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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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01 Jan 2020
TL;DR: In this paper, the relevance of the concepts of competence and performance for approaching media literacy is discussed, as well as the relationship between competence and success in the context of media literacy.
Abstract: The origins of this theoretical differentiation between competence and performance can be traced back to Greek philosophy, where the Aristotelian tradition distinguishes between the potentia pura as a fundamental aptitude to acquire a particular skill, the actus primus as the acquisition of a particular skill and the actus secundus as the implementation of the skill in question. Current theoretical discussions of the relationship between competence and performance, however, are usually based on linguistic discourses. This chapter discusses the relevance of the concepts of competence and performance for approaching media literacy.
01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: In den Vereinigten Staaten der siebziger Jahre, also noch bis vor kurzem, war the Rezeptionsasthetik als solche unbekannt, ganz zu schweigen von einzelnen Reizasthetikaern.
Abstract: In den Vereinigten Staaten der siebziger Jahre, also noch bis vor kurzem, war die Rezeptionsasthetik als solche unbekannt, ganz zu schweigen von einzelnen Rezeptionsasthetikern. Wahrend man zum gleichen Zeitpunkt in der Bundesrepublik im Zusammenhang mit der Rezeptionsasthetik von einem literaturkritischen Paradigmenwechsel monumental-revolutionaren Ausmases sprach, war es in den USA diesbezuglich bedenklich still. Zu einer Zeit, da Literaturtheorie in Verbindung mit Strukturalismus, Poststrukturalismus und Dekonstruktivismus viel Aufmerksamkeit erhielt, fiel kaum ein Wort uber diese literaturkritische Methode. Wenn hierzulande ausnahmsweise einmal ein Rezeptionsasthetiker zur Debatte stand, fabulierte man von einer „neuen, sich in der Bundesrepublik anbahnenden Perspektive“,1 oder der Betreffende wurde schlicht eingereiht in die etwas fragwurdige Kategorie,,publikumsorientierte Kritik. “2 Rezeptionstheoretische Texte in Ubersetzung fehlten ebenfalls bis Ende der siebziger Jahre, so das selbst den einflusreichsten deutschen Rezeptionsasthetikem nicht auf die Spur zu kommen war. Das Wolfgang Iser dennoch rezipiert wurde, ist vor allem der Tatsachen zu verdanken, das er eigene Beitrage selbst ubersetzte.3 Zudem sollte man bedenken, das Isers Position nicht als Beispiel einer spezifisch deutschen Literaturkritik, sondern vielmehr als Fortfuhrung einer amerikanischen literaturkritischen Tradition, der Erzahltheorie, verstanden wurde, der bekanntlich viel Erfolg nachgesagt werden kann.
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: The empirical data shows that both are closely linked to the translator's attitude towards the task and the view a translator has of his/her own role and the role he/she attributes to the author and the text's stylistic features, which have a bearing on the use of strategies such as explicitation or avoidance of repetition.
Abstract: Studies on literary translation are traditionally product-oriented. This paper is based on the assumption that recent research tools such as keylogging and verbal reports may help us gain new insights into the practice of literary translation by closely monitoring the process. It presents some preliminary findings of an empirical study in which four pro- fessional literary translators translated a short story by Ernest Hemingway into German. The translators registered their writing process with Translog and recorded their concur- rent/retrospective verbalizations in the authentic working context. For the purpose of this paper, two short excerpts from the story have been selected to examine the four translators' decision-making processes, dealing with repetition as an element of style and ambiguity as one of the basic characteristics of literary writing. In particular, this paper attempts to trace the emergence of the translator's voice in the target text and explore the translator's agency in the process. The empirical data shows that both are closely linked to the translator's atti- tude towards the task and the view a translator has of his/her own role and the role he/she attributes to the author and the text's stylistic features. Obviously, these factors also have a bearing on the use of strategies such as explicitation or avoidance of repetition.