Reading Cultures: The Construction of Readers in the Twentieth Century
Abstract
Molly Abel Travis unites theory with an analysis historical conditions various cultural contexts this discussion reading reception twentieth-century literature United States. Travis moves beyond such provisional conclusions as the produces reader or the produces text considers ways twentieth-century readers texts attempt to constitute appropriate each other at particular cultural moments according to specific psychosocial exigencies. She uses overarching concept in and out of both to differentiate implied by from actual to discuss such in-and-out movements that occur process reading as alternation between immersion interactivity between role playing unmasking. Unlike most theorists, Travis is concerned with agency reader. Her conception agency reading is informed by performance, psychoanalytic, feminist theories. This agency involves compulsive, reiterative performance which readers attempt to find themselves by going outside selfengaging literary role playing hope finally fully identifying self through self-differentiation. Furthermore, readers never escape a social context; they are both constructed actively constructing that they read as part interpretive communities are involved collaborative creativity or what Kendall Walton calls collective imagining.
- Journal
- College Composition and Communication
- Published
- 1999-09-01
- DOI
- 10.2307/358979
- CompPile
- Open Access
- Closed
- Topics
- Export
- BibTeX RIS
Citation Context
Cited by in this index (0)
No articles in this index cite this work.
References (0)
No references on file for this article.
Related Articles
-
Pedagogy Jan 2026Krysten Stein; Kishonna Gray
-
Composition Forum Oct 2025
-
Rhetoric & Public Affairs Mar 2025Felicity Sena Dogbatse
-
The Peer Review Sep 2024Liz A. W. Thomae; Aleena A. Jacob
-
Pedagogy Apr 2024modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism feminist rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy creative writing teacher development collaborative writing assessment technical communication professional writing grammar and mechanics literacy studies gender and writing literary studies book reviews editorial matter