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Literature as Exploration
Louise Rosenblatt's Literature as Exploration has influenced literary theorists and teachers of literature at all levels. This attractive trade paperback edition features a new foreword by Wayne Booth, a new preface and retrospective chapter by the author, and an updated list of suggested readings.
In Literature as Exploration , Rosenblatt presents her unique theory of literature and focuses on the immense, often untapped, potential for the study and teaching of literature in a democratic society. The author's philosophy of literature is frequently cited as the first presentation of reader-response theory, but she differs from her successors in emphasizing both the reader and the text. Her "transactional" theory of literature examines the reciprocal nature of the literary experience and explains why meaning is neither "in" the text nor "in" the reader. Each reading is "a particular event involving a particular reader and a particular text under particular circumstances." And teachers of literature, Rosenblatt argues, play a pivotal role in influencing how students perform in response to a text.
In Literature as Exploration , Rosenblatt presents her unique theory of literature and focuses on the immense, often untapped, potential for the study and teaching of literature in a democratic society. The author's philosophy of literature is frequently cited as the first presentation of reader-response theory, but she differs from her successors in emphasizing both the reader and the text. Her "transactional" theory of literature examines the reciprocal nature of the literary experience and explains why meaning is neither "in" the text nor "in" the reader. Each reading is "a particular event involving a particular reader and a particular text under particular circumstances." And teachers of literature, Rosenblatt argues, play a pivotal role in influencing how students perform in response to a text.
341 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1933
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411 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
March 29, 2010
'An intense response to a work,' Louise Rosenblatt wrote in 'Literature As Exploration,' first published 72 years ago and wielding influence yet, 'will have its roots in the capacities and experiences already present in the personality and mind of the reader.'
I did have an intense response to 'Literature As Exploration,' but it was tempered by frustration, rooted in my expectations as a reader. Rosenblatt's verbosity was over the top, a link to what I think of as a Ninteenth Century style of essay, elaborately beautiful language that often failed to cut to the chase.
At the same time, as that quote indicates, careful reading revealed nuggets in a dross of wordiness and circular reasoning that kept bringing me back to the same point.
For a while now, I have been thinking about the way children are taught literature, the ways in which methodology drains away what should be the goal of that teaching, creating lifelong readers who love reading because they read critically.
In my work, I all too often hear children say they hate reading. Two unnecessary causes stand out. First, they are only required to read books they don't like. Then, they are assessed on that reading through work sheets, book reports, and tests that tell them an understanding of the work in question has nothing to do with appreciation for (or disgust with) its features.
I believe that students need to have opportunities to read books that they choose and to explore why these types of books appeal to them. We need to re-examine language arts. We need teachers who read what kids are reading, and can talk to kids about reading, pushing them toward real critical thinking, rather than the superficial regurgitation demanded by all too many study guides. These beliefs have been fortified by recent readings of Kelly Gallagher's 'Readacide' and Nancie Atwell's 'The Reading Zone.'
Louise Rosenblatt was thinking along these lines before I was born, and at points in 'Literature As Exploration,' crystallizes her thinking in exquisite prose. Take her way of expressing similar ideas as in the critique above:
'The young reader needs to learn how to suspend judgment, to be self-critical, to develop and revise his interpretation as he reads. To do justice to the text, then, the young reader must be helped to handle his responses to it. Yet the techniques of the usual English classroom tend to hurry past this process of active creation and re-creation of the text. The pupil is, instead, rushed into peripheral concerns. How many time youngsters read poems or stories or plays trying to memorize as many facts as possible because such facts will be the teacher’s means for testing—in multiple-choice questions—whether they have read the work!'
Exactly.
Now I can talk about Rosenblatt's transactional theory of literature with the security of having been to the source. I can distinguish between aesthetic and efferent reading with a degree of authority. (My love of history, and reading books about learning, like Rosenblatt's, makes me think both approaches have value with all types of reading.) I take pride in that. But there was some drudgery involved.
I copied out two type-written pages of quotations from Rosenblatt while reading 'Literature As Exploration,' and I will keep coming back to those quotations, where reason is so perfecty matched with passion. Culling those remarks, though, was way too time-consuming. I can't say I enjoyed reading the book, but I'm glad I did.
I did have an intense response to 'Literature As Exploration,' but it was tempered by frustration, rooted in my expectations as a reader. Rosenblatt's verbosity was over the top, a link to what I think of as a Ninteenth Century style of essay, elaborately beautiful language that often failed to cut to the chase.
