Author And Reader In The Context Of Textuality

Terry Eagleton divided the general trend of western literary theoretical studies into three stages: the abiding concern of the author, the central position of text analysis, and the now prominent role of the reader. From this stance, the author, as a subject, is always in the process of dispensation in the act of reading. Meanwhile, the position and function of the reader is in a process of the opposite direction, liberation. Furthermore, reception aesthetics which concerns the consuming experience of reader draws more and more attention of the critical circle. However, literature is embodied in text, which foregrounds all literary activities—the author creates the text, the reader reads the text, the critic studies the text. Textual theories from different concerns of literary study provide a vast battle grounds for the theoretical foundation of reader-research. Taking the development of textual theory as a clue, this thesis first of all traces the development of intertextuality and structuralism and poststructuralism, through which the thesis explores the prominent position of hypertextuality and its dialogue with textual and intertextual theories. Then the thesis makes an embedded discussion of author and reader's identity in the context of the above two important aspects of textuality and the shifting relationship in this progressive process, which is further illustrated in the study of author and reader in the analysis of novel text writing. The thesis concludes with a proposition that the development of textual theory, the extension of the conception of text, and the application of electronic technology lay the foundation of the shifting concern of literary studies to the reception of the reader, and bring about a groundbreaking revolution to text reading.