Re: Quiet list? there's always
Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Thu, 02 Jul 1998 10:55:31 +1000
> << Stick to the text. Forget about the
> author. >>
>
> Lets just all stick to our opinions. How about that? You cannot forget
about
> the author while reading his text. It's like watching comedy with Al
Pacino.
Whaa ???
Seriously - I think what Jim's saying is we should not look to JDS for the
Truth. Our interpretation is every bit as valid as his - that's what
happens once you put a text out into the world. Just because he wrote it
doesn't mean that his opinion on it is Correct. There *is* no right or
wrong answer; we're never going to arrive at an ultimate interpretation or
a Right Answer - which is the beauty of it. You can talk of validity - i.e.
it is *valid* to say that Franny could be pregnant - but not correctness -
i.e. Franny is pregnant. Also, we can only ever speculate on how much of
anything is autobiographical - which is ultimately irrelevent anyway; like
asking `what did da Vinci have for lunch the day he painted the Mona Lisa',
because our interpretation is what completes the circle of communication -
we are in effect writing the other half of the text. Sure, it's interesting
to know biographical things and what inspires artists but it should
probably be kept in a seperate basket to literary interpretation and only
touched upon rarely. As far as I'm concerned, as soon as it hits the paper,
it's fiction.
Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
@ THE ARTS HOLE
www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442