Re: 'discarded like calendars'

Oh, no doubt Jarrell would prefer that. What he misses is that his
observations lead him away from his preferred conclusion, then.

See, the author doesn't speak into a vacuum. He or she speaks to
readers, who lend their own understanding to the author's fiction. It's
quite possible that the author's contemporaries will read the author's
work something like the author does, but there's no guarantee. Critics
reflect (at least partially) the range of understandings a culture
applies to a work. Later or different cultures apply different
understandings, thus they think previous understandings were wrong, and
are in turn thought wrong by their future readers. Authors have their
own readings of their own work, which later readers will, of course,
think wrong since it's not theirs. Jarrell fantasizes that he can fix
the meaning of fiction he writes forever, and perhaps resents the fact
that he knows he can't.

What he should be grateful for is being read and considered at all in
the year 100,000, not what critics then might or might not say about
critics now -- even if people aren't saying things about his work that
he might himself.

Jim

Kim Johnson wrote:

>--- James Rovira <jrovira@drew.edu> wrote:
>
>
>> They are our own
>>voices, our own prejudices, our own assumptions --
>>understanding them is
>>to do archaeology on the way we think today. It's
>>to understand
>>ourselves.
>>
>>
>>
>
>this is eloquent.
>
>i imagine, though, that jarrell might want that 'they'
>to refer back to the artists under the critics'
>consideration.
>
>but i would say i do respect and envy those fish who
>are able to follow the flights of the literary
>theorists.
>
>my mind lacks the probing light of analysis. my
>reading takes place, at best, during twilight.
>
>kim
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
>http://mailplus.yahoo.com
>-
>* Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message
>* UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH
>
>
>

-
* Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message
* UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH
Received on Wed Dec 18 13:58:07 2002