Readerresponse

Reader-response is a school of literary criticism that emphasizes the reader’s role in producing the meaning of a text. In this view, meaning is not a fixed property situated solely in the text but arises through the reader’s active engagement, influenced by personal experience, culture, and context. The text is seen as a site of negotiation where interpretation is co-created by reader and text.

The movement emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as a reaction to formalist and New Critical approaches that treated texts as autonomous. Key figures include Louise Rosenblatt, who, in The Reader, the Text, the Poem, described the reading event as a transaction between reader and text, distinguishing between efferent (information-focused) and aesthetic (experience-focused) readings. Stanley Fish argued that interpretations are shaped by interpretive communities, the social groups whose norms govern what counts as a valid reading. Wolfgang Iser proposed the idea of an implied reader and argued that texts invite gaps and gaps are filled by readers, active participants in meaning-making.

Core concepts include the transaction between reader and text, multiple possible interpretations, and the influence of the reader’s background. The theory often contrasts with author-centered or text-centered approaches and has influenced pedagogy by encouraging students to discuss their responses and consider how meaning varies across readers.

Critics contend that reader-response can verge toward relativism and lacks objective standards for evaluating interpretations. Proponents respond that it foregrounds reader agency and the social character of interpretation, while acknowledging that different readers may legitimately encounter different meanings. The approach remains influential in literary studies and education, shaping how readers and texts are understood in many humanities curricula.