Atasoy, Emrah2020-12-102020-12-102020Atasoy, E . (2020). From the Text to the Reader: An Application of Reader-Response Theory to Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess . Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi , (7) , 196-209 . DOI: 10.46250/kulturder.828951https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1407357https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12695/913https://doi.org/10.46250/kulturder.828951Reader-response criticism as a reaction against new criticism has changed the focus from the text to the reader. The reader is no longer deemed a passive agent, but active, participating in the meaning-making process, as reading is a process during which the reader also experiences what the characters experience and feels with him/her. In this respect, the text and the reader interact with each other. Meaning is accordingly created out of this interaction and transaction. A multiplicity of meanings, perspectives and interpretations becomes possible in the process of reading. Each reading of a literary text produces different interpretations. Social, religious, political, psychological and cultural contextual factors and background of the reader have a strong potential to influence the interpretation. Accordingly, the characteristics of the interpretive community are influential in meaning-making. This study will, therefore, discuss reader-response criticism with specific emphasis on Iser’s theory (the implied reader and repertoire) and apply the reader-response theory to Robert Browning’s poem, My Last Duchess.enAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Internationalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessReader-response theoryRobert Browningpoetryliterary criticismMy Last DuchessArticle7196209