The Illusion of Freedom: A Critical Examination of Umberto Eco’s Model Reader in Hypertext Narratives

The present paper critically examines Umberto Eco’s concept of the “Model Reader” within his theory of poststructuralism. The freedom promised to the reader by the poststructuralist era, the present study argues, is ultimately illusory. While Eco suggests that literary texts allow for multiple, but not unlimited, interpretations through the route of an ideal reader, the study opposes the idea that such a framework of the model reader finely redefines the authorial limits and control. Methodologically, the current study employs a qualitative analysis method that combines theoretical criticism with textual narrative analysis. The study exploits the critical viewpoints of the three poststructuralist thinkers: Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault. These three analytical frameworks are used to examine and challenge Umberto Eco’s concept of the Model Reader. The methodology is also supported by analyzing two hypertext novels: Michael Joyce’s Afternoon, a Story (1987) and Shelley Jackson’s Patchwork Girl (1995). Results showed that Eco’s Model Reader presupposed limitations rather than true or totally freedom. These limitations are being ruled by the textual regulations and authorial authority.