Re: RARA-AVIS: The definition of classics

From: DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net
Date: 04 Nov 2007


Mario wrote:

"And my question about intention was serious, too. If one were to judge a work based on the author's intention, who knows what the results would be. In fact, there is one school of criticism that uses authorial intention as its main tool. I have always found it suspect (and impracticable, in most cases, since one doesn't have access to the author)."

I agree with you here. Especially since declarations about authorial intent are so often retro engneered from the finished product.

I remember the, probably apocryphal, story about a student who got a poor grade on an essay because the teacher disagreed with the interpretation of the author's themes. The student wrote the author, who said the student got his book just right. The only result of the validation? The school stopped teaching living writers. Damn, I wish I remembered the specifics (assuming there's any truth to the story).

Mark



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