Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the woostify domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/latestwordpress/lonestar.a1professionals.net_public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131
{"id":3437,"date":"2025-01-09T22:21:20","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T22:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/?p=3437"},"modified":"2025-01-09T23:27:29","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T23:27:29","slug":"lone-star-literary-critique-speaking-criticism-who-owns-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/?p=3437&lang=ar","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star Literary Critique: Speaking of Criticism: Who Owns Meaning?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Speaking of Criticism: Who Owns Meaning?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So, everybody\u2019s a critic, right? No, seriously: right<\/em>. Readers invest their time, money, and imagination in everything they read. So, yes, that earns them the critical right to, as the godfather of modern criticism, Matthew Arnold, declaims, \u201csay what the thing in itself really is.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I can already hear the shrill protests from literary purists who insist that real textual authority belongs to the writer, not the reader. Further, they argue that we, as readers, must uncover the writer\u2019s intentions and context in order to discover the real \u201cmeaning\u201d of any written work. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

CRITICI disagree. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ Does anyone really believe Edgar Allan Poe expected readers in perpetuity to somehow comprehend the dreary, cocaine-infused 1845 context in which he wrote The Raven<\/em>? And what about James Joyce\u2019s critically acclaimed Ulysses<\/em>, which has slightly different endings in various editions of the book? Shortly before Joyce died, he was asked which version was his intended ending. He confessed, \u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I ask my university students on our first day of English class to summarize the theme of Romeo and Juliet<\/em>. Answers range from \u201ca love story\u201d to \u201ca tragedy\u201d to an \u201cOG soap opera,\u201d and they\u2019re not wrong. But in fact, Shakespeare wrote the play to connect with 16th-century Elizabethans, driving home one major point to their kids: if you defy your parents, you\u2019ll die a fool\u2019s death. Arranged marriage? Shut up and color.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Not very romantic then, but most certainly poignant, tragic, and emotionally charged today. That, I believe, would be all that mattered to Bill Shakespeare anyway: sell tickets, fill the Globe Theatre, pay the rent.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Still, literature gets more complex. Consider Salman Rushdie\u2019s Midnight\u2019s Children<\/em>, which drags readers through a main character\u2019s heart-wrenching death march, only to begin the next chapter with, \u201cNo, that\u2019s not what happened \u2026\u201d Plus, Guatemalan activist and Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Mench\u00fa, writing in English, promises on page one, \u201cYou\u2019ll never understand what I mean.\u201d Mench\u00fa and Rushdie are \u201coppositional writers\u201d: their goal isn\u2019t to hand you their meaning. Rather, you have to fight them for it. There are also \u201cdiachronic\u201d writers who bend time, as in Olive Schreiner\u2019s The Story of an African Farm<\/em>. Schreiner\u2019s protest against established rules of time and place mirrors the feminist struggle against masculinist priorities.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Literally, it\u2019s a jungle out there. But don\u2019t despair: we have ways of making books talk. That\u2019s what this column is about\u2014practical, useful, essential keys that will allow you to judge writing and distill meaning in what you choose to read. We\u2019ll take an incisive, simplified, authentic, and meaningful look at poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, taking the watch apart, seeing how the works function, and why. It\u2019s your right as a reader.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll share the essential critical tools that will help you unlock the meaning of what you read so you can share it with others and own it for yourself. You climb that mountain; I\u2019ll be the Sherpa. I\u2019ll provide the critical tools\u2014I know the way. How about a glimpse?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here is one<\/a> of my favorite Lone Star Literary reviews, along with my latest analysis of Falomo\u2019s new poetry collection, Autobiomythography Of<\/em><\/a>. Check them out, then let\u2019s meet again here next issue. Grab a cup of coffee, roll up your sleeves\u2014let\u2019s get to work and determine \u201cwhat the thing in itself really is.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

See you then,
CM<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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