The Wordle tag cloud matched my interpretation to some extent through how highly I rated particular key words that stood out from reading the paper. Some of the words, although not used frequently, stood out from my interpretation of the context in which they where used. The words raised where 'conspiracy', 'Marxian', and 'rhetoric-police',whilst decreasing 'reading','writing' and 'professionalism', which were used frequently.
My interpretation of the paper itself was that it was written by a person who is enthusiastic about the 'reader-response theory' and is dismayed by the 'grand conspiracy' against it by 'the elite' scholars who do not see the value of such a 'popular' theory such as the one she supports.
Is there a conspiracy against the Reader-Response theory? I cannot tell from reading just this paper. I could tell that Harkin is entrenched into the idea that Reader-Response is the theory that should be taught more, but the way the paper was written makes me immediately question the validity of this through the way the point was argued for. 'Reader-Response' was described as populist in the 1970's and 1980's and was, and 'still is' shunned by the scholarly elite whilst those elitists hold up more newer or more established theories. I feel that it was more about 'apathy' than 'conspiracy' that lead to the decline of reader-response. A theory that was once made popular by an enthusiastic 'underclass' and its figureheads declined because of its figureheads dieing off and not being replaced and driving the benefits home. No matter what its benefits, a theory still needs proponents who voice them, in the case of 'Reader-Response', the proponents left seem at first reading, more desperate by siting 'Elitists', 'Conspiracy' and 'Marxism' to forward their views rather than just focusing on the benefits of such a theory. This then results in my views, although not fixed, of disregarding the paper with my own 'apathy' as I was not really won with the argument.
I also would like to agree with the points made by the previous blog posts by Paul and Rachel and the remarks they made about the theory and 'Common-Sense'.
The Wordle tag cloud does matches my interpretation of the article, but does not necessarily match a general viewpoint. Harkin raised the conflict of ‘populist’ versus ‘elitist’ both being responsible for the reader-response theory. Reader-response theory does make sense to me in that a reader’s interpretation is based on their own experiences and understanding rather than the author’s intent. From my own limited reading I can understand Harkin’s view, that there is a conspiracy to bury reader-response as a literary theory that is no longer explored. A theory remains a theory and evidence is gathered to either support or dismiss it. In my view if a theory is accepted by people in general, such as the theories of evolution or relativity, it is no longer viewed as a theory but as a fact (even though it remains a theory). As ‘reader-response’ does indeed seem to be ‘common-sense’, I think it is not seen as worth exploring further and theorists have therefore moved onto other things.
I chose the Joe Davis piece because it is about one of my favourite things - tea. The starting phrase "I made tea" is sufficient to tell that part of the story. Well, it is the story. "I made tea" by itself carries enough description to allow the mind to fill in the action of making tea. In the context of reader response theory, this allows each reader to interpret the activity in their own way.
There are however, additional layers of information and detail to be accessed if the reader wants to. By revealling all of the text, the ability of the reader to have their own interpretation is diminished - the "blanks" are filled in. There are some highly descriptive sections, "The kettle began grumbling fiercely", and "as I glanced outside at the mistoutside for a minute across the city mist. I could tastealmost taste the grey" being two examples.
While a clever idea, it seems that the amount of expansion is there only to prove the idea works. There is a "Reality Effect" at work, whereby the author is adding too much detail in an attempt to make the passage more real.
The tag cloud is pretty close to my interpretation of the text, as I think the whole point of reader-response was to obviously, focus on the reader, but also to create a universal theory. Being universal, it had to appeal to elitist (academic) and populist (lay-person) groups. The aim was to make "reading" teachable - reading as in the interpretation and moeaning of texts, rather than the mechanics of actually reading.
Is there a conspiracy as Harkin suggests? I do not think so. As she seems to suggest herself, reader-response is really just "common-sense" - it is obvious to most people now that the reader is key to interpreting a text. As she says herself, "We no longer even expect different readers to arrive at identical readings".
Due to severe weather conditions the lecture today is cancelled:
Please review the lecture presentation that has been uploaded to Blackboard (in both the course documents and learning materials sections) and complete the Wordle activity.
For your own "reading" assignment, choose ONE of the following:
Jorge Luis Castillo's “Pierre Menard and the School of the Skeptics,” Hispanic Review, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Summer, 2003), pp. 415-428 is available here: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/3247249.pdf, again, use your Athens Account to access this via jstor.
The module guide will be uploaded soon but in the meantime here is some information for you.
****PLEASE NOTE: the coursework deadline is not confirmed!!!****
Module Code: IOCT 5003
Module Title:Digital Cultures
Semester2
Academic Year: 2008/2009
Module Leader:Dr. Jessica Laccetti
Lecture Location:IOCT Main Lab
Contact Details
Room:0.80, Gateway House
Email: jlaccetti@dmu.ac.uk
1Module Description
This module gives an introduction to key ideas in critical and cultural theory that affect creative technologies and the creative industries.Areas covered include Modernism, Postmodernism, Structuralism, Poststructuralism, Semiotics, Linguistic Theory, Anthropology, Reader-Response, Post-Colonialism, Multimodality, Hypertext Theories, Transdisciplinarity, The Ethnography of Cyberspace and Feminism.
2Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module the students will demonstrate;
Increased understanding of critical theory and cultural context.
Detailed knowledge of key ideas in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Increased understanding of the role of ideas in shaping technologies.
Ability to articulate theoretical concepts.
Ability to make critical analysis of cultural artefacts.
4Assessment
Students may be assessed in any taught module on up to a maximum of two occasions, i.e. first attempt and reassessment. Please see section 4.2 for further information.
Assignments should be handed into the IOCT Office (Gateway House 0.80) by the date and time detailed below. Please remember to include a Receipt for Coursework form with your work – this will be your proof of submission.
Assessment: Essay
Volume of Assessment: 3000 words
Weighting: 100%
% Threshold: 40%
Due Date: (NOT YET CONFIRMED!): 01/05/09, (Week 16), 16:00
4.1Criteria for Assessment
The assessment method allows the student to demonstrate his/her understanding of critical and cultural theory key to the creative technologies through an essay related to the areas listed in the module syllabus.The assessment relates to the learning outcomes by allowing the student to analyse and articulate theoretical concepts, demonstrating a detailed knowledge of key ideas in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and an understanding of the role of ideas in shaping technologies.
The module operates to the generic University marking criteria which provide summative results and transcripts in the form of percentage marks.
This module gives an introduction to key ideas in critical and cultural theory that affect creative technologies and the creative industries.
The syllabus includes Modernism and Postmodernism, Structuralism and Poststructuralism, Feminism, Semiotics, Linguistic Theory, Anthropology, Rhizomes, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Noise and Communication, Escience and Esocial science and The Ethnography of Cyberspace.
