The following text discusses literary theory.
Reader-response criticism shifted focus from texts to readers' interpretive activities. Stanley Fish's concept of "interpretive communities" resolved a puzzle: if meaning depends on readers, why do interpretations converge? Fish argued that readers belong to communities sharing interpretive strategies—assumptions about what counts as evidence, how texts work, what questions are worth asking. These shared strategies, not texts themselves, produce apparent textual meanings. Different communities applying different strategies produce different but internally coherent readings. The "text" becomes a product of interpretation rather than its object.
How does Fish's concept of interpretive communities explain convergent interpretations?
All texts have only one possible meaning
Shared interpretive strategies within communities produce similar readings
Readers never disagree about text meanings
Authors control how their texts will be interpreted
Correct Answer: B
Choice B is the correct answer. Fish argued "readers belong to communities sharing interpretive strategies" and "these shared strategies...produce apparent textual meanings."
- Evidence: Shared strategies produce similar readings within communities.
- Reasoning: Agreement comes from shared frameworks, not text itself.
- Conclusion: Community strategies explain convergence.
Choice A is incorrect because different communities produce different readings. Choice C is incorrect because different communities disagree. Choice D is incorrect because the text becomes "a product of interpretation."