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February 18, 2007
The Three-Class Reading System
Readers and the Concept of the Implied Reader, Iser
O.K I thought that Iser was going to kill me will this article... but I saw the three types of reader.
He classified readers into certain types that were pretty interesting to me.
The Superreader
The superreader is something I think that all of us are trying to be that kind of reader. A person who can just spot out intertexual patterns with no problems. They are like codebreakers, decyrpting codes from ones and zeros. I believe that only a small amount of readers are actually superreaders.
The Informed Reader
Most people, and probably all of us, fit this category. This is a reader that:
1.) is a competent speaker
2.) has semantic knowledge and comprehension
3.)has literary competence
The Intended Reader
This reader is the "base" of the readers of a particular author. For example, your Stephen King, J.K Rowling, and John Grisham fans. This group is, what Iser described, as "a sort of fictional inhabitant of the text, can embody not only the concepts and conventions of the of the contemporary public..." Basically, the next big thing in literature. I think these readers would enjoy popular fiction more that any other genre of literature.
These shouldn't be taken religiously. However, it is a good way to distinguish what kind of reader you are and what impact it has on your future reading and with literature itself.
Posted by KevinHinton at February 18, 2007 12:11 AM
Comments
Iser's ideas kind of reminded me of quizzes you take in a magazine like "If you were a potato chip, what kind would you be?" or "Which Wiggle are you?" :) Really, I see some very applicable ways of looking at ourselves as critics, but I also think that we are all combinations of these like you said. Good thoughts, Mr. Hinton!
Posted by: Erin at February 19, 2007 10:17 AM