Cited by 681Literary Theory and Cultural HermeneuticsPhenomenology and Existential PhilosophyEthics, Aesthetics, and Art

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The Reading Process: A Phenomenological Approach

Iser, Wolfgang·1972·New Literary History

DOI 10.2307/468316

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SHE PHENOMENOLOGICAL THEORY of art lays full stress on the idea that, in considering a literary work, one must take into account not only the actual text but also, and in equal measure, the actions involved in responding to that text. Thus Roman Ingarden confronts the structure of the literary text with the ways in which it can be konkretisiert (realized).' The text as such offers different schematised views' through which the subject matter of the work can come to light, but the actual bringing to light is an action of Konkretisation. If this is so, then the literary work has two poles, which we might call the artistic and the aesthetic: the artistic refers to the text created by the author, and the aesthetic to the realization accomplished by the reader. From this polarity it follows that the literary work cannot be completely identical with the text, or with the realization of the text, but in fact must lie halfway between the two. The work is more than the text, for the text only takes on life when it is realized, and furthermore the realization is by no means independent of the individual disposition of the reader-though this in turn is acted upon by the different patterns of the text. The convergence of text and reader brings the literary work into existence, and this convergence can never be precisely pinpointed, but must always remain virtual, as it is not to be identified either with the reality of the text or with the individual disposition of the reader.

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Authors: Iser, W.
Corresponding author: Iser, Wolfgang
Venue: New Literary History
Publisher: JSTOR
Published: 1972
Volume: 3
Issue: 2
Pages: 279
ISSN: 0028-6087 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.2307/468316
OpenAlex: W2034914414
Semantic Scholar: efa46257ae05368e7de8bc9bae7f26dab9162364
Cited by: 681
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 24 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 34
FWCI: 23.54
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: New Literary History (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Literary Theory and Cultural Hermeneutics
Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art
Keywords: reading process, phenomenology of art, Roman Ingarden, literary works, reader response, text and reader

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The Reading Process: A Phenomenological Approach

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