Introduction

As many of the chapters in this book indicate, within librarianship and information studies, critical literacy is usually linked to information literacy and is most often focused on the use of non-fiction texts. Outside libraries, however, critical literacy is commonly explored through various forms of fiction. This chapter considers how, by adopting critical literacy approaches, librarians across all sectors may find opportunities to encourage readers to read fictional texts from a critical stance and thus find new ways to explore the different notions of ‘truth’ presented, as well as widen their range of reading strategies.

The chapter starts by describing how critical literacy forms part of wider literary theory and relates to other approaches to reading. It then describes methods of promoting fiction in libraries in the light of this theory. Finally, it considers the potential of critical literacy in this respect, particularly within reading groups and as part of libraries’ work to promote social inclusion.

Reader response and critical literacy

Critical literacy can be seen as forming part of a wider literary theory that explores different ways in which texts can be read. This section sets critical literacy within the framework of reader response theory, before considering critical forms of reading more specifically.

Reader response theory

Reader response theory is a form of literary theory that focuses on the experiences of the reader and their engagement with a text. It differs from many other forms of literary theory which tend to focus on the form and content of the text, or on the role of the author. For scholars who work within a reader response framework, the reader plays an active role in shaping a text, to the extent that an active reader might be described as a co-author. Rosenblatt's (1994a; 1994b) transactional theory of reading is a key idea in reader response criticism. In this approach, a literary work is conceived not as an object, but as an experience to be shaped by the reader, based on guidance provided by the author through the text. This guidance takes the form of ‘clues’ (Allen, 1988) or reading ‘instructions’ (Iser, 1989).