Book•
The Implied Reader: Patterns of Communication in Prose Fiction from Bunyan to Beckett
01 Jan 1974-
TL;DR: Iser as mentioned in this paper analyzed major works of English fiction ranging from Bunyan, Fielding, Scott, and Thackeray to Joyce and Beckett, and provided a framework for a theory of such literary effects and aesthetic responses.
Abstract: Like no other art form, the novel confronts its readers with circumstances arising from their own environment of social and historical norms and stimulates them to assess and criticize their surroundings. By analyzing major works of English fiction ranging from Bunyan, Fielding, Scott, and Thackeray to Joyce and Beckett, renowned critic Wolfgang Iser here provides a framework for a theory of such literary effects and aesthetic responses. Iser's focus is on the theme of discovery, whereby the reader is given the chance to recognize the deficiencies of his own existence and the suggested solutions to counterbalance them. The content and form of this discovery is the calculated response of the reader -- the implied reader. In discovering the expectations and presuppositions that underlie all his perceptions, the reader learns to "read" himself as he does the text.
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TL;DR: The authors explored the international origins of Joseph Kessel's French Resistance chronicle L'Armee des ombres, which was published in London during the Nazi Occupation of France and published in Algiers in 1943.
Abstract: This chapter explores the significance of the international origins of Joseph Kessel’s French Resistance chronicle L’Armee des ombres. Examining the publication history of this book demonstrates that understanding the complex origins of the source text is a crucial component of translational analysis. Written in London during the Nazi Occupation of France and published in Algiers in 1943, L’Armee des ombres was the first substantial legally published account of the interior French Resistance. The story of its publication by Edmond Charlot illustrates the functioning of publishing structures through which material from and about occupied France circulated internationally during the war. The chapter views wartime Algiers as a transnational cultural space that functioned as a zone of hospitality for wartime writers without access to mainland France.
1 citations
Dissertation•
17 Feb 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, a more sensitive perception of textual representations of violence is proposed, by investigating these considerations within the context of post-modern thought, which allows the reader to develop a more nuanced approach to the ethical predicaments suggested by the representation of violence.
Abstract: The textual representation of an instance of violence involves three principle considerations: a notion of representation, a conception of violence, and an interrelationship between ethical and aesthetic evaluations. By investigating these considerations within the context of postmodern thought, a more sensitive perception of textual representations of violence becomes possible. Any representation, prior to being read and interpreted, has no predetermined meaning, and therefore no inherent value. It is only through a process of reading that verifiability, the principles of appraisal and personal cognition become actualised. As any text is necessarily iterable – subject to infinite (re)interpretation within an infinite number of future contexts – any interpretation is determined by the intersection of the iterable text and the historically situated reader. Violence, which is defined as an act of direct or indirect intentional harm against a person’s body or mind or property, may be experienced either as an event, or as a representation of an event. In instances of the representation of violence, the ethical perspective of the reader is influenced to a large extent by expectations of the text’s verifiability, the linguistic register of the text, and the inter-subjective ethical framework at the moment of reading the text. The aesthetic evaluation of the narrative, which is closely associated with its linguistic features, is also closely related to this ethical perspective. However, normative systems of ethics are often inadequate in the face of the plurality of meaning and possibilities inherent in representations of violence, and therefore a postmodern conception of ethical thought seems most appropriate. Textual instances of violence therefore have the potential for representing a multiplicity of experiences and ethical responses, without necessarily having to rely upon problematic normative obligations of systemisation or duty. A recognition of postmodern ethical ambiguity, combined with a flexibility of moral outlook, allows the reader to develop a more nuanced approach to the ethical predicaments suggested by the representation of
1 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: This paper examined the relevance of aesthetic education apparent in a selection of Shirley Lim's work and traced the ontological dimensions aesthetic education acquires in a transnational context by examining the personal experiences of protagonists and lyrical personae that are always issuing meta-referential comments on the creation of literature or the production and dissemination of knowledge.
Abstract: In light of the recent "transnational turn" in American Studies, there has been a steady interest in questions about literary productions and aesthetic education. Already Friedrich Schiller’s definition of the concept of aesthetic education in 1794 holds that literature has the potential to assume the role of an agent working towards a paradigm shift away from the national as representational category and towards the embracing of transnational concepts. My article examines the relevance of aesthetic education apparent in a selection of Shirley Lim’s work. Framed through the personal experiences of protagonists and lyrical personae that are always issuing meta-referential comments on the creation of literature or the production and dissemination of knowledge, Lim emphasises the role of aesthetic education as a politically-charged feeling of beauty and belonging. Examples from Lim’s fictional and non-fictional work allow me to trace the ontological dimensions aesthetic education acquires in a transnational context.
1 citations