Types of Reader Response Theory

Reader Response Criticism revolves around the phenomena 'Respond to Reading'. The theory identifies the reader as a significant and active agent who is responsible to impart the real meaning of the text by interpreting it. A successful reader response critic does not just respond to a text - anyone can do that - but analyzes his or her response, or the response of others. Tyson describes in critical theory today the five types of reader response theory the difference lie within each. These theories are-
1. Traditional Theory - This theory championed  by Louise Rosenblatt and supported by Wolfgan Iser analyses the transaction between the text and the reader. Both are seen as equally important. They consider that as a readers read the text acts as a stimulus to which he responds feelings, associations and memories which all influence the way the reader make sense of the text.
2. Affective Stylistics- This theory championed by Stanley Fish examines a text in a 'slow motion' format, in which each line is studied in order to determine 'how (stylistics) affects (affective) the reader in the process of reading.
3. Subjective Theory- This theory championed by David Bleich believes that the readers responses are the text and that all meaning of a text lies in the readers interpretation.The role of the reader cannot be omitted from the understanding of literature.
4. Psychological Theory- This theory championed by Norman Holland analyses what the reader's interpretations and responses reveal about the reader and not the text. It is because each reader will interact with the text differently , so the text may have more than one valid interpretation.
5. Social Theory- This theory championed by Stanley Fish states that a reader's literary competence is highly informed by the social world in which a text is produced as it usually has a shaping effect on his/her interpretation of such text.  

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