At the same time, as that quote indicates, careful reading revealed nuggets in a dross of wordiness and circular reasoning that kept bringing me back to the same point.
For a while now, I have been thinking about the way children are taught literature, the ways in which methodology drains away what should be the goal of that teaching, creating lifelong readers who love reading because they read critically.
In my work, I all too often hear children say they hate reading. Two unnecessary causes stand out. First, they are only required to read books they don't like. Then, they are assessed on that reading through work sheets, book reports, and tests that tell them an understanding of the work in question has nothing to do with appreciation for (or disgust with) its features.
I believe that students need to have opportunities to read books that they choose and to explore why these types of books appeal to them. We need to re-examine language arts. We need teachers who read what kids are reading, and can talk to kids about reading, pushing them toward real critical thinking, rather than the superficial regurgitation demanded by all too many study guides. These beliefs have been fortified by recent readings of Kelly Gallagher's 'Readacide' and Nancie Atwell's 'The Reading Zone.'
Louise Rosenblatt was thinking along these lines before I was born, and at points in 'Literature As Exploration,' crystallizes her thinking in exquisite prose. Take her way of expressing similar ideas as in the critique above:
'The young reader needs to learn how to suspend judgment, to be self-critical, to develop and revise his interpretation as he reads. To do justice to the text, then, the young reader must be helped to handle his responses to it. Yet the techniques of the usual English classroom tend to hurry past this process of active creation and re-creation of the text. The pupil is, instead, rushed into peripheral concerns. How many time youngsters read poems or stories or plays trying to memorize as many facts as possible because such facts will be the teacher’s means for testing—in multiple-choice questions—whether they have read the work!'
Exactly.
Now I can talk about Rosenblatt's transactional theory of literature with the security of having been to the source. I can distinguish between aesthetic and efferent reading with a degree of authority. (My love of history, and reading books about learning, like Rosenblatt's, makes me think both approaches have value with all types of reading.) I take pride in that. But there was some drudgery involved.
I copied out two type-written pages of quotations from Rosenblatt while reading 'Literature As Exploration,' and I will keep coming back to those quotations, where reason is so perfecty matched with passion. Culling those remarks, though, was way too time-consuming. I can't say I enjoyed reading the book, but I'm glad I did.
December 31, 2015
An inspired and encouraging discussion of the imaginative and democratizing effect of reading literature should be, and a chastisement for teachers who go the opposite route by making books more of a burden for their young students. Not all print is equal, according to Rosenblatt, as she sticks to a mostly familiar set of classroom texts, but she still liberates the readers by emphasizing how it is the personal connection they bring to the books (with guidance from critically-aware instructors) that has the transformative effect of finding nature's so-called mirror on any given page. As if proof of her many wise words on the intellectual power of literature, I found it much easier to grasp the pedagogical importance of her writing by actually reading her book, rather than reading about her book.
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May 22, 2019Read for my Bachelor's thesis.
Unbelievable how many of the points this woman made in the 1930s about teaching literature are still relevant today - and how many of her tips/guidelines for teachers are still being ignored.
Unbelievable how many of the points this woman made in the 1930s about teaching literature are still relevant today - and how many of her tips/guidelines for teachers are still being ignored.
October 16, 2024
Read for Introduction to Graduate Studies
Still topical nearly 20 years late. Very interesting and still very prevalent in the world of education.
Still topical nearly 20 years late. Very interesting and still very prevalent in the world of education.
November 11, 2020
Excelente libro para reflexionar al rededor de la teoría transaccional de la lectura y la teoría de la recepción especialmente en la formación de lectores jóvenes tanto en la escuela como fuera de ella. De los mejores libros de esta colección del FCE.
November 13, 2020
A classic in its field.
September 14, 2018
This is a good book, but I think it would have been more meaningful if I would have read it earlier in my career. There's not a whole lot of earth-shattering ideas and concepts in here after going through years of grad. school and teaching experience. Though, for the time it was written, it did present novel ideas and concepts around reading, which, I feel are still part of the conversation today.
My only complaint about this book is I feel there wasn't much editing or revision done to emphasize organization. Sometimes I thought Rosenblatt went on tangents and repeated herself at various point in the book--it kind of reminded me of a long stream of consciousness writing approach.
If 3.5 stars were an option, then that's where I would rate it.
My only complaint about this book is I feel there wasn't much editing or revision done to emphasize organization. Sometimes I thought Rosenblatt went on tangents and repeated herself at various point in the book--it kind of reminded me of a long stream of consciousness writing approach.
