Literary Sphere

Reader Response Theory Reader Response Theory is a way of reading literature that focuses on the reader’s role in making meaning. It says that texts are not complete until someone reads them and brings their own ideas, feelings, and experiences to them. This theory became popular in the 1960s–1970s, mainly as a reaction against New Criticism , which believed meaning was only in the text itself. Key Concepts Meaning is made when the reader reads the text. It’s not fixed in the text alone. Each reader brings personal background, culture, and emotions to the reading experience. Different readers may have different interpretations of the same text. Louise Rosenblatt introduced: Efferent reading – reading for facts or information. Aesthetic reading – reading for enjoyment and experience. Wolfgang Iser introduced the idea of the implied reader —an imagined reader suggested by the ...