A girl walks by with her Uggs and NorthFace jacket. A guy comes into my history class with a NIN shirt and ripped jeans. A guy in Gorecki has plaid shorts and a Hollister shirt. One of those intriguing people swishes by on Cape Thursday. All of these people are communicating something, whether it is intended or not, or how it is interpreted (which depends on who is doing the interpreting).
I have experienced both extremes of the spectrum of interpretation/reading in classes I have taken. One teacher in high school shunned every original thought that a student would have, dismissing any new possibilities of new ways of looking at a text. He would respond to any new takes, “That’s not what the author meant.” The class eventually grew pretty mutinous, especially while reading Beloved by Toni Morrison, our main argument being, “How do you know what the author was getting at here?” He gave all authoritative power to the author on the surface, but maybe was really giving it to himself, to make us take the meaning exactly how he wanted us to.
On the other end of the spectrum, there seems to be someone with a certain tendency (we’ll call him/her in general Bob), in all of the lit classes I have taken during both high school and college. We’ll be reading a novel, and Jack will raise his hand during discussion and make a random declaration, like “Well it is obvious that this character doesn’t feel the way he says he does, and is really a homosexual but doesn’t realize it yet.” There is usually a confused silence, and the prof, if attempting to be open-minded, asks for textual evidence. And Bob will tell him that it doesn’t specifically say it anywhere, it is just implied. The prof will try to explain that we have to be able to find proof in the text to make such a claim, but Bob will just become more adamant about it.
This would be an example of the control shifting too much to the reader. We, as Barthes’ power-wielding readers, have the ability to create meanings, but as Jeff and Susan point out, not everyone’s opinions are good. I’m still wrapping my head around the idea of the readers making the meanings, but at the same time, the meanings making the readers. Things could get super-ly off kilter if we didn’t ground ourselves in the text--reading isn’t about just reinforcing a personal opinion and adjusting the text to your liking. The words do matter as a way of communicating.
The language and words matter also in everyday conversation. A single word could have a whole array of different significances or connotations. If I mention “Obama” to my friend Ana, she will begin talking about “change” and “unity,” whereas if I mention “Obama” to my grandpa, he’ll start grumbling, or to my friend Marcus, who will throw around the term “Socialist.” If I am in the interpretive community of a GOP convention, my interpretation of Obama will be different than if I am in the interpretive community of the crowd at his inaugural address. Or even if I am analyzing him in a Poli Sci class vs. on the Link.
Side note: talking about words and connotations reminded me of the new Britney Spears song that is so controversial called “If U Seek Amy”--the title is dirty if you say it fast. Have you guys heard about this? I think it’s kind of hilarious. Not that I'm a diehard Britney fan, but if you wanted to listen to it just for fun since I didn't add anything extra to my last blog:
Believe me, as a teacher, I totally know what you mean about the utterly random interpretation that lacks evidence and seems to come soly out of the reader's own head. On the other hand, subtext, by its very definition, is meant to be understood by some, and not by others. So, how should a teacher (or student) judge whether to allow some flexibility in interpretation or to put the smack down on a clearly wrong one? I suppose it's precisely this question that, centuries ago, started people theorizing.
ReplyDeleteBut just as readers sometime invent wild interpretations, so too might a very bad writer sometime have no control over the meaning of their text. That same individual you mentioned might compose a poem and say "see, it means such and such, isn't that deep?" And you're looking at the poem, thinking, "ummm.... sorry, I don't get it." And I also remember a year ago when a poet visited my American literature class, and a student gave what I thought was a pretty good interpretation of one of her poems, but then the poet said she meant something else. To me, my students explanation made more sense than the author's!!! So, maybe there's a relation between authors and readers in the act of artistic communication. You can't have one without the other, and I can't imagine a poet publishing anything good without receiving quite a lot of feedback from friends and editors first.
I have no clue what to say about that Spears video.... Anyone else got an idea?
The Obama comment you made is true. But what happens when we start compromising our language? FOr instance, what happens when I start saying BRB instead of I will be right back? Does our language decrease in value then?
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