| Summary: | Every reader will respond to and think in a different way about a book. They will have different interpretations of the book. It is not possible to say with scientific certainty in what way a reader will interpret a book. To address this issue, this study focuses on the reader response theory as explained by Iser and Jauss. However, the reader response theory is at present supported by research from the cognitive theory to narratology. This study attempts to understand how a reader reasons with regards to a certain text. A further aim is to understand why a specific reader will think about and interpret the text in the way he or she does. In this study the books 30 Nagte in Amsterdam (30 Nights in Amsterdam) by Etienne van Heerden and Swartskaap (Black Sheep) by Odette Schoeman is used to test the hypothesis. Qualitative research methods were used and the data was processed in different stages as is displayed in the addendum DVD.
Cognitive theory wants to explain how the reader will respond to the book as a whole, characters, events and the places and spaces represented in the novel. In this study, it was found that a reader's response will always be influenced by his/her background. Readers use their background either to make sense of the book and the story it tells or to make sense of what has happened in their own lives in order to accept and understand it.
On account of the results reached in the study it can be argued that readers should be taken into account when books are reviewed and discussed, because they are the ones that have to do the actual reading. Because of this finding, this study puts forward the suggestion that a review model is developed so that readers can make informed decisions as to which book will be best suited to them. === Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012
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