A leitura em Francês Língua Estrangeira (FLE) pode ser abordada de diferentes maneiras em função dos objetivos individuais ou institucionais para sua aprendizagem. Esta pesquisa concentra-se num público de leitores bastante específico: alunos de primeiro ano do curso de Letras/Francês da Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da USP que devem ler literatura francesa no original dispondo de pouco ou nenhum conhecimento dessa língua. Essa é uma situação paradoxal que se coloca para um número considerável de estudantes ao ingressar nesse curso a cada ano e que fez com que se buscasse desenvolver uma abordagem do texto literário que se aproximasse dos processos em jogo no ato da leitura e das verbalizações desses processos por parte deste grupo de leitores. Busca-se, nesta pesquisa, refletir sobre como a aproximação do texto do leitor, ou seja, como a verbalização de seu processo de leitura pode informar sobre as estratégias para ler literatura em sala de aula, considerando a dificuldade implicada no processo em razão do pouco conhecimento em língua francesa. A hipótese concentra-se em perceber a verbalização de uma leitura como um processo metacognitivo de elaboração em que o leitor controla a construção e eventual perda de sentido na leitura, o texto do leitor seria um híbrido entre o relato desse processo e elementos de sua compreensão no ato da leitura. Dispor desses elementos pode vir a permitir com uma abordagem do texto literário em FLE aproxime-se da forma como os textos são apreendidos pelos leitores nesse contexto, potencializando os resultados dessa aprendizagem. / The reading in French Foreign Language (FFL) can be approached in different ways in terms of individual or institutional aims for its learning. This research concentrates in a reader group rather specific: students attending the first year of French Language at Philosophy and Language and Human Sciences Department of the University of São Paulo that must read French literature in the original version, having some or no knowledge of this language. It is a paradoxical situation that is set to a considerable number of students that enroll this course each year and it caused a search for developing a literary text approach that could come close to the processes in the act of reading and of the verbalizations of these processes on the part of this reader group. It is sought, in this research, to reflect about how the approximation of the the readers text, or whether, how the verbalization of his reading process could inform about the strategies to read literature in a classroom, considering the difficulties implied in the process on account of the limited knowledge in French Language. The hypothesis concentrates in perceiving the verbalization of a reading as a metacognitive process of elaboration in which the reader controls the construction and eventual lose of the sense in the reading, the readers text would be a hybrid between the report of this process and the elements of his understanding in the act of reading. Disposing these elements, it can allow that an approach of the literary reading in FFL approximates the form how the texts are learnt by the readers in this context, potentiating the results of this learning.

Notre thèse, « récit autoritaire, thème de la pureté et place du lecteur dans Yūkoku (Patriotisme) et Honba (Chevaux échappés) de Mishima Yukio » interroge les rapports entre littérature et idéologie dans deux textes qui sont parmi les plus controversés de l’écrivain Mishima : la nouvelle Yūkoku, qui est paru pour la première fois en janvier 1961, et Honba, le second volume de la tétralogie Hōjō no umi (La mer de la fertilité, 1965-1970) publié d’abord en feuilleton entre février 1967 et août 1968 puis en un seul volume en février 1969. La première partie de notre travail est consacrée à une lecture théorique de Yūkoku et de Honba sous l’angle du « récit autoritaire ». Mettant en scène des héros mythiques dévoués à l’empereur, opposant des personnages purs à des personnages impurs, les deux textes sur lesquels nous nous sommes penché correspondent schématiquement au genre du récit idéologique tel qu’il a notamment été décrit par Susan Rubin Suleiman dans Le roman à thèse ou l’autorité fictive (1983). Nombreux sont d’ailleurs ceux qui, au Japon comme en occident, ont fortement critiqué la dimension partisane (sinon sectaire) de ces récits. Dans la seconde et troisième parties de notre travail, consacrées respectivement à Yūkoku et à Honba, nous avons montré que ces deux textes sont plus complexes qu’une lecture cursive le laisse penser et qu’ils offrent des réponses originales au défi propre au