The reader, the text, the poem

This important new work brings a fresh and carefully elaborated theory of the literary work of art to the current rediscovery of the reader?that of the concept, based on the transactional point of view, of the two-way process involved in eliciting a literary work of art from a text. Dr. Rosenblatt draws on her long experience as a scholar and teacher of English and Comparative Literature. Amply illustrating her theoretical points, she provides contrasting interpretations of a number of varied texts, discusses other critical approaches, and makes reference to recent philosophical developments.