Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2000. / Title from title page screen, viewed July 31, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Charles B. Harris (chair), William W. Morgan, Douglas D. Hesse. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 206-212) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Regent College, Vancouver, BC, 2002. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-125).

D.Litt. et Phil. (Library & Information Science) / One of the characteristics of publishing in South Africa is that it does not reflect the demographic make-up of South Africa. Publishing in South Africa has been largely financed and controlled by whites and little effort until recently has been expended on the incipient black reader. This has contributed to the lack of a reading culture amongst black people in South Africa. Oral cultures or even cultures with residual amorality Her from Western literate societies. These differences affect cultural products, such as stories, and responses to cultural products. Readers whose norms and expectations of formal discourse are governed by residual oral mindset relate to a text quite differently from readers whose sense of style is fundamentally textual. When an author writes, he postulates an audience. He has to know the tradition - the intertextuality - in which he is working. He can then create fictional roles that the reader is willing and able to play. It is not easy to get into a reader's mind, but it is not an impossibility if both the reader and writer are familiar with the 1iterary tradition in which they work, whether this tradition is oral or literate. There are major differences between an oral and literate culture in their thought processes, perceptions of the world, narrative structures and understanding and response to literature. This must affect cultural accessibility of text. An oral culture, such as black South Africans, will look for different structures, characters and types of discourse in their literature.

M.A. (Library Science) / Children's literature transmits values regarded as important by society and is an important means of socialisation. It will tend to reflect those· values regarded as important and fundamental to the dominant social class. Alternative values and the questioning of traditional values only takes place in children's literature when society in general begins to question its values. Reading is a transactional process. Meaning is not "contained in the text" but the result of interaction between the reader and the text. The reader's cultural background and attitudes will play an important role in determining how a text will be understood. Children from diverse backgrounds will not necessarily understand a text in the same way, as they bring their background to the text and understand it or interpret it in the light of that background or schema. Values are the foundation on which people base their actions, beliefs and attitudes. Each culture develops its own value system in terms of which values will be ranked in order of importance. Through socialisation these value systems will be passed on to new generations...

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In this dissertation it is argued that literary theories have traditionally extended abundant attention on authors and texts, neglecting, with very few exceptions, the impor- tant role of the READER. To address this imbalance, par- ticular attention will be paid to the view of Wolfgang Iser, that a literary text can only elicit a response when it is read, and that it is virtually impossible to describe this response without also analysing the READING PROCESS. I share this view as it makes logical sense: a literary text remains meaningless, a mere 'paper and ink' production without the involvement of the reader. It is also the reader's own com- petence, his sense of aesthetic perception which enables him to make sense of the, in the literary text embedded message, hence the title: "The Nature of Aesthetic Perception in Literature. The Interaction between Text and Reader in the Process of Perceiving Literary Texts." / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / M.A. (Theory of Literature)

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.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 307-339).

"The Journey Within" deals with how the receiver (reader/viewer) engages with the novel and the film. The thesis primarily focuses on Faulkner's novel, incorporating Persona largely as a means by which to illustrate the more carefully concealed reader-engagement strategies in Absalom, Absalom! Starting with a review of Faulkner criticism that opens itself up to this inquiry, the thesis leads into a detail study of the engagement strategies used to foster identification, alignment, sympathy, and empathy among receivers. Employing Umberto Eco's criticism involving "Model Readers" who "actualize" texts, as well as other reader and viewer response theory, I demonstrate that certain receivers experience a specific, heightened engagement with the work. This "Model" receiver restructures her ideologies to accord with what the work expects from her. Ultimately, this particular engagement leads to ontological participation in the work among its receivers. Martin Heidegger's phenomenological investigation, Being and Time, helps illustrate this ontological participation.

This thesis examines the reception of material developed by Soul City: Institute for Health and Development in South Africa and distributed in four Sub-Saharan countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia. Soul City is the focus of considerable resource, research and media attention in South Africa. The study thus critically assesses Soul City's efficacy in neighbouring states, such as Lesotho. The focus of the study is on Choose Life; a booklet intended for 12-16 year olds and assesses its reception by the target group in Lesotho. The study investigates how message-decoding practices of the target audience in Lesotho will bear on a product originally designed for a South African audience. The sample's interpretation of the Choose Life booklet is therefore assessed to determine the extent to which their reception produced 'preferred', negotiated or aberrant meanings. Therefore Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model (1980) offers the theoretical framework upon which the reception of Choose Life is analysed. Development communication models are also used to explain the role of Soul City as the agent and Youth in Lesotho as beneficiaries in the implementation of the project. Results established by this study indicate that there is need to conduct extensive formative research of target audiences and also involve beneficiaries in projects intended for them. Different readings of the booklet were observed which were attributed to age, gender, place of residence (Urban or rural), cultural and communication barriers . This means these factors were supposed to have been considered by Soul City prior to the Choose Life intervention. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.