Re: The Mantra of Michael
Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Sat, 21 Nov 1998 12:39:28 +1100
P.S. for some reason I never recieved Erin's message so I'm jumping in the
boat here... can't comment on whether Erin was hostile or otherwise
> Erin you hostiliy attacked me and I am deeply disappointed in your
> maturity level. After all this is only a debate. I am an author, as
> you say, but only of letters, not stories. Therein lies the key
> difference in what I am stating. In stories the meaning is at least
> slightly hidden.
This is a bit of a generalisation ... certainly, letters and stories are
written for different purposes in some ways, but in others, as Jim pointed
out, they're just another form of communication and as such are just as
subject to the inadequacy of language.
> In letters the meaning is out there for you to see. I
> state that you must discover the meaning, but going too far is what I am
> against. You don't need to ask jd about the meaning. Interpert for
> yourself.
Aren't you contradicting yourself here? You say `the meaning is out there
for you to see.' - but you seem to see `meaning' as a wholly author-derived
concept (that is, all the meaning is purposely put there by the author
which is why it is possible to `find messages that don't exist'), which, by
your reasoning would mean that we *must* ask JDS about the meaning; that he
is the only one who can know the `real' meaning and that all other theories
are false.
> Don't take it beyond the most obvious and relevant meaning.
Why not? Naturally everyone is occasionally prey to overintellectualising -
but it's like archaeology. You have to dig up an awful lot of rubbish
before you hit the dinosaur bones. And after all ... if we only ever looked
at the most `obvious and relevant' meanings we would only ever read a book
once or twice.
As for `believing in things that don't exist' - if, as you suggest, we
don't look towards JDS for enlightenment, doesn't that mean that *all*
theories we come up with are valid in some way?
Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
@ THE ARTS HOLE www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442
@ THE INVERTED FOREST www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest