Re: The World According to Walter

From: Jim Rovira <jrovira@drew.edu>
Date: Mon Oct 28 2002 - 22:19:36 EST

Again, Daniel, who here berated anyone for being "ignorant" because they offered
a specific reading of a text? Where is this hyper-sensitivity coming from?

What I've labeled ignorant are crass generalizations about the literary
profession and its practices, but this has nothing to do with your reading of
Salinger or your interpretation of his work.

Jim

Yocum Daniel GS 21 CES/CEOE wrote:

> There is a general reader, the reader who reads for enjoyment and looks for
> meaning and intent without looking for theories. Who use the assumptions of
> their everyday communication skills to understand. Apart from Professors
> and grad students etc all the readers prior to this list that I have
> discussed literature with fit this definition.
>
> I guess its our business when we get berated for being 'ignorant' as if
> without formal Literary education we can never understand Literature or what
> we do understand is simple or basic and we can't bother them, "go read your
> cliff notes."
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matt Kozusko [mailto:mkozusko@parallel.park.uga.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2002 5:46 PM
> To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
> Subject: The World According to Walter
>
> By Walter's definition, the academician inhabits his own world, in which
> he is expected to communicate ideas about his "narrow focus." Unlike
> real people with careers in the real world outside academia,
> communication in academia generally need not involve anyone outside a
> particular narrow focus (except, of course, when academics have to
> teach, in which case Walter's definition of them seems to change--or so
> it seems to me, from here, within the cozy confines of my own narrow
> academic focus. I am left to suppose that if I weren't an academician,
> and that if I enjoyed a real career in the real world, Walter's
> articulated concept would make sense to me as a member of that magical
> "wide range of peole" out there. But that's another post. Back to the
> point). And so I have to wonder: if academics aren't required to make
> sense to the outside world, what business would the outside world have
> criticizing academics for not making sense?
>
> --
> Il n'y a pas de hors texte,
>
> Matt
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Received on Mon Oct 28 22:19:43 2002

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