Formalism is a powerful tool for unlocking a text's structure & form, but it's not truly autonomous. 📚 It relies on the reader to actively detect those devices (defamiliarization!), making the reader a key player in interpretation. Reader-response cannot be totally discounted. 👓✨
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Is an objective literary meaning impossible? Reader-response theory asks: To what extent does a reader's personal identity and experience predetermine their interpretation of a text? Does meaning lie in the words, or in the eye of the beholder? Comment your thoughts below ⬇️ #LiteraryTheory#ReaderResponse#EnglishLit#BookTwitter