(urth) academic commentary
David Stockhoff
dstockhoff at verizon.net
Mon Nov 29 19:24:31 PST 2010
Certainly literary criticism allows way too much leeway to critics
trying to make texts into something they are not, whether to establish
themselves or just make a splash. But I see your point.
I think I was thinking along similar lines when I suggested that Wright
merely had ideological/pedagogical blinkers on. I doubt Wright was
really being dishonest, but I think it's OK to get that possibility out
there and dispense with it, if possible.
On 11/29/2010 9:22 PM, Thomas Bitterman wrote:
> 2010/11/29 António Pedro Marques <entonio at gmail.com
> <mailto:entonio at gmail.com>>
>
> David Stockhoff wrote:
>
> I'm confused. Whose argument?
>
> I don't think Antonio meant to say anything negative about
> Wright as a
> person, if in fact he meant Wright's atheism blinded him to
> certain
> interpretations. It's certainly possible---happens all the
> time, I'm sure.
>
>
> Just to clarify things a bit, I only said it would be an
> uncomfortable or inconvenient leap. I can't understand how that
> got construed as an attack, personal or not.
>
>
> My apologies if I have imputed uncharitable motives where none
> existed. Allow me to explain my reasoning. On the non-fiction side
> of things (which is where I think Wright's thesis is meant to be) a
> researcher who is unwilling to follow the evidence wherever it leads
> is considered a poor researcher. It is akin to intellectual dishonesty.
>
> Another way of looking at it. The question is "How did Wright
> miss/not include an obvious (and likely superior) interpretation that
> any careful reader would read?". The answer is "Because it made him
> feel uncomfortable". This looks like a clear case of arguing against
> the author rather than the thesis.
>
> Perhaps literary criticism works differently.
>
> (I think at this time and place everyone can read Wolfe both with
> and without Wolfe and/or Wolfe's motivations.)
>
>
> I agree. Fiction works differently.
> --
> Perfection is what happens when you're not looking closely enough:
> it's a perceptual mistake on the operator's end of the equation.
> - Dr. Quandry
>
>
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