Importance of a Reader´s Interpretation of a Text

Roland Barthes’ essay titled ‘Death of the Author’ is a foundational text of contemporary reader-centred theory in which he argued that “it is language which speaks, not the author,” and that the multiplicity of a text’s “centres of culture” is focused on the reader (Barthes, 1977, pg. 143). Essentially, Barthes argued that attempts to recover or discover an author’s intended interpretation of a text are irrelevant and more so impossible to derive from the text alone; instead, the reader’s interpretation and the processes that lead to it are what matters from a critical, reader-centred perspective. He also suggested that texts have multiple references to culture, and that these are left to interpretation by the reader. This theoretical orientation is essential to the reader-centred approach that I have adopted to analyse the film Frozen.

In my defence I will focus on the aspects of my positive response to the film that were formed due to “my initial low expectations” and “the relatable characters” (specifically Elsa). Richard Beach’s academic framework of reader-centred theories can be applied to the theoretical position which I have adopted, as it allowed me to frame my response in terms of several theoretical perspectives. Beach has defined the textual perspective as examining the “reader’s knowledge of conventions” and the psychological perspective as examining the “reader’s cognitive or subconscious processes” (Beach, 1993, pg. 9). These definitions have allowed me to frame my response in a manner that addresses these perspectives; due to the textual expectations I had for the film and the psychological aspects of the film that I found appealing.

The sense of satisfaction that I developed after viewing was in part due to ...

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..., Freud’s identification concept failed to address my existing attitudes and values, and was flawed in this manner.

Works Cited

Barthes, R, 1977, Image Music Text, Fontana Press, London.

Beach, R, 1993, A Teacher’s Introduction to Reader Response Theories, National Council of English, Illinois.

Freud, S, 1922, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, Boni and Liverright, New York.

Frozen 2013, motion picture, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, United States of America, United States of America.

Makaryk, I 1997, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory, University of Toronto Press, Toronto.

Moon, B, 2001, Literary Terms: A Practical Glossary, Chalkface Press, Cottesloe.

Newton, K, 1997, Twentieth Century Literary Theory, MacMillan, London.

Selden, R, 1997, A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory, Prentice Hall, Hertfordshire.