récit à thèse (ou récit autoritaire) qui consiste à concilier l’idéologie (qui implique la monosémie, le manichéisme, la redondance) avec la littérature (qui implique la polysémie et l’ambiguïté). Le recours singulier et retors aux stéréotypes, les thèmes du nihilisme et du simulacre ou encore la complexité des procédés rhétoriques et manipulatoires présents dans ces textes offrent de nouveaux éclairages et champs de réflexion aussi bien dans le domaine de la théorie littéraire que dans celui des études sur Mishima. / My thesis, entitled “Authoritarian Fiction, the Theme of Purity and the Place of the Reader in Yūkoku (Patriotism) and Honba (Runaway Horses) by Mishima Yukio”, questions the relation between ideology and literature in two of Mishima’s most controversial works: the short story Yūkoku, first published in January 1961, and the novel Honba, the second volume of Hōjō no umi (The Sea of Fertility, 1965-1970), serialized between February 1967 and August 1968, and published in one volume in February 1969. In the first part of my dissertation, I show that Yūkoku and Honba —by staging mythical heroes devoted to the Emperor, opposing pure and young characters to corrupted ones— schematically correspond to the genre of ideological novel as depicted in the seminal work of Susan Rubin Suleiman on French “roman à thèse” (Authoritarian Fictions, the Ideological Novel as a Literary Genre, 1983). In Japan as in the Western world, many critics have reacted adversely to the biased (if not sectarian) content of these texts. In the second and third parts of my thesis — the former devoted to Yūkoku and the latter to Honba — I unveil the complexity of these texts and show how they also provide original answers to authoritarian fiction’s specific challenge of reconciling ideology (which implies monosemy, manicheism and redundancies) with literature (which implies polysemy and ambiguity). The specific and twisted use of stereotypes, the themes of nihilism and simulacrum, or the complex rhetorical devices present in these texts offer new insights in both the fields of literary theory and Mishima studies.

This thesis focuses on the reading of fiction written by contemporary French women authors, namely Julia Kristeva, Marie Darrieussecq and Monique Wittig, establishing the reader as an active and engaged actor in meaning creation. The reader enters into dialogue with the text, the author, the narrator(s) and the characters, carving out an imaginative readerly space in fiction. The main aim of this thesis is to examine how this space comes into being, and what tools are needed for its exploration. Concepts from three main theoretical fields are used to set the parameters for this readerly space: reception studies, intertextuality, and theories of the other. As was observed by Elizabeth Fallaize, reception studies and women’s writing have not been meaningfully combined. This thesis responds to this gap in research, simultaneously expanding our interpretations of the texts by looking at the multitude of intertextual links that can be established, and at the way reading influences our relations to the other. The Introduction examines the above-mentioned three theoretical areas, alongside elements such as the tasks of the reader, the materiality of the book, and the impact of reading groups. Chapter One examines two of Kristeva’s most recent works of fiction — Meurtre à Byzance and Thérèse mon amour — studying the mise en abyme of reading and writing, the issues that can arise from extensive intertextual links and autobiographical projections, and introducing concepts such as the reading Carmel and the text as Trojan Horse. Chapter Two explores the Darrieussecq-ien aesthetic universe, starting with a consideration of the four different types of intertextuality identified in Darrieussecq’s fiction. Darrieussecq’s work with language is analysed, before introducing the concept of the fiction of honesty. The fiction of honesty allows us to explore the relationship of trust between the reader and the narrator, while an analysis of the inscriptions of time offers a better understanding of the chronologies of the reading process. Chapter Three investigates Wittig’s works, focusing on her linguistic innovations, rewriting of myths and foundational stories, extensive use of sensorial writing, and links established between fiction and socio-political activism. Chapter Four considers the media reception of the three authors, introducing resources that are not easily accessible to Anglophone audiences. The Conclusion offers an overview of the findings of this thesis, before opening onto further avenues for research.

