207:. This inclusion of Rosenblatt's "transactional" theory within the designation "reader-response," however, needs to be contested. Rosenblatt herself contended that she was never propounding a view of reading centered on isolated, individual readers as was the case with "reception theory." Instead, the focus of her thinking throughout her long career was on how individuals came to negotiate their readings in social terms. Such an ongoing conversation between reader(s) and text(s) was her way of emphasizing the importance of literature for human development in democratic settings.
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emphasis is more on the journey experienced, which reveals her debt to
Romanticism and its emphasis on the sensuous, on the emotions. Aesthetic reading would also help individual readers to grow in self-reflection and self-criticism, working out why they evoked a literary work the way they did, and that this would spur them to talk to others about their experiences with the same text. It is precisely this social behavior of the individual reader that placed Rosenblatt's thinking in the realm of democracy.
215:. Such a reader does not care about how the text is worded. In contrast, if a reader approaches a text seeking to enjoy its formal characteristics—its rhythms, its word choices, its images, its connotations—then that person is reading "aesthetically." Such a reader hopes to participate in an aesthetic experience, much like listening to a great musical composition or viewing a beautiful painting. That is what "aesthetic" means, perceiving something
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knowledge, beliefs, and context into the reading act. Rosenblatt's idea of the reading process, however, does not lead to all readings being equally accurate. For the reader's part, he or she must pay close attention to every detail of the text and pay equal attention to his or her own responses. This process exemplifies not only reader-response criticism but also
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in mediating between signified and signifier, or between sign and referent (Peirce's triadic model). The individual reader therefore has to draw upon personal experiences in order to infuse aesthetic significance to a word and by extension, a set of words, such as in a poem. In aesthetic reading the
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As part of her "transactional" theory, Rosenblatt distinguished between two kinds of reading, or "stances," which she viewed on a continuum between "efferent" and "aesthetic." Anchoring one end is
Efferent reading, the most common kind, in which the reader seeks to derive information from the text.
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spoke to her concern for building democratic institutions. She was a strong supporter of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), her socialist instincts led her to support Norman Thomas, before moving to FDR in the 1930s, and later in the 1990s and 2000s, she wrote
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theorist. In her view, each "transaction" is a unique experience in which the reader and text continuously act and are acted upon by each other. A written work (often referred to as a "poem" in her writing) does not have the same meaning for everyone, as each reader brings individual background
150:, analyzing reports concerning or coming from France, which at that time was controlled by the Germans. Throughout her life, Rosenblatt was consistently involved in political activism. Carrying on a tradition from her family championing the "underdog," her editorials in the
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Rosenblatt, however, was never just interested in formalism or "beauty" in any rarified sense. She was more concerned with the nuts and bolts of language cognition, citing people like
Elizabeth Bates and Ragnar Rommetveit, which led her to emphasize the role of the
190:(1978), in which she argues that the act of reading literature involves a transaction (Dewey's term) between the reader and the text. She argued that the meaning of any text lay not in the work itself but in the reader's transaction with it, whether it was a play by
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131:, where she remained until her retirement in 1972. Subsequently, she held visiting professorships at Rutgers and the University of Miami, along with a number of other short term appointments, although she maintained residence at her long-term home in
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243:(1938). Literature as Exploration. New York: Appleton-Century; (1968). New York: Noble and Noble; (1976). New York: Noble and Noble; (1983). New York: Modern Language Association; (1995). New York: Modern Language Association
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When
Rosenblatt began teaching English Literature at Barnard, she developed an intense interest in each reader's unique response to a given text. Her views regarding literacy were influenced by
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In this instance, a reader is concerned mainly or totally with the gist, the message, the information, he or she can "carry away," which is what "efferent" means,
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Rosenblatt was enrolled as an instructor at
Barnard College in 1931, and remained on the college's rolls through 1938. In 1938 she transferred to
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139:, to live with her son Jonathan. She died of congestive heart failure at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington on 8 February 2005.
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307:, Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press (1978). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press (reprint 1994)
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her representatives often to effect policy changes, especially in relation to the No Child Left Behind Act.
127:, and remained on that college's rolls through 1948. In 1948 she became a Professor of English Education at
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in
November 2004 at age 100, speaking to a standing-room-only session of a convention of English teachers.
38:) was an American university professor. She is best known as a researcher into the teaching of literature.
