College Composition and Communication · 2005 · 58 citations · 0 references
HumanitiesEnglishEnglish LiteratureLiterary StudiesLiterary TheoryAcademic WritingReader ResponseReader-response TheoryReadingReading InstructionExplicit Writing Instruction
Reader‑response theory emerged amid the 1970s theory boom and 1960s–70s political movements, shifting from elitist deauthorization to populist participation, gaining popularity among compositionists in the 1980s before declining as the profession professionalized and later reconsidered reading instruction. The essay provides a historical account of reader‑response theory’s position within English studies.
This essay offers a historical explanation for the place of reader-response theory in English studies. Reader-response was a part of two movements: the (elitist) theory boom of the 1970s and the (populist) political movements of the 1960s and 1970s. If the theory boom was to remain elitist, it had to deauthorize reader-response. If reader-response was to remain populist, it had to consent to and participate in that deauthorization. In the 1980s reader-response was popular among compositionists, even as it began to lose currency among theorists. Later, however, compositionists professionalized themselves by deemphasizing, or even ignoring, reading. Now, as the profession again considers including explicit instruction in reading in the introductory writing course, the thinkers who could help us most have faded from the discussion.