From epic theater to literary weblogs: Reader participation in twentieth and twenty-first century literature

This dissertation examines the ways in which twentieth and twenty-first century literature invites the reader to participate in the creation of the work. My discussion of reader participation is informed by Wolfgang Iser's reception theory, which attempts to define the communicative structure of literature. According to Iser, literature of the twentieth century is characterized by an increase in discursive and narrative "gaps," which cause the text to be indeterminate. More than in previous epochs, readers in the modern era have to actively search for meaning.;I have chosen four texts that overtly and self-consciously aim to trigger the reader's participation through their openness not only in terms of content but also in terms of the textual strategies they deploy, strategies that spur the reader into action. Chapter 1 discusses Bertolt Brecht's radio play Der Flug der Lindberghs (1927). The play had been printed in program guides before its first broadcast, and listeners at home were encouraged to say Lindbergh's lines out loud, forming a collective of many "Lindberghs." Chapter 2 deals with Julio Cortázar's novel Rayuela (1963), which can be read either linearly or by "hopscotching" through the chapters in an order specified by the author. Chapter 3 is concerned with Michael Joyce's hyperfiction Afternoon (1987). Digital technology enables the readers to create their own paths through the work by clicking links. Chapter 4 examines Alban Nikolai Herbst's literary blog Die Dschungel/Anderswelt. I present a reading of Herbst's blog narrative Die Fenster von Sainte-Chapelle (2010), a "travel narrative" which was published in real-time, day by day, on his blog. Readers commented on Herbst's posts and influenced the course of the narrative.;My analyses demonstrate the possibilities and limits of reader participation as well as the consequences that a high degree of reader activity has for a literary text. I examine features of the medium as well as the texts themselves and arrive at deeper insights into the medium through detailed readings of the texts. I also discuss the four works in the context of the transition from modernism to postmodernism.