At the reading core

Abstract

Reading is defined as the effort to understand a text, and the article tries to describe the moment in which the transit from signifier to signified, i.e. from the blurry glance through the text to the transparency of the exposition, takes place. The awareness of the contents and aesthetic value of the text –or the lucid awareness that we do not understand it– constitutes its reception by the reader. An effort is made to explain the different meanings of the term reception. If the effort here undertaken succeeds in some measure, it should provide a basis for better understanding studies on history, sociology, psychology, and the politics of reading.