Re: Salinger again (THANKS KARI!)

WILL HOCHMAN (hochman@uscolo.edu)
Wed, 11 Nov 1998 07:27:11 -0700 (MST) 

Oh Kari, I know the list won't appreciate my copying your post into this
one but it's a perfect post for a bananafish teacher like me!  I sent out
the post on henotheism to this list and my student lists in hopes someone
would appreciate (as do I ) word a day learning...and yes, I agree that
close analysis of Salinger texts is as well deserved as the learning space
we give to other authors, and that spending time figuring out what
Salinger meant is silly since most authors are not entirely aware of what
their art is and since Mr. Salinger has made it clear who he is is mostly
on the page anyway.  Thanks for confirming what I also believe is a fine
approach to Salinger's work,  will

On Wed, 11 Nov 1998, Lomanno wrote:

> pasha wrote:
> 
> > I would question the notion of "learning" any text in terms of knowing
> > everything there is to know about it; I personally believe such a thing
> > to be impossible.  
> 
> As soon as I wrote the word "learning" I regretted it. Why can't I seem
> to get the words right lately (I've only just recently subscribed to the
> WordADay list)?
> 
> Anyway, I guess I just wanted to talk about Salinger on a more academic
> level. I know that sounds very snooty of me, but there's just so much
> more to his writing than Holden's "cool" teenage issues. And, I swear,
> whenever I try to talk about Salinger with anyone but this list and my
> husband, they just kind of roll their eyes like I should still be in
> high school. Why can't people see what I see in his writing?
> 
> > I would not go so
> > far as to attempt a study of Salinger's intentions, and I dare say he
> > would deny the humanity of anyone who does.
> 
> I am completely against delving into Salinger's intentions. I have the
> utmost respect for his privacy; any discussions I have about him will
> relate solely to the texts in question. I just kind of wanted to look at
> maybe Franny & Zooey from a poststructuralist or reader-response
> perspective.
> 
> --Kari
>