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The Implied Reader: Patterns of Communication in Prose Fiction from Bunyan to Beckett
TLDR
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.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Over the Edge of the Mental Map: On the Narrative Functions of Wilderness in Abbé Prévost’s Manon Lescaut
TL;DR: The authors identify and discuss different narrative functions of the American wilderness in Abbe Prevost's Manon Lescaut and argue that the change in their behaviour, which becomes evident as they struggle to come to terms with their place of exile, is to be situated in a narrative strategy that intrinsically links the development of literary characters to the spatial givens of their world.
Word-power: Reading, Writing and Traveling from Story to Story in the 'Inkheart' Novels
TL;DR: Through a discussion of the power, reciprocity, and responsibility of the author, the reader, and the characters of the story this article will examine the author's claim that her fantasy is not escapist.
Book ChapterDOI
Comprehending the Discourse of Poetry
TL;DR: This paper provided a description of the comprehension of poetry which is based on current knowledge of text processing and recent theories of reader response to literature and found that the reader of poetry alters his world view as his mind moves through the text recreating the separate reality represented there.