Introduction

Much literary criticism focuses on literary producers and their products, but an important part of such work considers the end-user, the reader. It asks such questions as: how far can the author condition the response of the reader, and how much does the reader create the meaning of a text?

Contents

Dr Bennett's collection includes important essays from such writers and critics as Wolfgang Iser, Mary Jacobus, Roger Chartier, Michel de Certeau, Shoshana Felman, Maurice Blanchot, Paul de Man and Yves Bonnefoy.

Approaches

It looks in turn at deconstructionist, feminist, new historicist and psychoanalytical response to the school.

Reading and Interpretation

The book then considers the act of reading itself, discussing such issues as the uniqueness of any reading and the difficulties involved in its analysis.