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date: 07 February 2025

Reception Theory, Reception History, Reception Studieslocked

Reception Theory, Reception History, Reception Studieslocked

  • Ika WillisIka WillisSchool of the Arts, English and Media, University of Wollongong

Summary

Reception-oriented literary theory, history, and criticism, all analyze the processes by which literary texts are received, both in the moment of their first publication and long afterwards: how texts are interpreted, appropriated, adapted, transformed, passed on, canonized, and/or forgotten by various audiences. Reception draws on multiple methodologies and approaches including semiotics and deconstruction; ethnography, sociology, and history; media theory and archaeology; and feminist, Marxist, black, and postcolonial criticism. Studying reception gives us insights into the texts themselves and their possible range of meanings, uses, and value; into the interpretative regimes of specific historical periods and cultural milieux; and into the nature of linguistic meaning and communication.

Subjects

  • 20th and 21st Century (1900-present)
  • Literary Theory
  • Cultural Studies
  • Print Culture and Digital Humanities

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