Inviting the reader to the literary scene: A methodological suggestion based on reader-response theory

Underlying the significance that the reader should be included more in literary criticism and literary history writing, the main aim of this thesis is to propose an interdisciplinary method on how this could be achieved. In that sense, this thesis firstly underlines the significance of the reader for literary criticism through writings of Roland Barthes and Michelle Foucault within the scope of post-structuralism. And then, it proposes a methodology by drawing on reader-centered theories and concepts of Reader-Response Theory. Accordingly, it includes concepts of horizon of expectations and aesthetic distance within the frame of reception history developed by Hans Robert Jauss. Moreover, it proposes a model through the review of Stanley Fish's concept called imperative communities. In this direction, by evaluating the findings of the "Turkey Reading Culture Map" and the "Turkey Reading Culture Research", two comprehensive reading culture surveys conducted in Turkey to define the interpretive communities, this thesis makes suggestions regarding the data that is necessary for the imperative communities defined within the scope of reader-centered literary theory. Finally, it makes suggestions about how the data could be processed by doing a case study on topics of "child and book" and "social media and reading practices" selected from "Turkey Reading Culture Research". In the conclusion section, examples from literary archival studies are given to examine the subject of reception history. Thus, in addition to making a proposal for the reader to be included in literary criticism more, it will emphasize the importance of the concept of reader for both literary criticism and literary history.