Implied Reader

The implied reader is the person (or group of people) that we infer a text was made for. We base this inference on the text producer’s decisions about language, narration, characters, plot, structure, form, layout, mode, context, genre, etc.

In a text producer’s mind, they know who the perfect reader of their text is. This could be a specific person, or a group of people. Once they have this reader in mind, it shapes the way they write the text. They base their decisions on how they want this ideal reader to react. In other words, they “imply” through their choices what reader they want.

Then, we as academics or English students come along and interpret all of these decisions to figure out who the implied reader is.

When the implied reader reads the text, they should:

• Know and understand all historical references.
• Know and understand all other texts the writer referenced or hinted at (intertextuality)
• Lived through the social and historical events needed to fully appreciate the text.
• Have the right sense of humour to appreciate the text.
• Understand all the words the writer uses.
• Be of the right demographic to react to the text how the writer wanted.
• Not already know the things that the writer didn’t want them to know – the things that the writer uses to shock, surprise or inform.
• Ask the questions the text producer wants them to ask about the text.
• Come to conclusions about the text that the text producer wanted them to.

Figuring out the implied reader is a huge help to your work. It helps you to consider why the writer has made the text the way it is and what the purpose of the text is in the first place. That will improve your essays massively.

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What’s The Difference Between the Implied Reader and the Intended Reader?

Many people who study narratology use the terms “implied reader” and “intended reader” interchangeably. However, I think it’s important to show how they might not be the same thing. It helps you to understand the process of how writers appeal to their readers.

The intended reader of a text is the reader that the text producer has in their head. It’s the reader that they’re imagining when they plan and create a text. The intended reader shapes the way they think about how people will react to their work.

However, the intended reader doesn’t become the implied reader until the text producer makes it obvious through how they write the text. The writer needs to imply who the text is for in the writing itself.

The text producer is the only person who can tell us who the intended reader of a text is. We can’t get in their brain. So, if they haven’t openly said “I wrote this text for this person”, we can’t make assumptions.

However, we can interpret the decisions they made in their text. We use these assumptions to talk about who the text seems to be for. That’s what the implied reader is.

Why is this such an important distinction? Well, it helps you to think about your own creative writing. Sure, your intended reader might be obvious to you. However, have you turned them into an implied reader? Have you made it clear who you’re writing for in your text? Or are you accidentally writing your text as if it’s for someone else?

If you want to know more, W. Daniel Wilson’s article ‘Readers in Texts’ sums this up nicely. It talks about the work of German scholar Hannlore Link and her views on the difference between the two.

How Can You Figure Out the Implied Reader?

Text producers have many tools at their disposal. They need to make sure they’re using all of these tools in a way that works for their implied reader. As English academics in students, look at the tools that they used and help us to think about what the implied reader would be.

Here are some of the questions you might ask yourself:

• Where was the text written?
• When was the text written?
• Why did the text producer choose to write it?
• What kind of text receiver would the language be most appropriate for?
• What kind of text receiver would the register be most appropriate for?
• Who would be most likely to access a text in this medium?
• Who would be interested in this topic?
• Does the text producer use direct address to make it clear who their implied reader is?
• Do we have any evidence or context to help us figure out who the implied reader might be?

There are plenty of other questions that might help you! However, the important thing to know is that the implied reader comes from the text. It doesn’t only come from the writer (or your teacher) telling you who the implied reader is. If the writer hasn’t made it obvious in the text itself, it’s not an implied reader. It’s just an intended reader.

At the same time, though, remember that there will be plenty of times in your English studies when you only get an extract of the whole text. When that’s the case, it might be harder to spot the implied reader straight away. You might have to read more of the text to help you.

Traits That Might be Important to the Text Producer

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a student tell me they’re writing their text “for everyone”. There are so many problems with having that attitude, though!

First of all, when you try to write a text for everyone, it ends up appealing to no one. On top of that, I guarantee there are things about your text that make it appeal way more to one demographic of reader than another. You just haven’t noticed that you have a “default” kind of human that you think is the “normal” or “average” person. It makes you a way better writer if you open your eyes to those things.

Here are some of the things that writers might think about when they are considering who their implied reader is:

• Age.
• Race.
• Ethnicity.
• Nationality.
• Religion.
• Gender.
• Gender identity.
• Sexuality.
• Relationship status.
• Family situation.
• Disability status.
• Neurodivergence.
• Social status.
• Career.
• Education and knowledge.
• Hobbies and interests.
• Other texts that the implied reader has consumed.
• Proficiency in the language of the text (how good they are at understanding it).
• Other languages they understand.
• Time period.
• Geographical location.
• Place of birth.
• Life experiences.
• Political views.
• Reason for reading the text.
• The types of texts that the implied reader likes (genre, medium, mode, etc).
• The number of times they have already read the text.
• Purpose of reading the text (for enjoyment, to learn, to analyse, to review, etc).

Of course, you don’t have to have an answer to all of those bullet points. However, as you go through them, you might start to get a better idea of who your implied reader is. It also might help you to figure out the implied reader of the text you’re studying.

Why is it Important to Think About This?

Understanding implied readers can make you a better writer and English student. It helps you to understand why writers make the decisions that they do. So, you can make sure you write about these decisions well in your essays. Plus, you can also make sure you’re choosing the right decisions for your own work.

Early on in the writing process, it’s useful to ask yourself who you are writing a text for. That way, you know what decisions will work best for them. I mean, if you’re trying to convince your teacher to do something, you’re going to have to make different choices than you would for a friend, right? The same thing applies here, too.

Remember: there is no such thing as a text that’s “for everyone”. Tailor it to a clear, obvious audience. Then, other reader will know it isn’t for them and appreciate it for what it is.

I think it’s also useful to take note of when the implied reader of a text is different from the actual reader. Obviously, this happens quite a lot. After all, you can’t always control who picks up your text and gives it a read. When the actual reader is different from what you thought, their reactions will be different from what you hoped or predicted. In fact, they might even dislike it or say bad things about it!

For text producers who don’t take the time to think about the difference between the implied and actual reader, this can be quite upsetting. However, for people who do understand and think about the difference, it makes a lot of sense. You’re tailoring your choices for a particular audience, right? So, if the audience isn’t what you expected, the choices aren’t likely to work the same way on them.

Where Can You Learn More?

Of course, I didn’t invent the difference between the implied reader and the actual reader. I’m just here to help you learn and understand it. However, I really recommend that you don’t just make me your own teacher. Read the people who actually came up with these theories, as well as the people who dedicated their lives to becoming experts in narratology.

The first person I would recommend is Wolfgang Iser. He’s a great writer for this particular topic, and has spent a lot of his time developing the idea of the implied reader. In particular, give his book The Act of Reading a go, if you can get your hands on it. How to Do Theory is also a great one to look at.

Then, you can look at some of the contemporary academics who responded to the work of Iser. For example, one of the journal articles I think is really useful is Readers in Texts by W. Daniel Wilson.

I also recommend work by Hannelore Link and other scholars of narratology. In fact, the more you can read about the subject, the better equipped you are for understanding the difference between the implied reader and the actual reader. If you’re stuck, the bibliographies of the writers I’ve recommended are so useful for knowing where to go next!