The communication refers to the phenomenon of literary reception and its procedural character. A foray into the history of the concept of ”reception” ensures a better understanding of the given field. The evolution of the idea of literary reception is conditioned by the way in which it was perceived and, respectively, explained the literary art in general. So, this term involves features conditioned by the numerous ways of conceptualizing the literary work. Reviewing the ways of existence of the literary work identifies the factors and difficulties that determined the impossibility of conducting a fundamental study of literature from the perspective of the reader. It also justifies the absence of a unique theory of reading. No ideal boundaries are reached between reception theories and reading theories, but it can be seen with certainty that text-oriented theories are associated with reading theories, and those oriented towards the reading process and the sum of ”answers” of empirical readers make up reception theories. Therefore, the act of reading is a stage in the process of reception. No boundary can be put between the reading activity and the reception activity; they are complementary. The literary reception phenomenon consists of several stages and levels. The procedural character of the act of reading is determined by the temorality of the literary work.