If 3.5 stars were an option, then that's where I would rate it.
September 22, 2018
A must read for teachers of English. I eventually think that the book's message becomes repetitive from chapter to chapter. It might be frustrating for teachers who need a proscriptive step-by-step "What Should I Do?" mentality. (For that read 180 Days by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher) It is more about philosophy and experience with readers' response theory. How a teacher interprets that in the classroom is for them--because reader response!
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February 11, 2025Very interesting
December 5, 2025
1938???? Increíble.
Todos sus puntos son relevantes hasta el día de hoy. Por supuesto que hay reparos, pero qué importa.
Viva la "colección amarilla" de FCE, lo mejor de hispanoamérica.
Todos sus puntos son relevantes hasta el día de hoy. Por supuesto que hay reparos, pero qué importa.
Viva la "colección amarilla" de FCE, lo mejor de hispanoamérica.
July 15, 2011
As I only have 55 more pages, I'll go ahead and call this one a wrap. I think that this author is ABSOLUTELY right, she tells us that students need to read to become contributing members of a Democratic society. She says that they do this by getting exposed to diverse situations through literature, and through this, they develop an empathic approach to problem solving.
I agree wholeheartedly. . .literature lets the reader live vicariously through the characters in the book, that is why we like it. If we have lived through these characters, we have then had an experience . . . for better or worse, we have been exposed to a situation that we would not have been had we not lived through it directly.
That is why, Rosenblatt says, kids need to express themselves emotionally about a book before we have them tear it apart and try to teach them about the style and all that. She says that the reader and the text have a "moment" together that will never be repeated, and in order to truly grow, the student HAS to analyze their response to the work before they move on.
By doing this, students can see where their thinking differences from others and so on and so forth. . .this causes the student to identify the places in their own thinking that might be different, and by analyze that, they can learn more about themselves as well!!
I agree wholeheartedly. . .literature lets the reader live vicariously through the characters in the book, that is why we like it. If we have lived through these characters, we have then had an experience . . . for better or worse, we have been exposed to a situation that we would not have been had we not lived through it directly.
That is why, Rosenblatt says, kids need to express themselves emotionally about a book before we have them tear it apart and try to teach them about the style and all that. She says that the reader and the text have a "moment" together that will never be repeated, and in order to truly grow, the student HAS to analyze their response to the work before they move on.
By doing this, students can see where their thinking differences from others and so on and so forth. . .this causes the student to identify the places in their own thinking that might be different, and by analyze that, they can learn more about themselves as well!!
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May 5, 2012I love this book. If you are a teacher, particularly of the English/Literature variety - this is a must read. I love how she explains that reading is a process - a transaction between the text, the reader and the author! Love , love, love it!
As a theorist, I've heard of Louise Rosenblatt and her theory of transaction as one reads between the reader, the text, and the Poem (the reading event). I love that she calls it a Poem, a work of art. Mostly, I love how she professionalizes teachers and puts forward the idea that through reading literature and transacting with it, we are, ourselves, transformed. We can imagine outside of our lived experienced and develop empathy for those whose lives are different than ours. (this doesn't just mean poor, starving kids, it means everyone) She also posits that this transaction will help us to become thinking citizens prepared to be an active part of our democracy. She draws heavily on John Dewey, William James and the triadic semioticians.
A great read for educators, researchers, writers, and citizens!
As a theorist, I've heard of Louise Rosenblatt and her theory of transaction as one reads between the reader, the text, and the Poem (the reading event). I love that she calls it a Poem, a work of art. Mostly, I love how she professionalizes teachers and puts forward the idea that through reading literature and transacting with it, we are, ourselves, transformed. We can imagine outside of our lived experienced and develop empathy for those whose lives are different than ours. (this doesn't just mean poor, starving kids, it means everyone) She also posits that this transaction will help us to become thinking citizens prepared to be an active part of our democracy. She draws heavily on John Dewey, William James and the triadic semioticians.
A great read for educators, researchers, writers, and citizens!
January 7, 2013
I'm really happy that I finally read this book. Rosenblatt argues that the reader and the text come together for a transaction that can leave both transformed. Another way I understand her point is that both a book and we are lifeless, or at least unmoving, until we pick up the book and engage.
This book also really helped me as an English teacher, particularly with Common Core, which emphasizes close reading, coming soon. Rosenblatt's critics claim that her views are similar to reader response theory, which views all responses to text appropriate. It was good to read her rebuttal of that perspective.
At points the book became too scholarly for me to understand deeply, but perhaps another read is in store.
