“Reader-Response Theory and the English Curriculum” by Robert E. Probst: Summary and Critique

1. Literature as a Tool for Developing Readers

• Probst argues that the primary purpose of literature instruction is to cultivate readers who engage with texts in ways that enrich their emotional and intellectual lives, rather than creating literary scholars (Probst, 1994, p. 37).
• He stresses that most students will not pursue literary studies professionally, and thus the aim should be to foster an enduring enjoyment and thoughtful response to literature.

2. Respecting Reader Responses

• Emphasizing Louise Rosenblatt’s perspective, Probst highlights the importance of letting literature influence readers naturally, asserting that teaching should enhance this “vital influence inherent in literature” (p. 38).
• He opposes traditional methods that impose rigid interpretations, advocating instead for an environment where individual connections to texts are celebrated.

3. The Dynamic Creation of Meaning

• Probst challenges the idea that meaning is intrinsic to the text, suggesting instead that it is created in the interaction between the text and the reader’s experiences (p. 38).
• He echoes Robert Scholes in stating that “reading text and reflecting upon our lives are essentially the same intellectual process” (p. 39).

4. Encouraging Personal Connections

• Using David Bottoms’ poem Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt as an example, Probst illustrates how literature evokes personal memories and emotions, such as family dynamics and life lessons (p. 38).
• He argues that these personal responses should be integral to literary education, as they deepen understanding and emotional engagement with texts.

5. Respect for Individual Interpretations

• Probst acknowledges that while some interpretations are stronger than others, a work may evoke unexpected associations in a reader that can hold greater personal significance than the author’s intended meaning (p. 39).

6. Goals for Literature Instruction

• Probst outlines six goals for English curricula:
  • Learning about oneself: Literature helps students reflect on their own experiences and identities (p. 39).
  • Learning about others: Engaging with diverse perspectives in texts fosters empathy and understanding (p. 39).
  • Understanding cultures and societies: Texts reveal societal values and complexities, enabling students to examine their own cultural contexts (p. 40).
  • Analyzing textual influence: Students learn how texts shape thoughts and emotions (p. 40).
  • Contextualizing meaning: Readers understand that interpretations are shaped by individual and external contexts (p. 40).
  • Understanding the process of making meaning: Students recognize meaning-making as a dynamic, interactive process rather than a static discovery (p. 41).

7. Instructional Principles

• Probst recommends several principles for fostering meaningful literary engagement:
  • Encourage personal responses as starting points for discussions and writing (p. 42).
  • Provide time for students to shape and articulate their interpretations (p. 42).
  • Facilitate connections among student responses to promote dialogue and shared learning (p. 42).
  • Allow discussions to grow organically, without imposing predetermined conclusions (p. 42).

8. Broadening the Modes of Engagement

• Probst suggests integrating diverse writing tasks, such as personal narratives or creative responses, into the curriculum. This approach mirrors practices in other arts, where students actively create to deepen understanding (p. 43).
• He asserts that such methods foster independence, creativity, and lifelong engagement with literature.

9. The Ultimate Goal: Lifelong Enrichment

• The overarching aim of Probst’s reader-response approach is to cultivate readers and writers who use literature to enrich their lives emotionally, intellectually, and socially (p. 44).

1. Advancement of Reader-Response Theory

• Core Contribution: Probst emphasizes that the reader’s interaction with the text creates meaning, shifting the focus from the author’s intent or textual structure to the reader’s experience.
• In-Text Reference: “Meaning lies in that shared ground where the reader and text meet—it isn’t resident within the text, to be extracted like a nut from its shell” (p. 38).
• Theoretical Significance: This aligns with Louise Rosenblatt’s transactional theory, reinforcing the role of personal history, context, and emotional resonance in reading.

2. Critique of Formalism and New Criticism

• Core Contribution: Probst critiques the emphasis on “correct” interpretations and established readings inherent in formalist approaches, advocating for diverse, reader-driven interpretations.
• In-Text Reference: “We have tended in the past…to seek consensus in the classroom…to insist upon the rightness of certain readings” (p. 39).
• Theoretical Significance: This challenges New Criticism’s text-centered analysis by emphasizing the fluidity of meaning and individual reader experiences.

3. Integration of Personal and Cultural Contexts

• Core Contribution: Probst explores how personal and cultural contexts influence interpretations, arguing that these factors are integral to the act of reading.
• In-Text Reference: “Meaning resides neither in the text, nor in the reader…but is created and recreated in the act of reading and the subsequent acts of talking and writing about the experience” (p. 40).
• Theoretical Significance: This aligns with Cultural Criticism and Poststructuralist Thought, which view meaning as constructed through interaction between texts and socio-cultural frameworks.

4. Emphasis on Reader Agency

• Core Contribution: Probst advocates for empowering readers, especially students, to see themselves as co-creators of meaning, thus fostering independence and intellectual ownership.
• In-Text Reference: “Students need instead to learn that literary meaning is largely an individual engagement…that the reader must make and take responsibility for” (p. 41).
• Theoretical Significance: This extends Reader-Response Theory’s application in pedagogy, emphasizing the reader’s active role in constructing interpretations.

5. Literary Experience as Personal and Universal

• Core Contribution: Probst underscores that literature serves as a bridge between personal experiences and universal human themes, fostering empathy and understanding.
• In-Text Reference: “Literature…is about life. Rosenblatt says…’of all the arts, literature is most immediately implicated with life itself'” (p. 39).
• Theoretical Significance: This reinforces Humanistic Literary Criticism, which views literature as a means of understanding the human condition.

6. Rejection of Absolute Interpretations

• Core Contribution: Probst argues that texts do not have fixed meanings and that multiple interpretations enrich the reading experience.
• In-Text Reference: “A work may mean to a reader what it did not mean to its author. It may trigger responses, evoke memories…of much more interest and importance to the reader” (p. 39).
• Theoretical Significance: This contribution complements Postmodernist Theories, which deny fixed meanings in favor of subjective interpretations.

7. Pedagogical Implications for Reader-Response Theory

• Core Contribution: Probst outlines practical goals and principles for incorporating Reader-Response Theory into the classroom, such as fostering personal connections, cultural understanding, and critical thinking.
• In-Text Reference: “Our primary goal in the English curriculum…is to make [students] readers and writers, independent and self-reliant thinkers” (p. 44).
• Theoretical Significance: This bridges the gap between theory and practice, demonstrating how Reader-Response Theory can transform literary education into a tool for personal and intellectual growth.