Agreeing with me isn't usually a requirement for hanging out here. *g*
Huh. I think I must hunt that essay up, and yeah, I am getting what you're saying. People get really...convenient about the pertinence of the author and the author's politics when it comes to evaluating or judging a work. It's everything when it suits the reader and then nothing when it suits the reader, and yes, those are both extremist black-and-white positions and every extremist black-and-white position will inevitably run into a situation when it fails utterly to serve anyone's needs anywhere.
Maybe it's just because I am an Enemy (tm) to biographical criticism, but that hop on the tracks of logic where the author can and can't be important to the reading of the work has never quite sat right with me.
no subject
Agreeing with me isn't usually a requirement for hanging out here. *g*
Huh. I think I must hunt that essay up, and yeah, I am getting what you're saying. People get really...convenient about the pertinence of the author and the author's politics when it comes to evaluating or judging a work. It's everything when it suits the reader and then nothing when it suits the reader, and yes, those are both extremist black-and-white positions and every extremist black-and-white position will inevitably run into a situation when it fails utterly to serve anyone's needs anywhere.
Maybe it's just because I am an Enemy (tm) to biographical criticism, but that hop on the tracks of logic where the author can and can't be important to the reading of the work has never quite sat right with me.