Wolfgang Iser’s conception of indeterminacy: An integrational critique

Abstract Adopting the perspective of a “Harrisian” integrational linguist, this article identifies two conflicting ways in which Wolfgang Iser describes “indeterminacy” and its implications on the act of reading in his “reception theory”. It will be argued that while his understanding of contextualisation and recontextualisation is markedly similar to the integrational idea of the radical indeterminacy of the sign, he is not an “integrational literary theorist” since he ultimately sees literary works as comprising determinate, intersubjective segments and indeterminate links supplied by the reader. Iser’s significance for integrationism lies mainly in the directions he provides for the development of “integrational literary criticism”, the practitioners of which would be “cultured readers” who appreciate the impossibility of “correct” analyses and recognise indeterminacy as an integral part of the reading process.