Re: unfortunately, more
AntiUtopia@aol.com
Mon, 16 Aug 1999 20:45:00 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 8/16/99 6:06:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
rbowman@indigo.ie writes:
<< '... So we're not really trying to recover the author's
"intent" for the piece, but we're trying to reconstruct
cultural codes ...'
Cultural codes, Jim? What are they then?
Scottie B. >>
What do I mean by "cultural codes"? Is that your question?
You were describing them in some detail in your post. You described the
feeling associated with that particular piece of music, the setting for the
music, the mood, and you did so all pretty accurately (I trust). Therefore,
probably accurately, you interpreted Salinger's reference to that piece of
music with all those visuals, those feelings, that mood and setting. That
song title, in the story, served as a "cultural code" for the
visuals/feelings/setting/mood, communicating all that simply through its
mention.
All language is a series of cultural codes. The English spoken by Salinger
is, therefore, just a shade different than my English. He can communicate in
codes lost to me but meaningful to someone of his own generation -- you :)
This only works retroactively, I think. You can hear an REM song today in
its own setting. I can't hear the music of the 40s -- early 60s in its own
setting. It's not that much of a stretch for me, but it still is a little
bit of a stretch.
Jim