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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Journal Article•
TL;DR: A partir du corpus de ballades populaires publie par Francis James Child (The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, 1882-92), the authors examine les significations du motif litteraire du meurtrier decouvert par des moyens surnaturels, notamment par l'intervention magique du cadavre apres le deces de la victime.
Abstract: A partir du corpus de ballades populaires publie par Francis James Child (The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, 1882-92), l'A. examine les significations du motif litteraire du meurtrier decouvert par des moyens surnaturels, notamment par l'intervention magique du cadavre apres le deces de la victime. Mettant en evidence la complexite des configurations intertextuelles et des sous-textes, il soutient que les motifs d'inversion caracteristiques de la litterature de meurtre, qui renvoient a la mise en danger et a la subversion de l'ordre social, signifient en fait le desir exprime dans la litterature populaire que le meurtrier soit decouvert et puni. En cela, la tradition populaire, et les variations de ce motif, expriment non pas une opposition a l'ideologie officielle, mais un desir de conformite de la marche du monde et une apprehension du desordre et du chaos social.
8 citations
TL;DR: The authors proposed a three-part framework to respond to risky historical texts, including From Slave Ship to Freedom Road (SHTF) by using testimonial response to give readers a fuller experience of risky historical literature.
Abstract: Literature that vividly and explicitly describes (often in the form of testimonies from one or more characters) traumatic and/or catastrophic events of human history poses particular challenges for readers. This article proposes testimonial response as one approach to responding to these “risky historical texts.” By way of introducing testimonial response, the article outlines a three-part framework. After considering how testimonial response extends and complements other traditional approaches to literature response to give readers a fuller experience of risky historical literature, the article applies the framework of testimonial response to the picture book, From Slave Ship to Freedom Road. The article concludes with implications for bringing risky historical literature and testimonial response into the classroom.
8 citations
8 citations
01 Dec 2002
TL;DR: Character and characterization have been a productive area of research in narratology and literary studies as mentioned in this paper, and character and characterization has also been done in linguistics and discourse processing, although the connection has not always been made in discourse processing research.
Abstract: After plot, the most intuitively important aspect of a story concerns the characters. For example, in some simple stories, characters create the plot: The villain creates a problem that the hero must overcome. In some complex, literary narratives, characterization would seem to be an overriding motivation of the implied author, with the events of the narrative merely serving to provide information about the characters. Not surprisingly, then, character and characterization have been a productive area of scholarship in narratology and literary studies. Important work has also been done in linguistics and discourse processing. Our view is that work in personality and social psychology is also directly relevant to understanding character in narrative, although the connection has not always been made in discourse processing research. In this chapter, we review some of the work in these disciplines. We then discuss some categories of features that are relevant to character in narrative and provide a general framework for how these might be used by readers. Finally, we provide some evidence on the use of characterization features by readers. Theories of Literary Character Theories of literary character can be situated on a continuum ranging from traditional to contemporary and more radical models. (For an excellent coverage of these theories, see Margolin, 1989, 1990b). The central issue in this debate has been the relationship between literary character and real people. Traditional theories treated literary characters uncritically as analogues of real people.
8 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines recurring character storytelling as the most prodigiously successful tradition in fiction of the last two hundred years and discusses the age and aging of recurring characters as a necessary consideration for the makers and adapters of such series.
Abstract: This paper examines recurring character storytelling as the most prodigiously successful tradition in fiction of the last two hundred years. James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales and Honore de Balzac’s La Comedie humaine are proposed as significant precursors that embody two dominant trends within recurring character storytelling: the central protagonist series, and the populous storyworld. The foundations of recurring character storytelling are traced in a range of determinants including: increasing literacy and the rise of popular genres; modes of serial publication, and the development and enforcement of copyright law. Finally, focusing upon the central protagonist variant, the age and aging of recurring characters is discussed as a necessary consideration for the makers and adapters of such series. Several are analysed, including James Bond, Sharpe, the Morse franchise, and Midsomer Murders, to illuminate how makers handle chronology, the passage of time, and related issues in adaptation. As part of an assessment of the ‘affordances’ of recurring character fictions, nostalgia and familiarity are discussed as significant dimensions of the experience they furnish.
8 citations