fandomhigh | Literature, Class 4: Period 3, Thursday, September 25

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Literature, Class 4: Period 3, Thursday, September 25

Miss Elizabeth Bennet did not recognize most of the students in her classroom. Clearly, Fandom was amusing itself at her expense once more. Very well; if they believed they belonged here, she would treat them accordingly.

"Today," she said, "our topic is going to be how identity changes a work, both from the author's perspective as well as readers. There is now a formal critical theory known as 'reader response;' it concerns how one's perceptions and background may alter fundamental aspects of the text, or lend new shades of meaning to it. Critics argue that the text is objective, not subjective -- that it can be seen on its own merits, and how the reader interprets it is secondary. I am not so certain that I agree. Who would the impartial reader be, who can separate his or her background from the text? If I feel the heroine in this novel is sweet, and you find her to be false and cloying, which of us is right? Or can we perhaps agree that the novelist's aim is for her to be seen as sweet, and unprepossessing, and leave it undetermined whether it succeeds?"

"Let us presume that people can be broken into certain categories: one's sex, one's age, one's social standing, one's culture, one's economic status. Add a layer to this: one's experiences. If you are a young boy who was raised on a farm, and had a favourite horse, then a story about horse-racing might be terribly exciting, to you. An older gentleman who was an experienced jockey might likewise reach for the tale, eagerly, while a wealthy society matron may feel that horses are uninteresting. A girl whose uncle lost a great deal of money on horse-racing may dislike the tale most of all."

She shrugged. "It sounds fascinating, but people aren't that simple. They never have been. The young boy from the farm may feel that forcing the horse to compete in a race is ridiculous, when it could be pulling a carriage or a plough. The experienced jockey may be tired of that life, or may find the story to be highly inaccurate as regards his own experiences. The wealthy society matron might find herself drawn in by a world the likes of which she's never imagined, and the girl may wish to understand what it was that held such lure for her uncle's path to ruin."

"I am not meaning to imply that identity studies, or reader-responses, are this simplistic. They most certainly aren't. My brief example of the horse-racing story was simply to show that what appeals to us in a work is intrinsic to who we are as individuals. Perhaps the reason I find that heroine so sweet is that she reminds me greatly of my sister Jane, whereas you have never known someone who behaves in that manner, and you cannot suspend your disbelief accordingly. You might further argue that the heroine is only hoping to appear sweet, and is secretly scheming and plotting her way through life, falling back on her presumption of innocence when all else fails. Deconstructionists might argue that to be an equally valid reading of the novel, even if the author never intended it. Do you agree? There are critics who believe that Tolkien's King of the Bracelets was an allegory for an ongoing war, in his country at that time, regardless of the times that Tolkien himself denied it. Could he have written it as an unconscious allegory? Might one say that it functions as one, if the author did not intend for it to be so? Are alternate readings of a text valid, or are they simply illustrative of the ways in which we are fundamentally different in worldviews and perceptions -- an interesting literary exercise, but nothing more?"

She stopped pacing, glancing around the room again. "The author must have his or her share in this -- mostly his, I fear, for the works considered to be 'classics' were largely those written by wealthy English and European men. Which suggests that either women and men from other cultural backgrounds simply weren't writing as much as Anglican men, that their works were clearly inferior on an objective scale, or that those responsible for identifying 'classics' were by and large the same creatures, Anglican men, who responded largely to works written from similar perspectives. This is a rather telling point for the response crowd, I might add, but let us continue. A man writes of actions which would be seen as normal and unremarkable during his lifetime, and seems to condone them; later, history condemns those same behaviors, as well as his tale. Should we view the story through his lens, or ours? Lest you think this is strictly hypothetical, I regret to inform you that Shakespeare himself wrote a play which seems highly anti-Semitic, which would not be wholly remarkable in society at that time. Critics argue that you might read the character sympathetically, or even that Shakespeare himself intended to portray him as such, but certain aspects of the play make either reading -- slanderous or sympathetic -- difficult. If he did not, what then? The situation is problematical, to say the least."

(OOC: Yes, Miss Bennet is still Miss Bennet, and no, she doesn't know about today's genderswap yet. Feel free to break her brain.)

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Can you separate yourself from the work? Do you feel that the texts you like are influenced by the things that you are, or attraction towards those things that you are not?

"Of course they are. Most people aren't going to like everything."

"No, indeed," Eliza said. "Nor should they. But which do you feel is the greater draw for you personally: what you know, or what you do not?"

