The Concept of the Reader in the Work of the Dean of Critics Muhammad Mandour through the Critical Heritage

Abstract

This study examines the concept of the reader in the work of the critic Muhammad Mandour through his engagement with Arab critical heritage. It focuses on how Mandour invokes earlier figures of reading and criticism in order to construct a modern understanding of the reader’s role in producing meaning. The study proceeds from the premise that the reader is not a passive recipient of the text, but an active participant in appreciation, interpretation, and aesthetic judgment. It discusses Mandour’s position between modern criticism and classical critical memory, showing how he reconsidered the relationship between text and reader and emphasized the influence of culture, taste, and aesthetic experience on the act of reading. The article also highlights the notion of active reception and connects it to what later became known in contemporary theory as reception theory and the plurality of readings. It argues that Mandour’s return to critical heritage is not merely historical retrieval, but a way of understanding the dynamics and possibilities of Arab reading in the modern age. The study concludes that Mandour’s concept of the reader forms a bridge between classical Arab critical sensibility and modern critical questions concerning text, reception, and interpretation.