Even though it is true that the majority of literary studies focus on the analysis of the actual text and not on the literary communication between author and reader, it has also been accepted that a comprehensive literary theory needs to include both the analysis of the text and the examination of its contexts. Because, as important as the studying of the text might be, the text's functions and the conditions of its production and reception are equally important as they connect it to its reader, without whom the text would not achieve its purpose.
The importance of literary communication lies also in the fact that no structures are ever solely literary. Rather, it is the historical and cultural context that determines whether a text could be considered literary. Metric structures, for example, are used in poetry, song writing and advertising without, however, these types of writing being considered literature. With this said, the structures and the context of a text are closely connected and one cannot exist without the other. Therefore, a theory of literature can only be a theory of literary communication.
The examination of the text in relation to the psychology of the reader is another important aspect of literary communication. Literary communication is achieved only through the study of the cognitive and emotive structures of literature. Relating the literary structures to the reader's memory, knowledge, feelings and beliefs gives the text the possibility to communicate emotionally with its audience.
Literary communication is also important for the fact that it relies on the social context of the text. Apart from the text itself and its literary structures, apart from its historical and cultural background and apart from its psychological properties, a text needs to also be examined from a sociological perspective. The text's organization, production and interpretation in a specific society, as well as the rules, the values and norms that define it, are taken into consideration when evaluating a text's ability to communicate with its audience.