A reading within a text which moves beyond the dominant cultural beliefs to challenge prevailing views.

Reading a text as it was not meant to be read; in fact reading the text against itself.

Textual Example

By way of illustration, consider Andrew Marvell

Andrew Marvell

Andrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet, Parliamentarian, and the son of a Church of England clergyman . As a metaphysical poet, he is associated with John Donne and George Herbert...

's poem To His Coy Mistress

To His Coy Mistress

To His Coy Mistress is a metaphysical poem written by the British author and statesman Andrew Marvell either during or just before the Interregnum....

.

A resistant reading may develop from the alternative reading, pointing out how

• The representation
  Representation (arts)
  Representation is the use of signs that stand in for and take the place of something else. It is through representation that people organize the world and reality through the act of naming its elements...
  
   of gender in the poem furthers the notion of gender as binary opposition
  Binary opposition
  In critical theory, a binary opposition is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. It is the contrast between two mutually...
  
  s (eg male is active, female is passive; male is powerful, female is marginalized) and, as such, will be read by readers who share feminist views of the world as perpetuating gender inequality
  Gender inequality
  Gender inequality refers to disparity between individuals due to gender. Gender is constructed both socially through social interactions as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; binary gender...
  
   and discrimination against women. For example,
• Marvell's representation of heterosexuality
  Heterosexuality
  Heterosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, physical or romantic attractions to persons of the opposite sex";...
  
   in the poem may be read as being exploitative, based as it is on the persona psychologically terrorizing the woman. Marvell depicts his persona as attempting to have the woman submit as a result of the fear he seeks to instill within her; Marvell's vivid and confronting imagery
  Image
  An image is an artifact, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person.-Characteristics:...
  
   is most significant and not accidental:

  Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound / My echoing song: then worms shall try / That long preserved virginity

  Virginity

  Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...

  
  ...

Modern readers must ask themselves whether this is a view of social relations between men and women that they are willing to accept as appropriate.

Importance

Resistant reading is an important element of our critical and interpretive repertoire. It is worth considering whether diegetic border crossing always strengthens the potential for resistant reading (as might seem intuitively likely, given that readers are moving in and out of the story), or whether on some occasions it might serve the reverse effect.