Humanistic Concerns In Reader-Response Criticism

Humanism is a worldview which regards"man as the measure of all things". It originated in the ancient Greece and Rome, rejuvenated in the Renaissance Europe and has developed all along into the modern times. This worldview holds a strong belief in the greatness of man and negates the existence of a supernatural God. The greatness of man lies in his abundant abilities. Humanism in the pre-modern history stood mainly against theism and worked to set free human mind from the control of religious obscurantism, thus did a great contributions to human progress in science and technology, and to the better understanding of human society. The more informed humanists in the modern time stand against elitism of different forms, which would believe one group of people is superior in abilities or other ways to other people of the human community, some elitists may also believe one nation of the world, usually their own, is more prestigious than other nations. The elitists of one same school may believe they can control a nation or the world with one set of rules. So elitism, whatever form or school it is, usually leads to autocracy in a new form and is anti-democracy.The reader-response theory represents humanism in the field of literary criticism because it affirms the common reader's ability, his needs and works as an instrument to promote democracy.Unlike the previous critics who thought the reader as a passive absorber of the text's content, the reader-oriented critics assumes that the reader is an active participant in literary appreciation. The affirmation of the reader's ability of creation by the reader-response criticism is most compatible with humanism in that all the humanistic beliefs are based on the moral, intellectual and practical abilities of human beings.As to the function of literature, reader-response critics hold the belief that literature should meet the readers'needs. Like the humanists who believe the enjoyment of life is a virtue, the reader-response critics would insist that literature should serve as a form of entertainment in human life. The reader-response critics claim that the reader's need to be respected is essential in literary instruction, and students should be treated differently. Because the reader-response critics begin their theorization from the individuals'responses to the text, it is natural for them to regard the reader's needs and interests as a primary concern.The greatest achievement of humanism lies in the fact that it has helped to realize democracy in human society. The best way to keep democracy going is to make all voices heard in a society. Reader-response criticism is essentially democratic because it assumes there doesn't exist an absolute truth in the text and there isn't one and the only one correct interpretation of the text. There are as many interpretations of a particular text as there are readers. The diversity of interpretation represents an inextricable link between reading and democracy. The practice of interpretation in class under the reader-response theory becomes a meaningful training to prepare students to participate in a democratic society.