Reader-Response Criticism

• The meaning of the text is transactional--the result of the transaction between the reader and a text.
• The reader + the text = meaning (the reader is an active participant with the text in creating meaning)
• Allows for a wide range of legitimate responses, but there are some limitations as well
• Utilizes gaps (blanks in the text that the reader must fill in) which are said to exist whenever and wherever a reader perceives something to be missing between words, sentences, paragraphs, stanzas, and chapters.
• Purpose is to alter the reader's assumptions and characteristic ways of viewing the world
• Often times results in the reader's self-discovery to achieve a reading that agrees with his/her feelings
• Reader manipulates linguistic elements of the text in order to extract meaning
• Reader brings outside knowledge to the text; he/she uses this information to derive meaning from the text
• Seeks to answer one main question: What happens during the reading process?

Applying Reader-Response Criticism to Emily Dickinson's poem #280

I see Dickinson's poem as an outer body experience that comes full circle at the end of the poem. Words such a sense, space, heaven lead me to believe that maybe her soul/spirit is experiencing this phenomenon. What seems to keep her soul attached to the body are the "boots of lead" (ln.11)that the mourners are wearing. Perhaps at the end the "plank in reason" (ln. 17) that breaks is a sign of the souls return to reality. It returns and it is "finished knowing" (ln. 20).This may be seen as a process of self-discovery for Dickinson.

Dickinson seems to be describing an event that she is not present for (perhaps she is pondering what her own funeral may be like); she is able to hear but not see the events taking place. One gap in the poem seems to be setting; can't get a firm grasp on the concept of whose funeral is being discussed. One possibility is that is discussing her own death. If in deed she is pondering her own funeral, it seems odd that she mentions the mourners who come and go. Dickinson seems to be annoyed by these mourners; is evident with the repetition of the words treading and beating. This repetition seems to describe a long, ongoing process that she does not find pleasure in. The aspect of many mourners seems odd because it is hard to ignore that fact that Dickinson was a recluse for most of her adult life. The terms silence and solitary seem to reaffirm this aspect of Dickinson's life experience.

Whether this poem is a personal experience for Dickinson or she is just providing an omniscient view to someone else's funeral, it doesn't change the way I view this poem. By using textual facts to back up my conclusions and allowing the meaning to be derived from my interaction with the text, I have successfully described a reader-response critique of Dickinson's #280.

Further Readings on Reader-Response Criticism

http://www.nd.edu/~theo/glossary/criticism.reader.response.html (provides a short, concise, working definition of reader-response criticism)

http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/readercrit.html (provides a short answer to the question of what reader-response criticism is and the assumptions that go along with this type of criticism)

http://www.hu.mtu.edu/reader (Online journal dedicated to discussing reader-response criticism; provides essays in reader-response criticism)

Sources

http://jupiter.ohiou.edu/~rouzie/307j/litcrittable1.html

Bessler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

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