"I think we're totally influenced by who we are when we read," Peyton said gruffly.

Eliza nodded. "Should we be? Can we study texts objectively, or are all of our perceptions colored by our own identities?"

"I think teachers would say that we should, but we're always going to have our own feelings about them based on who we are and what we bring to the table," Peyton said.

"In that case, I imagine those teachers are being very short-sighted," she said.

Peyton just blinked at her. "I'd say so, but I wouldn't think most teachers would."

Re: Discussion #1: Reader Response and Identity [LIT-4]

clevermsbennet.livejournal.com - 2008-09-26 01:08 (UTC) - Expand

Chad gave a faint smile to the first discussion. "I think," he said, "my point last week reflects how I feel this week."

And then Chad realized that he didn't look like he did last week.

"Err, I'm Chad, by the way. Err, Yasutora. But, yeah, culture and who you are and where you come from is totesally effect how you view something. You can't separate from who you are, much less for a book."

"Chad?" Eliza asked. "Chad, who is usually in this class?"

Chad was usually a tall, quiet sort of individual, who seemed hesitant to share his insights even though they were usually quite astute. His hair was much shorter, and far closer to the point: he was quite clearly male.

"That's the one," Chad said with a nod. "I woke up a girl today. I think a lot of us did. I'd be more recognizable before I shifted, but, trust me, Miss Bennet. This look is different, but it's much better than if I hadn't shifted."

Eliza promised herself not to ask what the boy -- girl -- what her student meant by "shifting."

"Does this happen to you frequently?" she asked, looking around the room in growing shock. "Is that why I don't recognize but very few of you?"

Re: Discussion #1: Reader Response and Identity [LIT-4]

senor-chado.livejournal.com - 2008-09-25 22:39 (UTC) - Expand

"I should say so," he answered. Words were twisty and wicked enough that he wasn't about to play with pronouns, no, not that. He was still him, whatever his troublesome flesh thought about it.

"Which isn't to say you're restricted, but the way is easier. There's a language to a job, something common. Just as miners will talk to miners and farmers to farmers easily enough, so will a book that speaks to your life be easiest to pick."

"Shouldn't a successful author be able to convey those nuances through his or her tale?" Eliza asked. "One should hate to think that a story about society life in a particular era would only be accessible to those who had experienced that same society."

"Of course, but it's easier. Any story is going to play on things that everyone deals with at some point or another, but it's easier when there's already a connection there."

"Are you saying that you read what appeals to your personal experiences, as a rule?" she asked.

Re: Discussion #1: Reader Response and Identity [LIT-4]

new-to-liirness.livejournal.com - 2008-09-25 19:49 (UTC) - Expand

"Well, no, we're all going to respond to things differently and like different things, and stuff, but I'd HOPE that there are things that everybody would like, you know? Certain things that speak to all of us?"

"You believe there are universals, then?" Eliza considered that. "Works which appeal to all, regardless of their perspective or background?"

Sokka frowned. "Well, at least, there are works that SHOULD appeal to everybody. And certain plot elements, too."

Specifically, he was thinking of big explosions, kung fu, and sex, but he didn't want to mention those because he had a feeling Professor Bennet might disagree.

(Yes, that completely negates his point. Shhhh!)

"'Should'?" Eliza smiled. "And those who did not agree are simply ... mistaken, in the matter?"

Re: Discussion #1: Reader Response and Identity [LIT-4]

sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com - 2008-09-26 01:44 (UTC) - Expand

"What I like is definitely influenced by who I am," Rodney stated. "I know it's sort of stereotypical, but I'm a teenaged boy who's interested in science and I like to read science fiction. It's not much of a stretch," he added with a shrug.

"Except, of course, for today," Eliza said, nodding to his new features. "Do you find that largely to be the case? Science fiction followers, then, are more likely to be scientists to some degree?"

"I'm still male up here," Rodney pointed to his brain with a scowl. "I think it's more the other way, you know? Scientists are more likely to follow sci-fi than another genre, and teenage boys are doubly so."

"There's no separating myself from anything I read," Lucas said, forgetting he was a girl for a moment. "We bring ourselves, our backgrounds, and all our prior knowledge to the table when we sit down to read a book. Leave any of it behind and we lose out in our own personal understanding with the author."

"What happens when our own perspectives contrast so sharply with the author's that we have trouble finding common ground?" Eliza asked. "I suppose, in that instance, at the least we can learn from the text, and one another's interpretations of it."

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