Abstract

Prior knowledge is an important factor in the relationship that is established in the form of interpretation between audiences and museum works. This has made museologists offer diverse information to help audiences with their interpretations. The present article uses Hans Robert Jauss’s method of the reconstruction of the horizon of expectation to provide audiences with prior knowledge through receptions of museum works in literary texts. In this article, an attempt is made to reconstruct one’s horizon of expectation of the incense burner—a vessel from the Islamic era of Iran—through Persian literary texts (as the case study) to show that this method not only enables museum audiences to make diverse interpretations of museum works, but also paves the way for their acquaintance with imaginative receptions of museum works in literary texts. Thus, museums can play a great part in reviving and rejuvenating literary heritage.