Context of Composition and Context of Reception

Every text is produced in one moment and received in many. In English A: Language and Literature, two of the most useful analytical tools are the context of composition (the circumstances in which a text was made) and the context of reception (the circumstances in which it is read, viewed, or heard). Distinguishing between them helps you move beyond "what does this mean?" toward "how has meaning shifted across time and space?"

Context of composition

The context of composition covers everything surrounding the act of creation: the author's biography, the political and economic climate, the dominant technologies of the day, the intended audience, and the conventions of the genre at that moment. A political speech written for radio in the 1930s assumes listeners gathered around a single recei