Re: Quiet list? there's always
Cheryl Cline (ccline@uclink4.berkeley.edu)
Thu, 02 Jul 1998 22:30:28 -0700
I don't think that speculation about the author can help one interpret
the text. However, the text can help one speculate about the author's
life, if you're interested in that kind of thing, which I sometimes am.
For example-without even checking the copyright dates and the biography
of Zelda Fitzgerald-I assume that Tender Is the Night was written after
Zelda Fitzgerald went insane. But, as far as I know, Dick Diver is not
the exact characterization of Scott Fitzgerald, if at all, and Zelda was
not involved in incest, unlike the character of Nicole Warren.
Speculation about the author based on the text, basically, is just for
fun. I wouldn't write a paper on it or base any theories on it, but I
merely like to see if my guesses about the author's life turn out to be
correct. But, no, you can't seriously interpret the text based on
events that happened in the author's life, or even make correct
statements about the author's life based on the text.
Cheryl
J J R wrote:
>
> <<As far as I'm concerned, as soon as it hits the paper,
> it's fiction.
>
> Camille >>
>
> Yeah, that was basically what I had in mind. No, I don't locate the
> meaning of the text in the author. I think the author is the first
> reader of the reading community to which he writes, and the most informed
> reader, but not the source of meaning.
>
> And yes, especially, I don't see how biographical details tell us
> anything about the meaning of the text. At best they may teach us
> something about the creative process, but even then, unless the author
> tells us what he or she was thinking, we are speculating.
>
> Jim
>
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