Submitted by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-09-30T17:45:23Z No. of bitstreams: 2 tese - Ebe Faria de Lima Siqueira - 2013.pdf: 6532114 bytes, checksum: b542d700eab41805b9894da53dc34d01 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-09-30T18:15:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 tese - Ebe Faria de Lima Siqueira - 2013.pdf: 6532114 bytes, checksum: b542d700eab41805b9894da53dc34d01 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-09-30T18:15:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 tese - Ebe Faria de Lima Siqueira - 2013.pdf: 6532114 bytes, checksum: b542d700eab41805b9894da53dc34d01 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-06-21 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / This research addresses the formation of the literary reader based on reflections on the role and importance of mediation, in order to build foundations for a literary education. Initially, we outline what we understand by forming the literary reader. For this, we make a historical account of the concept of forming, demonstrating their connection with education. Then, inscribe the literature in the space of reflection in order to present what we understand by literature without frontiers, which introduces and guides in the research works to be analyzed one by one the characterization of this literature as one that breaks the frontiers of gender, interweaves fiction and invention and does not define your reception a priori. Such characteristics are examined in the corpus of literary works chosen by mobilizing probe and research on topics arising from the proposed study and articulated as hybridization of literary genres, life experience, autobiographical pact, mediation, readdress, market, among others. To develop the research we used the theoretical assumptions of Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin, Antonio Candido, Tzvetan Todorov and Antoine Compagnon which ensure the relevance of the formative role of literature in society, and Roland Barthes, Umberto Eco, Wolfgang Iser, Hans Robert Jauss and researchers such as Roger Chartier, Michèle Petit, Teresa Colomer, Daniel Pennac, Eliana Yunes, João Luís Ceccantini, Vera Aguiar, among others, who question the ways of reading and the role of mediators in the formation primarily of literary readers. / A presente pesquisa aborda a formação do leitor literário fundamentada em reflexões sobre o papel e a importância da mediação, com vistas à construção de bases para uma Educação Literária. Inicialmente, delineamos o que entendemos por formação do leitor literário. Para isso, fazemos um percurso histórico do conceito de formação, demonstrando a sua articulação com a educação. Em seguida, inscrevemos a literatura no espaço de reflexão com o propósito de apresentar o que entendemos por Literatura sem Fronteiras, que introduz e norteia na pesquisa as obras a serem analisadas vis-à-vis a caracterização dessa literatura como aquela que desfaz as fronteiras de gênero, entrelaça ficção e invenção e não define a sua recepção a priori. Tais características são examinadas no corpus das obras literárias escolhidas, mobilizando sondagem e investigação sobre tópicos decorrentes e articulados ao estudo proposto, como hibridização dos gêneros literários, experiência de vida, pacto autobiográfico, mediação, reendereçamento, mercado, entre outros. Para desenvolvermos a pesquisa recorremos aos pressupostos teóricos de Theodor Adorno e Walter Benjamim; a Antonio Candido, Tzvetan Todorov e Antoine Compagnon, que asseguram a atualidade do papel formador da literatura na sociedade, além de Roland Barthes, Umberto Eco, Wolfgang Iser, Hans Robert Jauss e pesquisadores como Roger Chartier, Michèle Petit, Tereza Colomer, Daniel Pennac, Eliana Yunes, João Luís Ceccantini, Vera Aguiar, entre outros, que questionam os modos de ler e o papel dos mediadores na formação, prioritariamente, de leitores literários.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:45:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andre Carreiro Nogueira.pdf: 5498713 bytes, checksum: b6d5f6df1c322638c97b77da4ba7ddbb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-09 / The main objective of this research is to identify the formation of the Protestant Brazilian player the second half of the nineteenth century, specifically, the capital of the Republic at the time, the Rio de Janeiro. For this, we intend to redeem elements that explain the use of a fictional narrative by Evangelical Press newspaper, nineteenth century. Basearemo us in the history of reading, particularly in Roger Chartier, to show that the relationship between text and reader produces effects not only for the history of reading, but also for anyone who cares to study this subject. In addition, the paper aims to show how the newspaper used this feature and how to set up your receptivity and acceptance by readers Protestants living in Brazil. Within the context of the Rio player, we will analyze the possibility of this encounter with an evangelistic strategy of Protestant missionaries sent to Brazil, from the use of a literary work by a Protestant newspaper. This makes the Evangelical Press and Lucila objects fundamental to our understanding of the formation of the Protestant Brazilian player, representing the corpus of this research. The Evangelical Press rare gathered information about the formation of Protestantism in Brazil. From the periodic setting of the newspaper, with its textuality and layout, one of the goals of this work is to verify the possibility to establish the image of a Protestant reader of the second half of the nineteenth century. The Evangelical Press was a religious periodical, had ads on their pages, news releases and several, including on international events. Why