The reception theory
Reception theory emphasises each particular reader’s reception or interpretation in making meaning from a literary text.
Cultural theorist Stuart Hall has created an approach that is based on media and communication studies. His approach is called the encoding/decoding model of communication. This means that a ‘text’ such as a book or a movie, isn’t simply accepted by the audience but that the reader interprets the meaning of the text based on his or hers individual life experiences.
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In essence the meaning isn't inherited within the text itself, but is created within the relationship between the text and the reader.
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This theory is completely opposite of the hypodermic needle model which states that consumers have no say in how the media influences them.
Three reception models
Hall believes that there are three different ways in which the reader can accept the text. Dominant reading, negotiated reading or oppositional reading.
Dominant reading
Negotiated reading
Oppositional reading
The reader fully accepts the text's code and reproduces the preferred reading, this is because the code seems 'natural' and 'transparent'.
The reader only partly shares the text's code and broadly accepts the preferred reading. However, the reader can sometimes reject it due to his/hers experiences or interests.
The reader while understanding the dominant code, completely rejects it. This is because the reader doesn't share the text's code e.g. people of different ethnicity may respond differently.