Winter \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Cold Moon<\/p>\n
\u201c[A]ll methods of literary interpretation \u2014 Marxist, feminist, structuralist, and so on \u2014 depend upon the making of a distinction between surface and depth, between what is\u00a0seen<\/em>\u00a0in the text and some\u00a0underlying<\/em>\u00a0meaning.<\/p>\n \u2014 Peter Barry, \u201cPostmodernism,\u201d\u00a0Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory<\/em><\/p>\n As a sophomore I took a required introductory literature class. \u00a0I’d always read a lot, having completed many of the classics before my freshman year of college; so, I wanted to see how a college level look at literature worked. \u00a0To orient us to time and place I should note that this is the fall of 1966, the place, Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. \u00a0Since my freshman year had been at the all male Wabash College, Ball State with its thousands of students (Wabash had 800) and coeds (remember that quaint yesterday term?) was a new experience for me.<\/p>\n I don’t remember the professors name, but I can see him, a short balding man with a non-descript face, a bit fleshy. \u00a0A suit wearer. \u00a0Cheap suits. \u00a0Do you see where this is going? \u00a0He said he disciplined himself by reading Time cover-to-cover each week.<\/p>\n The particular books we read I don’t recall now. \u00a0What I do recall is this professor telling me what the books meant. \u00a0Huh? \u00a0I always thought that was a contract between writer and reader. \u00a0A matter of creator and a mind willing to encounter the creator’s work in a receptive way. \u00a0As to what things meant. \u00a0Well.<\/p>\n This was a time, gentle reader, a time before theory, a time in the ancient days of yore when books were books and a time when readers did not receive texts; we just read them. Of, course there were various schools of literary interpretation, but they had little impact on the average reader. \u00a0And even if a careful application of prevailing theory revealed ideas about a text, that was all they were. \u00a0Just ideas.<\/p>\n Not holy writ. \u00a0But this guy, this professor and his Time magazine reading discipline claimed to know what the author meant. \u00a0And, worse, what I should understand from having read a text. \u00a0This violated my joy in reading so much that I abandoned, in that class, ever taking another college class in literature; based on the premise that I would continue to read and continue to interpret books as they impacted me, not as some poor schlub in a cheap suit said I should.<\/p>\n Of course, I over reacted. \u00a0Goes without saying. \u00a0But, I kept reading. \u00a0I kept learning things, important things, from books. \u00a0I don’t regret the decision. \u00a0At all.<\/p>\n So, I continue to read today, blithely ignoring what others say works mean, and taking my own sustenance from them. \u00a0Wrestled out with what tools I’ve cobbled together from years of enjoying the written word.<\/p>\n Would I have learned a lot in English classrooms? \u00a0Sure, I would have. \u00a0Not every professor could have his head stuck so determinedly in the sand as this guy. \u00a0It’s just not possible, is it?<\/p>\n OK. \u00a0Just wanted to get that off my chest. \u00a0Thanks for listening.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Winter \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Cold Moon \u201c[A]ll methods of literary interpretation \u2014 Marxist, feminist, structuralist, and so on \u2014 depend upon the making of a distinction … Continue reading Caution: Rant about the teaching of literature<\/span>