Marsha: Not playing. You're just looking for a point to introduce Lucy and the hall of mirrors rather than any true discussion.
RMP could have presented the MoQ as a treatise with tight syllogisms if he wanted to limit interpretation, rather than within a semi-fictitious literature form. Besides, you are probably looking for a point to introduce Lucy and the 'Hall of Mirrors' or some other such demeaning comic routine. I'm not playing. On Mar 31, 2011, at 12:36 AM, ARLO J BENSINGER JR wrote: > [Marsha] > The act of reading a text is like playing music and listening to it at the > same > time, and the reader becomes his own interpreter. > > [Mark] > That is, that he had no control over the protagonist once the book was > released. In fact, he was no longer an expert on the subject, we all were. > > [Arlo] > Its funny to me that those who diverge the most from what an author has > repeatedly said, are those that argue loudest that what the author said is > irrelevant, but what they want to think he said is all that matters. > > That meaning is negotiated, that texts are deconstructed and reconstructed > historically, that dialogue is an interplay of intent and interpretation, is > really not much of a serious contention any longer. Derrida instigated and > subsequent postmodernists have been developing and refining theories of > "interpretation" is some form or another for decades. > > The problem is, the form of "interpretation" being pushed here is simply good > old fashion subjectivism (by denying and dismissing "intent", which would > constitute a dialogue), whatever I think someone meant is all that's > important. > And when the protagonist argues his intent was different, he can be summarily > dismissed as not an "expert" on his own ideas. > > This is precisely the sort of inane nonsense that had Bo claiming Pirsig was a > "weak interpreter" of Pirsig's ideas. And at this point we should dust off > Ron's "interpretation" that Pirsig's MOQ supports rape and torture. Hey, why > not, if that's how he "interprets" it, that's all that matters. > > And this is all part of the stuckness on "interpretative legitimacy", that the > validity of what one says can't be questioned because any and all > "interpretations" are just as valid. > > It gives two choices, the same problem of SOM, one between "soliloquy" and > "interpretation", the same problem that confounded initial deconstructionists > of everything being either (1) objective words from on high (what they were > rebelling against) or (2) subjective thoughts about whatever "meaning" you > want > to give something (their solution). > > Sound familiar? It should. Its about as S/O mired as you can get. > > Luckily, other postmodern thinkers, like Bahktin, Bourdieu, Giddens, and many > others, instead place "interpretation" inside a dialogue alongside "intent", > and "meaning" becomes more than "my interpretation" but an ongoing dialogue > where interlocutors intend-interpret meaning as they clarify and expand their > ideas. > > In Marsha's and Mark's world, Ron's "interpretation" that Pirsig supports rape > and torture is just as valid as any others, and should Pirsig protest he can > be > dismissed as not being an expert on his own ideas. > > In a better world, "meaning" is negotiated and refined as intent and > interpretation play off each other over time. In this world, Pirsig's > protestations about his intent WOULD matter, and certain "interpretations" > would be seen as disagreements and divergences from "intent". > > We cannot, in other words, remove one utterance from the flow of a dialogue > and > claim that it exists in an intent-free vacuum, one has to consider instead the > dialogue, which includes both intent AND interpretation, back and forth and > back and forth, refining and evolving.... > > > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html ___ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