be administered and directed by Protestant Christians, the Evangelical Press brought Brazilian readers that era articles and topics related to the Protestant religion, its doctrine and practice of faith. Moreover, the work aims to unite scientific arguments that show the use of fiction in the newspaper, if it really was a way to convince the reader that was used to follow the journal by fidelity to religious information reliable. / O objetivo principal desta pesquisa é identificar a formação do leitor protestante brasileiro da segunda metade do século XIX, especificamente, da capital da República naquela época, o Rio de Janeiro. Para isso, pretendemos resgatar elementos que expliquem a utilização de uma narrativa ficcional pelo jornal Imprensa Evangélica, do século XIX. Basearemo-nos na história da leitura, particularmente, em Roger Chartier, para mostrarmos que essa a relação entre texto e leitor produz efeitos não só para a história da leitura, mas também para qualquer estudo que se preocupe com este assunto. Além disso, o trabalho buscará mostrar de que modo o jornal se utilizou deste recurso e como se configurou sua receptividade e aceitação pelos leitores protestantes residentes no Brasil. Dentro do contexto do leitor carioca, analisaremos a possibilidade do encontro deste com uma estratégia evangelística dos missionários protestantes enviados ao Brasil, a partir da utilização de uma obra literária por um jornal protestante. Isso faz do Imprensa Evangélica e de Lucila objetos fundamentais para nossa compreensão sobre a formação do leitor protestante brasileiro, representando o corpus desta pesquisa. O Imprensa Evangélica reuniu informações raras sobre a formação do protestantismo no Brasil. A partir da configuração periódica do jornal, com sua textualidade e diagramação, um dos objetivos do trabalho é verificar a possibilidade de estabelecer a imagem de um leitor protestante da segunda metade do século XIX. O Imprensa Evangélica foi um periódico religioso, em suas páginas havia anúncios, comunicados e notícias diversas, inclusive sobre fatos internacionais. Por ser administrado e dirigido por cristãos protestantes, o Imprensa Evangélica trouxe ao leitor brasileiro daquela época artigos e assuntos ligados à religião protestante, a sua doutrina e prática de fé. Além disso, o trabalho pretende unir argumentos científicos que mostrem a utilização da ficção dentro do jornal, se realmente foi uma maneira de convencer o leitor que estava acostumado a seguir o periódico por fidelidade à informação religiosa confiável.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo estabelecer o nexo entre a tradução do romance de aventura e o seu contexto, transcendendo o texto e seu valor estético. A tradução envolve uma relação dinâmica entre várias instâncias de práticas culturais. Tais relações demonstram que as obras não acontecem em um vazio e não se pode dissociá-las de seu contexto de produção e recepção. A adoção de obras de literatura de entretenimento como corpus deste estudo, concorda com a abertura às novas temáticas adotadas pela história cultural e revela seu valor para o enriquecimento do discurso historiográfico. Partindo da hipótese de que na prosa as condições de recepção e o momento histórico são fatores decisivos no resultado da tradução e do pressuposto que o gênero literário, além da questão da língua, restringe o caráter autoral e criativo da atividade, o estudo analisou três traduções da série Tarzan, publicadas pela Companhia Editora Nacional na primeira década de 1930: O tesouro de Tarzan, por Manuel Bandeira, Tarzan, o terrível, por Monteiro Lobato e Tarzan, o rei da jângal, por Godofredo Rangel. A partir desse cotejamento se organiza a discussão sobre como o tradutor negocia as condicionantes impostas pelo gênero e pelo contexto e até que ponto a \"voz\" dos tradutores se manifesta, tendo como arcabouço teórico a história cultural e os estudos da tradução com base, principalmente, a teoria dos polissistemas de Itamar Even-Zohar e a abordagem descritivista da tradução de Gideon Toury, e ainda as discussões de Mona Baker e Theo Hermans sobre a presença do tradutor no texto, buscando suporte também nos paratextos e na palavra dos agentes envolvidos no processo de produção e divulgação do livro a fim de se construir um contínuo entre a tradução e o entorno. / The aim of this work is to establish the link between adventure novel translation, in the 1930s, and its production context, going beyond the text and its aesthetic value. Translations involve a dynamic relationship between several frameworks of cultural practices. These relationships show that the works do not take place in a vacuum, and cannot be dissociated from their production and reception contexts. The use of entertaining literature to make the corpus of this study is in accordance to the acceptance of new themes by cultural history and shows its value in the enrichment of historiographical discourse. Starting from the hypothesis that, in prose, reception conditions, and the historical moment are more decisive factors to the resulting translation, and the literary genre imposes constraints that tend to limit the copyright and creative character of the activity, this study analyzed three translations of the Tarzan series, published by Companhia Editora Nacional, during the first decade of 1930: O tesouro de Tarzan, translated by Manuel Bandeira, Tarzan, o terrível, by Monteiro Lobato and Tarzan, o rei da jângal, by Godofredo Rangel. The comparison of these works heads the discussion about how the translator negotiates the constraints imposed by the genre, and by the context, and to what extent the voice of the translators is heard. Cultural history and translations studies, primarily, the polysystem theory of Itamar Even-Zohar and the descriptive approach to translation of Gideon Toury, in addition to discussions on the presence of a translators voice proposed by Mona Baker and Theo Hermans, make up the theoretical framework of this study. The strategies and resources used in the selected translations supported in paratexts and in the word of the agents involved in the production and promotion processes of the book, is considered in order to build a continuum between these translations and their environment.