Research Article

The Analysis of the Writer-Reader Relationship During the Postmodernism Period Based on Foucault's Panopticism Theory

Jiaming HuChina University of Political Science and Law*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

In the postmodern era, the relationship between readers and authors has undergone significant changes. Specifically, the status of readers has risen relative to that of authors. To explore this issue, this paper will introduce Foucault's panopticism theory and analyze the changing power relationship between readers and authors based on this theory. In the analysis, this paper will explore the similar conditions between panopticism and the reader-writer relationship in the postmodernism era to follow a core logic of that those conditions based on the change of reader-writer relationship at that time, finally lead to some phenomena in terms of literature and its market, especially showing the authors' self-descipline. Besides, this paper will mention some literary works and the literary phenomenon of Meta-narrative from the postmodern era to help enrich the core logic. In conclusion, this paper will systematically analyze the factors leading to the changes in the reading and writing relationship during the postmodern period, how panopticism emerges within this relationship, the resultant self-discipline of authors, and the subsequent impacts of these dynamics.

Keywords: postmodernism; literature; reader-writer power; panopticism; meta-narrative
Published: July 31, 2024
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/39/20242186
Volume: CHR Vol.39
pp. 57-62
Download PDF

References

  1. Foucault, M. (2012). Discipline and Punish (B. C., Liu & Y. Y., Yang, Trans.). Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company. (Original work published 1975)
  2. Liu, Y., & Zhou, G. Q. (2023). From "author-centered" to "reader-centered": The modern extraction and imagination of the reader concept. Editor's Friend, (08), 64-71. doi:10.13786/j.cnki.cn14-1066/g2.2023.8.010
  3. Liang, C. (2019). The first step in rebooting reader studies: An analysis of readers, book consumers, and users. Editor's Friend, (08), 77-80. doi:10.13786/j.cnki.cn14-1066/g2.2019.8.014
  4. Vonnegut, K. (2022). Slaughterhouse-five (J. H., Yu, Trans.). Henan: Henan Literary and Art Press. (Original work published 1969)
  5. O'Brien, T. (2010). The things they carried (Y. C., Liu & J. X., Ding, Trans). Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House. (Original work published 1990)
  6. Kipling, R. (2020). The jungle book (X. Y., Fu, Trans.). Beijing: Beijing Publishing House. (Original work published 1894)
  7. Zhai, C. P. (2019). A critique of literary production in the mediated age (Doctoral dissertation, Shaanxi Normal University). Retrieved from https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=jkwd3qsBIELD9sV94744eNB0BGw2WgqyagJ0nV2Tfx1338FIonE3AxaEqag2T1bbc0osTTedaSelR4uNPgg7-2cCONUY9Ymvmq_Mj0_RO4Z1-qr837DKQxVT69RasOVR-bVfu-NZDiw=&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS
  8. Zhao, G. W. (2010). Research on the plight of contemporary literature under the context of consumer culture (Master's thesis, Southwest Jiaotong University). Retrieved from https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=jkwd3qsBIEKbAXlRd-NJylk7g-TpqdO9rru2Q3OkNyet7v1saJRHLRjHBLoaLAVEBlkcYpA1DkVDzPtC1D38buQY0vZWmw8oCbUVcnFytvH9mAuD1a_wn_cy3Nu8NUzn&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS
  9. Wang, Y. M., & Zhou, M. Y. (2015). Dilemma and reflection: The cacophony of voices in new century literature. Baicheng Normal College Journal, (10), 25-28.
  10. Atwood, M. (2010). The handmaid's tale (M. H., Zeng, Trans.). Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House. (Original work published 1983)