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Gordon M. Pradl, "Reading
Literature in a Democracy: The Challenge of Louise Rosenblatt." In Clifford,
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317:"The transactional theory of the literary work: Implications for research", in Charles Cooper. (Ed.),
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Jeanne M. Connell, Continue to
Explore: In Memory of Louise Rosenblatt (Education and Culture, 21.2)
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after graduation in order to do field research, she decided instead to continue her studies in
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in 1931. That same year she married Sidney Ratner, a professor at
Rutgers University.
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L’Idée de l’art pour l’art dans la littérature anglaise pendant la période victorienne
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324:"Viewpoints: Transaction versus interaction — a terminological rescue operation", in
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399:(Washington Post, 20 February 2005), reprinted in the Boston Globe, 20 February 2005
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Rosenblatt was born in Atlantic City to Jewish immigrant parents. She attended
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The Reader, The Text, The Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work
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The Reader, The Text, The Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work
338:"Literary Theory", in J. Flood, J. Jensen, D. Lapp, & J. Squire (Eds.),
167:, who was in the philosophy department at Columbia in the 1930s, as well as
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She received the John Dewey Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.
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The experience of reading: Louise Rosenblatt and reader-response theory
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Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development faculty
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When she retired in 1972, Rosenblatt received New York University's
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Researching response to literature and the teaching of literature
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Rosenblatt published her first book in 1931. It was written in
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Champaign, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. (1970)
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Rosenblatt obtained a Certitude d'études françaises from the
260:(pp. 19–38). Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries. (1949)
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Handbook of research on teaching the English language arts
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The Promise of English: NCTE 1970 distinguished lectures.
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in 1926. She continued her studies in Paris, receiving a
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1987 Transactional Theory in the Teaching of Literature
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Research development seminar in the teaching of English
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Louise Rosenblatt at 100, a Scholar of Reading, Author
256:"The enriching values of reading". In W. Gray (Ed.),
70:. While Rosenblatt initially planned to travel to
434:Literature for Democracy: Reading As a Social Act
178:She is best known for her two influential texts:
120:in the latter portion of the nineteenth century.
445:Reading Hall of Fame membership, Retrieved from
290:"Towards a transactional theory of reading", in
374:Rosenblatt made her final public appearance in
263:"The acid test in the teaching of literature".
246:"Toward a cultural approach to literature", in
447:http://www.readinghalloffame.org/deceased.html
342:(pp. 57–62). New York: Macmillan. (1991)
273:. New York: New York University Press. (1963)
62:, the anthropologist, who urged her to study
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346:Making Meaning with Texts: Selected Essays.
310:"What facts does this poem teach you?", in
186:(it subsequently went through 5 editions);
297:"Literature and the invisible reader", in
364:In 1992 Rosenblatt was inducted into the
129:New York University's School of Education
16:American university professor (1904–2005)
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326:Research in the Teaching of English, 19
258:Reading in an age of mass communication
148:United States Office of War Information
481:1999 Interview with Louise Rosenblatt
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432:See for instance, Gordon M. Pradl,
101:in Comparative Literature from the
78:. In Paris, she met French author
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366:International Reading Association
348:Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. (2005)
292:Journal of Reading Behavior, 1(1)
198:. Her work made her a well-known
184:Progressive Education Association
58:degree in 1925. Her roommate was
521:Grenoble Alpes University alumni
331:"The aesthetic transaction", in
457:Clifford, J. (editor) (1991),
333:Journal of Aesthetic Education
54:in New York City, receiving a
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321:. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. (1985)
116:" movement that had stirred
531:American women centenarians
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511:American education writers
159:Research and contributions
146:Rosenblatt worked for the
28:Louise Michelle Rosenblatt
411:The Experience of Reading
368:'s Reading Hall of Fame.
335:, 20 (4), 122-128. (1986)
283:"A way of happening", in
241:Literature as Exploration
237:. Paris: Champion. (1931)
180:Literature as Exploration
82:and American expatriates
50:, the women's college at
32:Atlantic City, New Jersey
536:Brooklyn College faculty
353:Awards and recognitions
276:"The poem as event" in
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285:Educational Record, 49
169:Charles Sanders Peirce
95:University of Grenoble
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133:Princeton, New Jersey
34:– 8 February 2005 in
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485:University of Miami
476:1999 award citation
278:College English, 26
267:, 45, 66-74. (1956)
137:Arlington, Virginia
52:Columbia University
36:Arlington, Virginia
30:(23 August 1904 in
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114:art for art's sake
112:and examined the "
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312:Language Arts, 57
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