Projection of Meaning, Reading Based on "Reader-response" Criticism Theory in the Novel I Turn Off the Lights
Subject Areas :Mahdieh Sadat Mostafavinia 1 *
1 - Ph.D. in Persian language and literature, Arak National University. Arak Iran
Keywords: Implied reader, Reader`s projection, Reader-response theory, Wolfgang Iser, Meaning,
Abstract :
One of the methods and literary theories used for text analysis is reader-response theory. Read-er-response theory emphasizes the role of the reader in interpreting texts. The primary goal of reader-oriented theories is to examine the role of the reader in literature. Wolfgang Iser shifted the focus of literary studies from the author to the reader, considering an ideal and desirable reader as an implied reader for any text. Based on this theory, one of the ways to create mean-ing and understand a text is by interpreting the reader's interpretations and desires, which, through interaction and guidance by the text itself, can lead to a complete interpretation, though not necessarily a correct one. The concept of projection in reader-response theory suggests that when reading a text, the reader unconsciously projects their defense mechanisms, desires, and fears onto the text in order to express a meaning that aligns with their own inclinations. Ulti-mately, the reader's interpretation is the result of these projections. This article aims to investi-gate the reader's projection of meaning in the novel "I Turn Off the Lights" by analyzing the ambiguous character of "Elmira Simonyan." It explores how this character, like a text, generates various interpretations about itself in the reader and concludes that, based on the text's authori-ty, it is the text that has already embedded reading actions and guides the reader toward the de-sired interpretation with specific and open-ended meanings. Furthermore, the reader's interpreta-tions of the text affirm an interpretation that they have previously defamiliarized or are current-ly projecting, but ultimately, the text serves as a guide to executing meaning as a truth.
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