Reader Positioning

What is reader positioning?

The notion of "positioned" in reader positioning is metaphorical, describing the

positioning as theshapingof a reader's point of view or perspective.Reader
positioning describes how readers' thoughts and feelings may be shaped
bythe writer and the context.

Writers:

Writers shape their texts using a range of techniques designed to encourage

readers to endorse their (the writers) ideas, values and attitudes, and
engage sympathetically and unsympathetically with the characters and
action of their stories.

Context

Readers may also be positioned in their understanding of any text as a result of

their own context, and any knowledge of the context of the text and of the writer.

The readers own circumstances and background influence how they make
meaning (how it positions them in certain ways). In addition, what the reader
knows about the circumstances of the time in which the text is set and of the
author will also influence and position the reader in relation to the ideas of that
text.

Techniques used by writers to position readers

themes

Readers are
positioned to
respond to a
writer's

characters

plots

to endorse or support
the writer's views

through a wide range of techniques which

include :
point of view
writer's style
to sympathise with / be characterisation;
juxtaposition;
antagonistic towards
foreshadowing;
them
irony;
narrative structure;
construction of setting.
to engage with / keep
on reading / be

Readers will be positioned in relation to:

Plot (that is the action or what happens):
Will we become engaged, grabbed, held, suspended? Will we question, accept, be required to
predict, be given hints, required to think for ourselves? What will our responses be to the
events and action?
Characters:
are constructed using a range of techniques encouraging readers to find them sympathetic,
believable, identifiable or otherwise, thus endorsing or challenging the attitudes these
characters possess and the values they stand for.
IDEAS (themes, issues):
put forward by the writer through the characters and the action will manipulate and shape the
readers perceptions, positioning readers to respond in certain ways, agreeing with or
disputing the ideas arising from the text. In essence, this is the most significant, generally the
larger purpose behind the writer creating the story.

Techniques used to position the audience

Dialogue: specifically how the characters talk and interact;

Figurative and evocative language (includes imagery and also called

descriptive language

Foreshadowing: providing a hint of what is to come;

Irony: the contrast or disjunction between appearance (the way things

seem) and reality (the way things are)

Juxtaposition: that is putting one thing next to the other for reasons of
comparison or contrast

Mood / atmosphere: that is the feeling attached to or associated with a

scene or a situation

Narrative structure: the narrative may be structured chronologically (linear),

be circular, fragmented, have parallel narratives, contain flashbacks, start in
the middle of the action (in media res), involve dreams, multiple viewpoints
(ie different people tell the same story in per chapter) etc.

Techniques used to position the audience

Point of view - that is the authors choice of point/s of view from which the
events are seen. Main points of view to consider are

first person- major or minor;

third person objective;

third person omniscient.

Style (see also figurative and evocative language etc. above) Style involves the
totality of how the writer uses language word choice, sentence and paragraphs
structure etc. to engage the reader in characters, settings and action.

Symbolism: something which stands for or represents something else.

Symbolism works through cultural coding, where certain meanings become
commonly associated with certain thing. Authors use of symbols can position
readers by means of this association of meaning.

In summary:

Reader Positioning
Texts encourage us to feel a particular way about the events and people in
them. They often encourage us to align ourselves with one character and not
with others.
To align ourselves with a character means to be on their side or empathise with
them. They might encourage us to feel sorry for character or admire them,
disapprove of them or fear them. This is called reader positioning: narratives
position reader to adopt particular feelings or attitudes.
Two ways texts position us are through:
* the information they give us (what they tell us)
* the language they use to give us the information ( how they tell us)

Why include the character

Thomas Blackwood? How is
Grenville using the character,
Thomas Blackwood to position the
audience?

Thomas Blackwood symbolises the alternative path of Australian

development that Grenville explores in the novel. He stands in opposition
to Smasher Sullivan's advocacy of domination and violent suppression.
Blackwood advocates learning how to live in peaceful co-existence with
the Aborigines. His advice to William, give a little to take a little,
represents one of the primary philosophical questions in the novel.
Grenville asks if it could have been possible to create an Australia that
incorporated the values of the Aborigines and the white settlers. His
blinding by Smasher's whip during the battle with Aborigines symbolises
the destruction of his vision of an inclusive Australia.

Kate Grenville
http://kategrenville.com/The_Secret_River
http://

kategrenville.com/Searching_For_The_Secret_River
http://

www.nla.gov.au/ojs/index.php/jasal/article/viewFile/222
4/2782
http://

mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2015/06/lst_20150
612_1745.mp3