The appeal structure of the texts
The appeal structure of the texts. Indeterminacy as a condition for the effect of literary prose is the title of the slightly revised inaugural lecture by Anglist Wolfgang Iser on June 9, 1969 at the University of Konstanz , published in 1971 .
In this basic text on the aesthetics of reception, Iser puts forward the thesis that a literary work must contain "blanks" that each reader can fill individually.
theses
The first problem that Iser points out is that of the validity of literary interpretations : if the meaning once interpreted were the only valid one, there would be nothing left for the reader. But a text only comes to life when it is read, so the interaction between reader and text is fundamental. Every reading means an update of the text.
Iser asks whether there is any meaning to what is presented in the text regardless of the various reactions of the readers. But every interpretation is only one of several possible realizations and can be changed again and again. The text allows for different update options: at different times, different readers understand the same text differently.
The less a text is determined, the more the reader is involved in its constitution of meaning. The fictional text is beyond verification for reality. Insufficient coincidence of the textual reality with the reality known to the reader creates indeterminacy, which in turn allows the text to be adapted to individual reader dispositions.
Formally, indeterminacy arises when schematized views of the text content experience a "collision / cut". A gap arises between the schematic views, which allows room for interpretation and which the reader fills by establishing the unformulated relationships between the individual views.
A small amount of blank space in the fictional text risks boring the reader. Empty spaces always arouse expectations that must not be fully met. This gives the reader the freedom he needs to process the message of the text.
With the narrator's comment, the author can remove gaps himself and thus standardize the interpretation. In this way, the reader is guided, but it must not be complete either. Often a point of view is not maintained in the text or the opposite of what is meant is said.
Knowledge of this appeal structure of the literary text requires a knowledge of the procedures of literary texts. Iser names the assembly / segmentation technique (high degree of freedom) and the contrast / opposition principle (strong specification) as techniques. The gaps that are important for guiding the reader can be on the level of the narration , the plot, the characters, the reader role, the text syntax, the text pragmatics and the text semantics.
Iser notes that the vagueness in literary texts has increased steadily since the 18th century . First of all, it was about the comparison of two opposing positions that the reader himself had to reconcile. Then the reader was presented with a variety of alternative viewing options between which he had to choose. The increased reader engagement also forced the reader to show more of themselves. A later overprecision of the representation grid (e.g. in James Joyce's Ulysses ) produced extremely high degrees of uncertainty and forced the reader to develop his own consistency.
Modern texts have no representative meaning. They give the reader the chance to create their own meaning through their own reflection. A certain tolerance limit must not be exceeded, so as not to provoke the tendency to clearly assign meaning.
The amount of uncertainty is the most important switching element between text and reader. The reader is always included in the literary text. The intention of the text is not formulated, but is in the imagination of the reader. The possibility of constant updating by the reader makes a literary text history-resistant (classic). Reading is not only an experience with the text, but also with ourselves. That is why fictional texts are always a step ahead of everyday life.
literature
- Iser, Wolfgang: The appeal structure of the texts. Indeterminacy as a condition for the effect of literary prose. Verlag der Druckerei und Verlagsanstalt Konstanz Universitätsverlag GmbH, Konstanz 1970, ISBN 3-87940-003-2 .