The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work [Paperback]

Professor Emeritus Louise M. Rosenblatt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0809318059 | ISBN-13: 978-0809318056

Louise M. Rosenblatt’s award-winning work continues increasingly to be read in a wide range of academic fields—literary criticism, reading theory, aesthetics, composition, rhetoric, speech communication, and education. Her view of the reading transaction as a unique event involving reader and text at a particular time under particular circumstances rules out the dualistic emphasis of other theories on either the reader or the text as separate and static entities. The transactional concept accounts for the importance of factors such as gender, ethnicity, culture, and socioeconomic context. Essential reading for the specialist, this book is also well suited for courses in criticism, critical theory, rhetoric, and aesthetics.

Starting from the same nonfoundationalist premises, Rosenblatt avoids the extreme relativism of postmodern theories derived mainly from Continental sources. A deep understanding of the pragmatism of Dewey, James, and Peirce and of key issues in the social sciences is the basis for a view of language and the reading process that recognizes the potentialities for alternative interpretations and at the same time provides a rationale for the responsible reading of texts.

The book has been praised for its lucid explanation of the multidimensional character of the reading process—evoking, interpreting, and evaluating the work. The nonliterary (efferent) and the literary (aesthetic) are shown not to be opposites but to represent a continuum of reading behaviors. The author amply illustrates her theoretical points with interpretations of varied texts. The epilogue carries further her critique of rival contemporary theories.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Reader, the Text, the Poem is a major contribution to literary and critical theory. It should be read, reread, and reflected on by anyone involved with the activity of reading."—Alan M. Hollingsworth, College English

"This book should be studied by everybody interested in teaching, in the fate of literary works in the classroom, and in the welfare of children and young people in their school-imposed encounters with texts."—Wallace Douglas, CEA Critic

"Louise M. Rosenblatt’s The Reader, the Text, the Poem is an extraordinary resource for all teachers and scholars in the humanities."—Steven Mailloux, University of California at Irvine

"Louise Rosenblatt’s work helps classroom teachers understand how children’s background experiences shape the meanings they create from books."—Bernice E. Cullinan, New York University

About the Author

Louise M. Rosenblatt is a professor emerita of New York University. A graduate of Barnard College, where she taught for some years, she received a doctorate in comparative literature from the Sorbonne. Some of the awards she has received are the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the Great Teacher Award from New York University, the Russell Award for Distinguished Research from the National Council of Teachers of English, and Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Arizona. She is a member of the International Reading Association Reading Hall of Fame. Her other publications include Literature as Exploration, L’Idée de l’Art pour l’Art, Reading in an Age of Mass Communication (with W. S. Gray et al.), and numerous chapters and articles on literary theory.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press (September 21, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809318059
• ISBN-13: 978-0809318056
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transactional Theory is Alive and Well, July 17, 2011

By 

L. Prior - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work (Paperback)

The book, The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of The Literary Work by Louise Rosenblatt (1978) was a groundbreaking theory of reader response. Although published over 30 years ago, it is still relevant providing insights about how readers interpret text. A must read for any teacher, professor, or individual interested in the interpretation of written words and specifically literature as an aesthetic work of art. Rosenblatt declared, " the text is merely an object of paper and ink until some reader responds to the marks on the page as verbal symbols" (p. 23).
It was born out of years of observing readers but mainly in response to the New Criticism ideas that redirected literary interpretation away from the reader. It was a rejection to the polar directions of literary evaluation, which first centered on the text and then focusing all attention towards the author. Rosenblatt proposed the reader as transacting with the text and resulting in "the poem". The poem is a term to mean "an event in time. It is not an object or an ideal entity" (p. 12). The poem is the result of the reader with his/her background experiences and present disposition who negotiates meaning with the text and the text in turn affects the reader's interpretation, as a "live circuit" (p. 14). It is an event that exits at a given time in a particular context.
In addition, Rosenblatt explains the differentiation between reading a literary work of art and other types of written communication as existing on a continuum from efferent to aesthetic reading. While the primary purpose of efferent reading is to take away information, aesthetic reading is concerned with the process of reading-what happens during the reading event in literature. According to Rosenblatt, in aesthetic reading the reader is focused not just on the words but the potential of the meaning of those words, which is influenced by the all encompassing person of the reader. It must also be understood that individuals often move back and forth between efferent and aesthetic reading in their daily lives. Also, readers function on this continuum of efferent and aesthetic stances with which they (the reader) approach any reading event.
Furthermore, the transactional theory considers the reader's gender, socioeconomic background, culture, languages, and ethnicity since these things are brought to the reading event with the reader and cannot be separated from who they are.
The implications for teaching and learning reading are great. With this theory the significance of the reader is recognized. As educators work with children and professors with college students is becomes critical that readers are taken seriously. Their interpretations should be valued. However, this theory must not be misunderstood. It is a theory that views any literary understanding as truly transactional and a product of both the reader and the text affecting each other. The texts holds the read accountable to its meaning and the readers brings his/her background and personality to the text. Furthermore, when readers talk about their interpretations, it requires the reader to go back to the text for support of their explanations, and attend to words or phrases brought up by others. Therefore, interpretations can be helped through social interactions with others.
It is a more complete literary theory than those of the past and frees us from absolutists; it preserves the importance of the text and allows for a synergistic event of a "lived through" experience of reader and text converging in a process to form the poem. In the end, it is not the text alone, nor the author but the transaction of the three -the reader, text, and the author to create the ultimate poem.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rosenblatt defines transactional literacy..., December 5, 2010

By 

Don D. Bouchard "Old English Teacher" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work (Paperback)

A place to start for anyone interested in the theory of transactional literacy, The Reader, The Text,and the Poem defines Rosenblatt's response to Formalist Close Reading Theory and provides bridgework to current Reader Response Theory. I'd rather stick with Rosenblatt than go full over to Reader Response.... Good read.