ABSTRACT
The rules by which texts may be interpreted, within what theoreti cal frameworks the reader may explore a novel or play or poem, have become increasingly vague in recent years. The notion of a “correct” reading, as well as an unquestioned “value,” has tended to disappear. The job of interpretation is seen as unending, and radical reinterpreta tions of standard works appear regularly. These readings may be set beside previous ones; thus, relativism becomes a component in critical discourse, allowing each reader to go his or her own way provided a responsibility to the text is met in terms of image, tone, contempora neity, etc.
