The full-knowing reader

the long version

Literary allusions abound in Western literature, and those who study them tend to focus on the author's intentions to demonstrate erudition, embellish meaning, or exert control over tradition. Joseph Pucci contends that the key to grasping the meaning of an allusive text is in the hands of the "full-knowing" reader. Pucci shows how allusion authorizes the desires of such a reader - one who is active, engaged, and historically sensitive - at the expense of the author.