Towards a Transactional Theory of Reading

Abstract

The task assigned to me in this Seminar on Reading Theory grows out of my interest in the interpretation of literary works of art. The effort to develop a model for the kind of reading thought of as aesthetic has led to a view that seems relevant to the whole reading spectrum, aesthetic and non-aesthetic, advanced and elementary. Reversing the usual procedure of beginning at the, simpler level, I shall attempt to sketch some emphases that result from consideration of the interpretation of fairly complex literary works of art. This will provide the basis for clarifying resemblances and differences between aesthetic and non-aesthetic reading processes. Some implications may emerge for the dynamics of the reading process in general. Materials drawn from a study by Rosenblatt (1964) of the responses of a group of men and women to four lines of verse may serve as a springboard for discussion. It should be pointed out that these materials do not offer introspective evidence, about which there is justified skepticism. Before being given the text, the readers were told that they would remain anonymous and were asked simply to start writing as soon as possible after beginning to read. They were to jot down whatever came to them as they read. These notes turned out to be analogous to stills at various stages