U4 Focus Questions Flashcards
What is the difference between McHoul’s effective semiotics and other reader-oriented approaches to literature?
Effective semiotics emphasizes that meaning depends on the situation in which it is being determined while other approaches look only at production, structure, or the reader’s opinions
How are culture and community related to textual production and reader reception?
Culture and community shape production in the sense of how, what, and where texts are produced. Culture and community also shape reception because they determine what is practical to read and what will become popular
What are not-signs, and how might their use affect literary criticism?
The not-sign describes everything that is not the sign itself. Something other than an object that is related or connected. It provides a more general view and shows a wider view of the historical locus of production
What is the difference between reading-in-general and reading-as-such?
Reading as such means that the text affects us in the way we think and live both during and after we read it, reading in general means we simply read and do not learn or reflect on it. It simply tells us who we are and where we are meant to be
How does McHoul’s case study of reading practices relate to the history of lit theory outlined by Eagleton or to your own experience of classroom reading?
Case study about reading in classrooms. Similar to Eagleton’s functionalist view and sees literature as something to be dissected in an academic sense away from other influences
What is involved in the production of meaning in classroom reading? Is it possible to answer this question without referring to a specific classroom?
Cuts down meaning so it only has mental predicates. Typically analyzes specific contexts and has a set list of things to look at. The reading is controlled, it cannot be done any way you like.
