In these two articles, the two authors give very different views on how literature can be interpreted. George Will believes that if we were to interpret a piece and stray from the traditional interpretation of a piece, then we would essentially be destroying the original meaning or message that the piece was trying to give. Will also brings up the interesting point that "All literature is... political". This arguement is interesting because it explores the fact that no matter how how we may try, we are almost always going to be biased upon a topic. Stephen Greenblatt on the other hand argues against was Will believes. He says that it is not demeaning nor destroying the purpose of a piece of literature if we were to not interpret its traditional meaning. Rather, he states that we should try and uncover a piece of literature's "hidden" meaning or deeper purpose.
After reading the articles,I moreso agree with Greenblatt. I would agree with him because as we read a piece of literature, everyone has their own interpretations. For example, as we read a novel, different lines may mean different things to different people based upon our experiences. Because we all dont lead the same exact life, it would be nearly impossible for everyone to have the same exact interpretation of a piece. Although i agree with Greenblatt on this point, i also agree with Will's point that it is nearly impossible to write an unbiased piece of literature. Naturally, we a re inclined to take certained sides on a debate and although we may try to remain objective while writing, we will always have some kind of bias towards one side of the arguement.
Very good post I enjoyed reading it. The ideas you presented were insightful. I also agree with Greenblatt. However, Will also has some good points that should not be overlooked. It was tough for me to decide which author I supported more but in the end I leaned more towards Greenblatt's beliefs. You showed a good point that literature is impossible to make unbiased. Every writer puts their input into their writing even if they do not realize it. Greenblatt also said that there is always more than one interpretation of story. I strongly agree with this statement because everybody has their own opinions and they take that into account when reading a piece of literature. Without more than one meaning a piece of writing is not that powerful. The best stories have more than one point of view. Your response to the article was helpful. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteWell, isn't this just a lovely little posting? I very much enjoyed reading your blog, go ahead and pat yourself on the back.I pretty much had the most difficult time understanding what the heck it was that this dumb artical was about, but you seemed to have a pretty good understanding of it. Go ahead and give yourself a gold star. I thought it was interesting and agree with you on what you said about how all literature is biased one way or the other. I kind of like it though, it makes reading alot more interesting when you get a stir out of it. Otherwise everything you read would be boring, so, yeah. I forgot where I was going with that. I'm pretty much half asleep right now. Hm. Well, goodbye and all that, ya did real nice. Go ahead and buy yourself a little trophy. With your name on it. It makes it more official.
ReplyDelete