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo estabelecer o nexo entre a tradução do romance de aventura e o seu contexto, transcendendo o texto e seu valor estético. A tradução envolve uma relação dinâmica entre várias instâncias de práticas culturais. Tais relações demonstram que as obras não acontecem em um vazio e não se pode dissociá-las de seu contexto de produção e recepção. A adoção de obras de literatura de entretenimento como corpus deste estudo, concorda com a abertura às novas temáticas adotadas pela história cultural e revela seu valor para o enriquecimento do discurso historiográfico. Partindo da hipótese de que na prosa as condições de recepção e o momento histórico são fatores decisivos no resultado da tradução e do pressuposto que o gênero literário, além da questão da língua, restringe o caráter autoral e criativo da atividade, o estudo analisou três traduções da série Tarzan, publicadas pela Companhia Editora Nacional na primeira década de 1930: O tesouro de Tarzan, por Manuel Bandeira, Tarzan, o terrível, por Monteiro Lobato e Tarzan, o rei da jângal, por Godofredo Rangel. A partir desse cotejamento se organiza a discussão sobre como o tradutor negocia as condicionantes impostas pelo gênero e pelo contexto e até que ponto a \"voz\" dos tradutores se manifesta, tendo como arcabouço teórico a história cultural e os estudos da tradução com base, principalmente, a teoria dos polissistemas de Itamar Even-Zohar e a abordagem descritivista da tradução de Gideon Toury, e ainda as discussões de Mona Baker e Theo Hermans sobre a presença do tradutor no texto, buscando suporte também nos paratextos e na palavra dos agentes envolvidos no processo de produção e divulgação do livro a fim de se construir um contínuo entre a tradução e o entorno. / The aim of this work is to establish the link between adventure novel translation, in the 1930s, and its production context, going beyond the text and its aesthetic value. Translations involve a dynamic relationship between several frameworks of cultural practices. These relationships show that the works do not take place in a vacuum, and cannot be dissociated from their production and reception contexts. The use of entertaining literature to make the corpus of this study is in accordance to the acceptance of new themes by cultural history and shows its value in the enrichment of historiographical discourse. Starting from the hypothesis that, in prose, reception conditions, and the historical moment are more decisive factors to the resulting translation, and the literary genre imposes constraints that tend to limit the copyright and creative character of the activity, this study analyzed three translations of the Tarzan series, published by Companhia Editora Nacional, during the first decade of 1930: O tesouro de Tarzan, translated by Manuel Bandeira, Tarzan, o terrível, by Monteiro Lobato and Tarzan, o rei da jângal, by Godofredo Rangel. The comparison of these works heads the discussion about how the translator negotiates the constraints imposed by the genre, and by the context, and to what extent the voice of the translators is heard. Cultural history and translations studies, primarily, the polysystem theory of Itamar Even-Zohar and the descriptive approach to translation of Gideon Toury, in addition to discussions on the presence of a translators voice proposed by Mona Baker and Theo Hermans, make up the theoretical framework of this study. The strategies and resources used in the selected translations supported in paratexts and in the word of the agents involved in the production and promotion processes of the book, is considered in order to build a continuum between these translations and their environment.

The purpose of this study was to determine if an association exists between reading methodologies and reading achievement as measured by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) for sixth-grade students. The four reading methodology groups were: developmental reading, literature-based reading, Accelerated Reader program, and Accelerated Reader program with vocabulary study. The sample included 236 students in one middle school located in Northeast Tennessee during the 2004-2005 school year. Comparisons were made using TCAP criterion-referenced test reading/language arts scores, TCAP proficiency levels for content, meaning, and vocabulary categories for 2005, and pretest and posttest scores on the student assessment of reading. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings indicated significant differences in the reading methodology groups. The developmental group performed much lower than the other three groups. The literature-based group performed much higher than the other groups. Even when the analysis of the gain scores showed no statistical difference among groups, the literature-based group had the largest gain. The students in this study exceeded the state's annual goal of scoring 80% proficient or higher. The literature-based group and both Accelerated Reader groups exceeded the goal by achieving 90% on proficiency levels, whereas the developmental group failed to meet the state's goal in content and meaning but met the goal for vocabulary. Overall, the Accelerated Reader and Accelerated Reader with vocabulary groups were similar across all dependent variables.

