The text is based on the idea that the reception of a literary text can be mapped and analysed with the help of Language Management Theory (LMT). Firstly, the relationship and possible intersections between literary theory and LMT are explored.
Then the author shows what this implies for so-called simple literary criticism, i.e. the reading of a literary text within a common reading act. It is argued that the follow-up interview is the most suitable means to explore this process through its seperate stages.
Afterwards the paper focusses on a study conducted with a native and a non-native speaker of Czech, both reading the same Czech short story. With the help of follow-up interviews, their reading acts are traced and analysed in terms of LMT.
The paper outlines where their readingy differ and what they have in common, and then makes some observations about the reasons for this. Additionally, the research demonstrates how LMT can be employed when exploring metalanguage activity directed at very specific utterances in literary texts.