “relocation, migration and the events of 1915”. Rather than arguing for or against a certain historical view, it aims to perform an overall analysis of a literary work based on Reader-Response Theory. In brief, despite some unsupported claims in the beginning and its occasional lack of objectivity, the fluency and richness of the language and its accurate representation of the cultural values of the historical period especially in the original edition of the book are among the factors that increase the quality of the work.

‘Suddenly the bone snapped in two’: Freud, fantasy, and Taran Wanderer

ABSTRACT Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain have garnered both critical interest and popular acclaim. Notably, the fourth book of the cycle, Taran Wanderer, is strikingly different from its predecessors, shedding much of the trappings of high fantasy for a simple bildungsroman. This paper examines the text, using Freud’s theories of symbolism, the family romance and the Oedipal conflict, to elucidate Taran’s underlying psychology and to show how the character’s unconscious motivations, molded by his identity as a foundling, drive the narrative. Finally, by applying insights gained from reader-response theory, this paper considers why Taran Wanderer, and adolescent fantasy literature more broadly, resonates so strongly with readers.

Application of Reader Response in Literary Pedagogy: A Case Study of English Literature Classroom at a Public Sector University, Pakistan

The current study aims to analyze the application of reader response theory in literature classrooms. It focuses on the potential reader response teachers at a public sector university, Pakistan and their questioning practices in classrooms based on Probst’s (1994) suggested model. Probst (1994) has given five model generic questions for reader response teachers. For this purpose a sample of three teachers of English Literature has been picked up through non probability purposive sampling method. Data is collected through recorded systematic class observation where focus was on the questions asked by the teachers. Substantial amount of literature related to reader response theory and its application in classroom is also discussed which supports the findings of this research. Through observation of teachers’ classes and analysis of data, researchers advocate the use of reader response teaching methods in literature classrooms at university level. The Study further concludes that the types of questions, teachers ask impact hugely the understanding of students. Data indicates that a classroom can only be reader response when students are given space, freedom and are encouraged to discuss and give answers of open ended questions. Study also suggests, teachers’ training and academic excellence also affect the degree to which a class can be reader response. So, it is necessary that teachers should be aware of reader response methods and the ways of its application in the classroom

Literary Theory, Stylistics and Cognitive Poetics

The desire to understand and interpret the underlying mechanisms involved in the creation and reception of literary texts, and the influence of these mechanisms on human cognition goes back at least to Aristotle’s Poetics. However, the last century has witnessed a vast variety of approaches to the understanding of literature: a plethora of theories such as feminist, post colonialist, queer and reader response theories as well as some practical ways of analysis and interpretation such as formalism, new criticism, stylistics, cognitive poetics have shown themselves at the opposite end of the continuum. Stylistics and its evolved form, cognitive poetics have been significantly influential in the understanding of the processes involved in the creation and reception of literature. Although stylistics and cognitive poetics have usually been covered under the broad heading of literary theory, it has been observed that the divergence in the ways they operate makes such claims invalid because, unlike theory, empirical evidence is at the heart of stylistics and cognitive poetics. This paper aims to provide an overview of stylistics, and cognitive poetics and illustrate how they differ from literary theory.

Teaching Short Stories through the Use of the Reader-Response Theory: Second-Year Students at Dr. Moulay Tahar University-Saida

The Reader-Response Theory considers the learner as an active participant in extracting meaning from a literary work depending on his/her prior experience. Teaching literature critically allows the reader to create a sense, and compare the previous experience with the written text. Second-year students cannot decode and scrutinize a short academic text, which unveiled that they are unaware of the different types of readings. The research question arises in this vein is: To what extent does the Reader-Response Theory contribute to the development of the EFL students’ skills? The piece of work aims at introducing and applying the Reader-Response Theory to teaching short stories to second-year university students. The current study was conducted on students taught by the teacher-researcher at Dr. Moulay Tahar University-Saida, Algeria. A questionnaire, observation, and the analysis of students’ written assignments employed in the present work for the overarching aim of gathering data in a timely period. Yet, the results revealed that after implementing this approach, EFL students become aware of how to undertake an academic written piece. It also reinforces their thinking skills, and boosts their creativity.

Of Wrath and War

Abstract This article examines the appearance of The Grapes of Wrath in the Armed Services Editions, the book series that provided the American military with reading material during World War II. It argues that this unique and widely disseminated edition has been overlooked in the novel's reception history. Departing from the curiosity of including a politically controversial novel in an ostensibly patriotic context, I begin by highlighting the ways in which The Grapes of Wrath appears as an unexpected choice. As I turn to the literary artifact itself, I examine its framing textual materials, produced specifically for this edition, which would have shaped the soldiers' understanding of the novel. Drawing on a combination of paratextual and reader-response theory, supplemented by archival research, I go on to argue that The Grapes of Wrath was issued in the series to serve a social function, possibly to create continued support for New Deal initiatives and other reform programs after the war. As part of my conclusion, however, I suggest that the lasting influence of this edition of the novel may be found in the realm of literary reputation rather than sociopolitical impact.