Cette thèse s’intéresse à la manière dont l’enfant est représenté dans la littérature pour la jeunesse britannique contemporaine. L’étude porte sur des œuvres publiées entre 1995 et 2005 par des auteurs britanniques : Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials ; Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl ; Jonathan Stroud, The Amulet of Samarkand ; J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ; Kate Thompson, The New Policeman ; Alex Shearer, The Hunted ; Hilary McKay, Saffy’s Angel ; Anthony Browne, Into the Forest ; Lauren Child, Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent ; Oliver Jeffers, Lost and Found. En nous appuyant à la fois sur l’examen des portraits d’enfants personnages et sur les représentations de l’espace et du temps, nous pouvons dégager une image de l’enfant contemporain tel que les auteurs britanniques pour la jeunesse le dépeignent. La représentation de l’enfant a souvent été analysée dans les livres pour adultes, mais son étude dans les œuvres qui lui sont destinées permet un éclairage différent, révélateur à la fois de la réalité de l’enfant telle qu’elle est perçue par l’auteur, et de l’enfant idéal sur lequel il aimerait que son jeune lecteur se modèle. L’analyse du lecteur modèle par le biais des théories de la réception dévoile l’enfant qui se cache entre les lignes et permet de souligner l’autonomie accrue dont l’enfant bénéficie dans la littérature, qu’il soit personnage ou lecteur. / This dissertation deals with the way in which the child is pictured in contemporary British children’s literature. This study analyses the image of the child in the following works of fiction published between 1995 and 2005 by British authors : Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials ; Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl ; Jonathan Stroud, The Amulet of Samarkand ; J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ; Kate Thompson, The New Policeman ; Alex Shearer, The Hunted ; Hilary McKay, Saffy’s Angel ; Anthony Browne, Into the Forest ; Lauren Child, Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent ; Oliver Jeffers, Lost and Found. The analysis of the portraits of child characters and of the representations of their environment (both spatial and temporal) enables us to create a picture of the contemporary child as British children’s authors imagine him. The image of the child in adult literature has often been examined, but its analysis in the works that are meant to be read by children offers a different perspective, which illustrates both the reality of the child as it is perceived by the writers, and the ideal child which the author would like his young reader to emulate. Theories of reception enable us to investigate the child reader who is hiding between the lines of the text and to demonstrate the increasing autonomy granted to the child in literature, be it the child character or the child reader.

Hans Robert Jauss is a professor of literary criticism and romance philology at the University of Constance in Germany. Jauss co-founded the University of Constance and the Constance group of literary studies. Hans Robert Jauss's version of reception theory was introduced in the late 1960s, a period of social, political, and intellectual instability in West Germany. Jauss's reception theory focused on the reader rather than the author or text. The original reception of a text was compared to a later reception, revealing different literary receptions and their evolution. Jauss's Rezeptionsgeschichte (history of reception) illustrated the evolution of the reception of texts and the evolving paradigms of literary criticism that they were a part of. However, Jauss's essays proved to be more of a provocation for change in literary criticism than the foundation for the next literary paradigm. The empirical studies discussed in this thesis reveal the.idealism of Jauss's theory by testing main ideas and concepts. The results show the inapplicability of Jauss's theory for practical purposes. The intent of this study is to illustrate the origins, development and impact of Jauss's version of reception theory. The interrelationship between the social environment, the institutional reforms at the University of Constance, and the methodology of reception theory are also discussed. The new social values in West Germany advocated individualism and questioned status quo institutions and their authority. This facilitated the establishment of the University of Constance, which served as the prototype for the democratization of German universities and the introduction of Jauss's reception theory. With the democratization of the university, old autonomous faculties were broken down into interdisciplinary subject areas. The Old Philology and New Philology department were made into the sciences of language and literature and ultimately introduced as the all-encompassing literaturwissenschaft. Five professors from the Slavic, English, German, Classics and Romance language departments gave up direction of these large departments to work together under the Constance reforms in an effort to form a new concept of literary studies. The result was the socalled theories of "reception" and "effect" which they continue to research.