Willis - Reception

Reception introduces students and academics alike to the study of the way in which texts are received by readers, viewers and audiences. Organized conceptually and thematically, this book provides a much-needed overview of the field, drawing on work in literary and cultural studies as well as Classics, Biblical studies, medievalism and the media history of the book. It provides new ways of understanding and configuring the relationships between the various terminologies and theories that comprise reception study, and suggests potential ways forward for study and research in the light of such new configurations. Written in a clear and accessible style, this is the ideal introduction to the study of reception.

Ika Willis is Senior Lecturer in English Literatures at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia.

SERIES EDITOR: JOHN DRAKAKIS, UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING

The New Critical Idiom is an invaluable series of introductory guides to todays critical terminology. Each book:

provides a handy, explanatory guide to the use (and abuse) of the term;

offers an original and distinctive overview by a leading literary and cultural critic;

relates the term to the larger field of cultural representation.

With a strong emphasis on clarity, lively debate, and the widest possible breadth of examples, The New Critical Idiom is an indispensable approach to key topics in literary studies.

Also available in this series:

Metre, Rhythm and Verse Form by Philip Hobsbaum

Mimesis by Matthew Potolsky

Modernism third edition by Peter Childs

Myth second edition by Laurence Coupe

Narrative second edition by Paul Cobley

Parody by Simon Dentith

Pastoral by Terry Gifford

Performativity by James Loxley

The Postmodern by Simon Malpas

Realism by Pam Morris

Rhetoric by Jennifer Richards

Romance by Barbara Fuchs

Romanticism second edition by Aidan Day

Science Fiction second edition by Adam Roberts

Sexuality second edition by Joseph Bristow

Spatiality by Robert T. Tally Jr

Stylistics by Richard Bradford

Subjectivity by Donald E. Hall

The Sublime second edition by Philip Shaw

Temporalities by Russell West-Pavlov

Translation by Susan Bassnett

Travel Writing by Carl Thompson

The Unconscious by Antony Easthope

Ika Willis

First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2018 Ika Willis

The right of Ika Willis to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Willis, Ika, 1975- author.
Title: Reception / Ika Willis.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York : Routledge, 2017. | Series: The new critical idiom | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017022206 (print) | LCCN 2017035333 (ebook) | ISBN 9781315666587 (ebook) | ISBN 9781138955097 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138955103 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Reader-response criticism. | Authors and readers. | Books and reading.
Classification: LCC PN98.R38 (ebook) | LCC PN98.R38 W54 2017 (print) | DDC 801/.95dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017022206

ISBN: 978-1-138-95509-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-95510-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-66658-7 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman
by Sunrise Setting Ltd, Brixham, UK

For J,
la miglior lettrice

The New Critical Idiom is a series of introductory books which seeks to extend the lexicon of literary terms, in order to address the radical changes which have taken place in the study of literature during the last decades of the twentieth century. The aim is to provide clear, well-illustrated accounts of the full range of terminology currently in use, and to evolve histories of its changing usage.

The current state of the discipline of literary studies is one where there is considerable debate concerning basic questions of terminology. This involves, among other things, the boundaries which distinguish the literary from the non-literary; the position of literature within the larger sphere of culture; the relationship between literatures of different cultures; and questions concerning the relation of literary to other cultural forms within the context of interdisciplinary studies.

It is clear that the field of literary criticism and theory is a dynamic and heterogeneous one. The present need is for individual volumes on terms which combine clarity of exposition with an adventurousness of perspective and a breadth of application. Each volume will contain as part of its apparatus some indication of the direction in which the definition of particular terms is likely to move, as well as expanding the disciplinary boundaries within which some of these terms have been traditionally contained. This will involve some re-situation of terms within the larger field of cultural representation, and will introduce examples from the area of film and the modern media in addition to examples from a variety of literary texts.

First of all, my thanks go to my colleagues and students at the University of Bristol (20052012), without whom I would not have become a receptionist. In Classics, Duncan Kennedy, Genevieve Liveley, Charles Martindale, Pantelis Michelakis and Ellen OGorman; in Theology, Jo Carruthers and John Lyons; in English, David Hopkins and Tom Sperlinger, for his work at the interface of English Literature and Community Engagement; and finally, all the students who took the MA in Reception and Critical Theory.

My colleagues and students at the University of Wollongong have continued to inform and challenge me since I moved here in 2013. Thanks in particular to Leigh Dale, Louise DArcens, Guy Davidson, Tanja Dreher, Joshua Lobb, Alison Moore, Lisa Slater and Sue Turnbull.

I am very grateful to the Arts Faculty at the University of Bristol and the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts at the University of Wollongong for providing me with two periods of study leave: one to research and plan this book, and one to write it. At the University of Wollongong Library, the Collection Development, Resource Sharing and Liaison Service teams unstintingly provided support and help with tracking down research materials. Special thanks go to Afrodita Brbevski, Anne Brown, Fiona Carlisle, AJ Corradini and Leanne Webster.