READER RESPONSE THEORY

          Reader Response process first emerged in 1930s, as a reaction against to the growing tendency to reject the readers role in creative meaning. It became popular in 1970. It focuses on the reader or audience reaction to a particular text. They think that reader relates his or her own personal experience, and also the intellectual environment contributes to the response of the text, in that sense; author is not responsible for the meaning of the text. They do not consider as an outside, readers own social, cultural, and intellectual background. They give importance with the form of the text.

   There are two beliefs in Reader Response Theory, the first one is; role of the reader cannot be omitted, because they think that without an audience the text does not exist. The reader actively has an important role. According to the second belief; readers do not passively consume the meaning process in the text. They do not get meaning objectively, but they use their own interpretation, intellectual background in order to understand the text. In that sense; the meanings of the text may change, because each reader gets different meanings. Also, even the same reader can provide different meanings in different times. If the reader does not read the text, this means that the text does not exist. Therefore; the reader is the most important component. His role is important, because he/she creates the meaning.