Aud Reception Paper

7/30/2019 Aud Reception Paper

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40068419 Audiences and Reception

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To what extent is the meaning of a text a function of the reading process?

I stare at a barren white canvas that hangs in a museum of modern art with a set

price at 80,000. Similar to Robert Rauschenbergs White Paintings produced in 1951

consisting of four white panels, these paintings are works of abstract expressionism. Many

people are at a loss of words when they view paintings such as these. I ask myself, is this

even a painting or more of a philosophical object? What ideas transcend the painting after

viewing? Rauschenberg intended that the audience experience these pieces as art at its

purest form. He implied that the reader would interpret it as such.

Interpretation is an important puzzle piece to the literary process if not one of the

laying groundwork pieces. Wolfgang Iser stated that meanings are more than just what the

author intends it to be

the text only takes on life when it is realized, and furthermore the

realization is by no means independent of the individual disposition of the

reader...The convergence of text and reader brings the literary work into

existence, and this convergence can never be precisely pinpointed, but must

always remain virtual, as it is not to be identified either with the reality of the

text or with the individual disposition of the reader (274).

Meaning production is this imbalanced turbulent relationship continually changing

from reader to reader and from text to text. Therefore, all texts are inherently stable on an

individual basis. The first perceived interpretation of a text functions as the base

observation during the reading process but dissolves as a whole in influencing the

constructed meaning after the reading process ceases.

The reading process is significantly impacted by the meaning production of a text.


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Due to the fact that all texts are not stable we have to take caution in how an interpretation

of a text is produced, and then see how it functions towards the reading process. Included

within the body of this argument, we will firstly discern what includes a text, what factors

influence the meaning derived out of a text, and ultimately how this affects the reading

process.

A text is any package of symbols that convey a meaning. Texts come in many forms

such as print texts, images, products, advertisements, and magazines just to name a few.

They are not limited to only physical projections; they can also be events and time periods

such as the 70s, the Cold War, or even the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. Any item or

set of items that convey a specific meaning can be viewed at as a text. Any sets of symbols

that are conveyed beyond the set of items are included within the text as well. For example,

after the attacks of 9/11 symbols such as Al Qaeda, terrorism, and the United States would

be included in this text. Another instance is that of the yin and yang symbol which can be

perceived as peace, harmony, and balance. To others the yin and yang symbol can be purely

an art piece of shapes and dots, a figurative visual image. This brings me to how the

meaning of a text is moulded during the reading process.

The meaning that ultimately is the result of the text varies from person to person.

The variation though lies between the reading process and the individuals personal

experiences. During the reading process the textual form and the competence of the reader

negotiate each other forming the development of the meaning. A text not only involves

interactions from the reader, but a collaborative back-and-forth process between the writer

and the reader that gives breath and depth to the reading process. Beyond the text and

meaning, another factor influences the meaning of text during the reading process the


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audience.

Audiences can be categorised into two groups of readers according to Reception

theory: the implied reader and the actual reader. Iser states, This term *implied reader+

incorporates both the restructuring of the potential meaning by the text, and the readers

actualization of this potential through the reading process. It refers to the active nature of

this process (22). The actual reader will always interpret a text in a different way, they are

defined as the reader who receives certain mental images in the process of reading;

however, the images will inevitably be coloured by the readers existing stock of experience

(24). Are implied readers more preferred? Are actual readers considered higher on an

intellectual level than implied readers? What makes a reader successful during the reading

process? These are all questions that highly vary according to Reception theory.

A reader is influenced by many factors. Factors such as: personal life experiences,

beliefs, religion, and understanding of the world. These all have a profound effect on the

social behavior of that reader which in turn influences the text in the reading process. When

discerning the meaning of a text this factor can greatly influence the end construction.

Cultural background of the reader and the social realm where reading process takes place

should be taken into consideration as well. In this way texts are limited to the actual

readers experiences. Hermeneutics describes this, since it is a process directed toward the

determination of meaning; it postulates a transcendental function of understanding, no

matter how complex (de Man, 9). Therefore, the notion of hermeneutics functions as a key

element in Reception Theory since interpretations by the reader are now a part of the

literary process. The reading process is deeply affected by cultural customs and values and

the personal and biographical context of the reader has to be understood.


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The human species has an inherent system of ideologies and stereotyping attached

to many groups among all levels of observed social hierarchy. Whether it be gender, race, or

socioeconomic levels of the pyramid there are ideologically loaded conditions attached to

these readings of the groups and how certain groups read different texts.

In one such cross-cultural study organised by Tamar Liebes and Elihu Katzs of the

show Dallas they observed two different groups of culture, Israeli Moroccans and

Americans. They observed that there was a continual mediation between the groups

values and the values presented within the program that would lead the group to make

parallels between the show and real life situations. Liebes and Katzs observations of the

groups discussion illustrated vividly how community members negotiate meanings by

confronting the text with their own tradition and their own experience (289). Included in

the group observations, differences were seen between the females and males. Females

focused more on certain characters than did the males. Not only do certain racial and ethnic

groups view texts inversely but genders view things just as differently. This is just one

instance of how cultural interpretation affects the reading process. Among ethnicity and

gender, socioeconomic status, age, and surrounding environment are great factors that

affect the meaning production produced during the reading process. Geographic location

affects how one reads, but in the virtual realm that has quickly come to dominate society,

how is the reading process now affected?

In this modern day race to technologically advance, we are living in a global

information society. This newfound and drastic change that has occurred in the past decade

has massively affected how audiences are reading texts. There are no specific targeted

audiences in the virtual world. Texts are now categorised in such a manner where they can

be sought out. People, culture, and the way that they read have evolved to cater to the way


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reader once again. A textual experience teamed with pleasure produces a different kind of

symbolic interpretation than that which is drawn from reading done for academic purposes.

Robert C. Holub suggests that Reception Theory is a creative process that occurs in the

act of reading. He states, The literary work is neither completely text nor completely the

subjectivity of the reader, but a combination or merger of the two. In support of Holub,

Hans Robert Jauss states the following:

...the relationship of work to work must now be brought into this interaction

between work and mankind, and the historical coherence of works among

themselves must be seen in the interrelations of production and reception. Put

another way: literature and art only obtain a history that has the character of a

process when the succession of works is mediated not only through the

producing subject but also through the consuming subjectthrough the

interaction of author and public.

This dynamic interaction and negotiation between the reader and text continues to

be a process, which cannot be pinpointed down as a specific course with identifiable stops

and routes. The meaning that is produced through the text will foreshadow and presuppose

the reader in a certain mind-set that will either read the text negatively, positively, or leave

them to be confused and dismiss it altogether. The set of white paintings can be seen as the

ultimate example of how a meaning of a text functions within the reading process. Viewing

these white paintings in an art gallery and socially pleasurable experience would construct a

meaning much different than if they were viewed as a part of a required art appreciation

course. The reading process and all its participants (author, audience, and text) produce

infinite and varied interpretations; without these interpretations, the reading process would

be meaningless.


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