Re: Sequels (was Re: Universitatlity)

Robbie, of course I know what's been preserved are copies, not
originals. And it seems a matter of common sense that the precious few
texts that have survived from antiquity were valued and considered worth
preserving (or we just got lucky -- I think the DSS are an example of
incredible luck). None of these factors have much to do with our
judgment of these works as literature, though, especially in comparison
with all the literature that's been published since then. The sheer
volume of fiction being produced today, compared to the relatively small
volume of work that's lasted over 2000 years, seems like the odds are in
favor of the average work from antiquity being better than the average
work published today.

But all these factors are aside from the exercise of our own judgment
upon the literature in question today. I'm also aware, for example, of
the long and complex history of interpretation of the Odyssey. I'm also
aware that the vast majority of these interpretations weren't possible
when the poem was composed. The value of works like the Odyssey are
their ability to be read and reread, mapped and remapped, answering
different questions every time, even questions the original hearers
would have never thought of asking.

When I said that the Odyssey is essentially an episodic adventure story
wiht some subtext about fulfilled desire, I was taking a baseline
reading that, I suspect, is a good part of what lead to its initial high
esteem to begin with.

To answer most of the rest of your post, we'd have to engage in an
irresolvable discussion about what constitutes "good" or "great"
literature, much of it ultimately subjective, and even beyond that, what
we think is "worth our time" -- which is absolutely subjective. There
are intelligent people out there that learn a lot about a culture by
reading its schlock, making even the crap worth their time. I tend to
lose patience with it. What's going to be valued in 500 years from among
today's literature? Impossible to tell. It depends largely upon what's
available, and what questions people want answered from their study of
today's literature.

Jim
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Received on Wed Dec 10 06:10:35 2003