For a novel to exist you need a writer… but you also need a reader. Le due culture AUTHOR AND READER For a novel to exist you need a writer… but you also need a reader. When the author writes a book s/he has in mind a reader: the implied reader. The implied reader is the reader that shares a set of values and assumptions with the writer.

AUTHOR ------------------IMPLIED READER Le due culture AUTHOR ------------------IMPLIED READER IMPLIED READER-------ACTUAL READER Implied and actual reader are like past and present: the first one goes back to the time the book was written, the second one comes to life each moment the book is read.

Le due culture From a strictly logical point of view, it follows that each time we read a book again, it is always a different book because we are different in time. This is not entirely false: think, for instance, at music. You liked a song three years ago that now you find awful, as though it’s a different song. In practical terms, however, enough of that book remains the same for you to know that you are re- reading the same book.

WORK-IMPLIED READER- ACTUAL READER-WORK Le due culture WORK-IMPLIED READER- ACTUAL READER-WORK There’s a complex negotiation going on: the work tend to create its own implied reader by manipulating her/his mind. The implied reader tend to rewrite mentally the work to suit her/his own experience and beliefs