This book also really helped me as an English teacher, particularly with Common Core, which emphasizes close reading, coming soon. Rosenblatt's critics claim that her views are similar to reader response theory, which views all responses to text appropriate. It was good to read her rebuttal of that perspective.
At points the book became too scholarly for me to understand deeply, but perhaps another read is in store.
September 23, 2010
Originally written in 1938, this philosphical work was revolutionary in its suggestion that the meaning of text does not reside solely within the words themselves. Rather, meaning is made when a reader-- with all of his or her life experiences and values-- comes into contact with a printed text with all of its history and implied values at a given time. Her downfall is writing so broadly that she will often contradict her own claims. So for example, she offers a very strong critique against the canon that has been held up within traditional education, but then later critiques "trashy literature" as meaningless.
August 2, 2012
A ground-breaking, perceptive study of reader-response literary criticism by the author who set the standards for it. In this 1937 study, Rosenblatt argues that a literary work only has meaning because we give it meaning; there is no intrinsic meaning within a novel, story, poem, or a play. Readers bring their frame of reference and experiences into the reading process, and as such, they give life to the work in question. A literary work will mean different things to different readers, and when readers share those personal meanings to others, the literary work continues to "live." Highly recommended for anyone who teaches literature in high schools, colleges, and universities.
October 16, 2011
I'm kind of in awe of this woman. I've been hearing about Louise M. Rosenblatt since before I started teaching, almost 15 years ago, but only now have I tackled the theory. Thought-provoking stuff. And it's amazing that she wrote this in 1938. No one has had more impact on the teaching of reading and literature than this woman. It's a shame that her theory gets watered down so much these days (in a sense, even by me!), but I'm glad I am on a first name basis. I'm ready to take the Rosenblatt challenge.
January 25, 2008
I have been going crazy trying to remember the title of this book. I finally realized I saved all my papers and could just look in there to find the title. I remember that my professors thought this book was very ground breaking for teaching literature. I remember only bits and pieces now, but at the time it made a lot of sense and cover many ideas about reading I had never considered. Now that I have some real teaching experience, I am interested in revisiting this text.
February 25, 2009
This is one of the texts that got it all started. I'm referring to the teaching of literature as a transactional process in which students interpret writing in their own way, not in a set way that their teacher prescribes. It's a blow to B.F. Skinner's notions of behaviorism and a nod in the direction of Vygotsky's social constructivism. It allows for innovation rather than stagnation and repetition.
February 19, 2015
Much better than the previous work I read by Rosenblatt. The new edition of this work takes into account some critical theory and even culturally relevant pedagogical pieces, so it was a refreshing change from her somewhat dated 1930s writing of before. Lots of fantastic quotes and her use of Guy de Maupassant's quote to reflect emotional experiences of reading resonated with me as a reader and writer.
January 27, 2009
Having read this after her text-The Reader, the Text, the Poem, this one was a little review. She writes, "As long as artificial and pedantic notion of literary culture persists, students will continue in their indifference to the great works of the past and present."
This is the notion I hope my research can impact.
See notes.
UNC PN 59 R6 1968
This is the notion I hope my research can impact.
See notes.
UNC PN 59 R6 1968
January 21, 2010
Some of the things I'm struggling with are the unnecessary bashing of comic books and magazines as not high-quality. I'm interested to know what her standards are for good literature. Also, the subtle propaganda for democracy is an odd backbone for the book. But some of the ideas are so in line (and much better put) with my own that I cannot help but take notes.
June 7, 2016
A lot of this book was repetitive, but I identified with the core message: that readers respond to texts and create the texts' meaning.
I put this book down after a while because it got too repetitive and I wasn't getting much more out of it.
I put this book down after a while because it got too repetitive and I wasn't getting much more out of it.
March 11, 2012
Good theories about teaching literature, but the book is way too long. It only needed to be about 100-150 pages long. very progressive text considering the fact that it was written by a woman in 1928.
March 29, 2007
A must read for the English teacher.
December 15, 2007
classic, readable pedagogy. she was amazing! Teachers of all stripes should read it.
Read
June 14, 2016Revisiting this book always expands the horizons in the classroom and in personal reading.
Want to read
April 28, 2009Recommended by Tanya in Doha. I blogged about this book- from her email. Any other info about it?
July 26, 2011
A little too wordy and abstract at times, but a lot of good food for thought. Now how to translate this into sound teaching methods...
February 22, 2013
Rosenblatt is prophetic and brilliant! She is my new literary hero!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews