{"id":68,"date":"2008-02-12T13:43:56","date_gmt":"2008-02-12T18:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/02\/12\/what-is-a-valid-interpretation\/"},"modified":"2008-02-12T13:43:56","modified_gmt":"2008-02-12T18:43:56","slug":"what-is-a-valid-interpretation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/02\/12\/what-is-a-valid-interpretation\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Valid Interpretation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Crosman’s Do Readers Make Meaning<\/em> is a powerful rebuke of New Criticism and the idea of a close reading of the text.\u00a0 Crosman is clearly denouncing the idea that a text as a universal meaning that an educated reader can eventually uncover.\u00a0 He favors the idea that the reader brings at least as much meaning to the text as the actual writing itself.\u00a0 In a sense, Crosman is challenging the idea of a universal truth although he expressly limits that debate to the field of literary studies.\u00a0 From my experience as a reader and a teacher, a middle ground between the text and the reader must be reached for meaning to be valuable.<\/p>\n

I remember studying New Criticism as an undergraduate.\u00a0 I was immediately drawn to the appeal of a “close reading”.\u00a0 After all, my years in high school consisted of readings and bizarre interpretations.\u00a0 It was a world where every interpretation is valid.\u00a0 That seemed a bit far-fetched to me, so the idea of uncovering truth was instantly appealing.\u00a0 However, it becomes immediately apparent that meaning does not exist in the text alone.\u00a0 Once a reader begins discussing literature with other learners, several different interpretations appear.\u00a0 In a purely New Critical model, only one of those interpretations would be valid.\u00a0 This is where Crosman makes a point in denouncing the idea of a single meaning.\u00a0 How can we possibly decide which “meaning” is the universal truth?<\/p>\n

I notice this issue first hand when I read Othello.\u00a0 <\/em>Most essays, teachers, and readers immediately jump on the themes of love and pride.\u00a0 In truth, these are central to the context of the play and its appeal.\u00a0 However, I have always been fascinated by Othello’s refusal to promote his trusted lieutenant, Iago.\u00a0 Othello trusts him completely, yet the promotion is given to another person.\u00a0 He never explains the rationale to Iago or provides compensation.\u00a0 Some have argued that Othello had suspicions about Iago, but I see no evidence in the text.\u00a0 Consequently, my reading of the play always takes on a slightly different approach.\u00a0 I do not view Othello as the great and noble hero from the play’s outset.\u00a0 He already has a flaw. Is my reading unjustified and false?<\/p>\n

This is where evidence and textual support come into play.\u00a0 As long as the reader can cite several examples and build a coherent case, then the interpretation must be accepted as valid.\u00a0 This is an essential part of meaning.\u00a0 If evidence is allowed to be weak and flimsy, then my high school experiences of free-for-all meaning will resurface.\u00a0 It is a half-truth to say that a text means something.\u00a0 It is also a half-truth to say that a reader creates meaning.\u00a0 Both the reader and text are necessary.\u00a0 Evidence is the key to determining validity.<\/p>\n

–Francois Guidry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Crosman’s Do Readers Make Meaning is a powerful rebuke of New Criticism and the idea of a close reading of the text.\u00a0 Crosman is clearly denouncing the idea that a text as a universal meaning that an educated reader can eventually uncover.\u00a0 He favors the idea that the reader brings at least as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}