Literary frou-frou

[icarus]

The essay that I'm reading.

"...focusing on the singularity of the language allows us to notice that the literariness of literature makes the language itself part of the content."

Can one shoot the author for that phrase alone? I've no doubt that somewhere there's a database with addresses and whatnot. I'm sure we can track her down.

Crap. I spend all my life trying to make what's been overly complicated, simple. Cleaning up the unnecessary confusion and obfuscation. I get the impression that these people like to bury their meaning. They're not attempting to communicate and connect.

I understand it. She's saying that the language is more important to the story than the plot, tells us more, gives us more meaning -- and I agree. The reason I think Beg Me For It is a good story is because of the POV character, how he filters the story, and what it tells the reader that it's the "ordinary guy" Ron, and what his filtering says about the gap between a horrific experience and how we handle that experience. Bottom line is that Beg Me For It is very hopeful, even while it doesn't ignore how we get effected in ways that we don't notice by the circumstances of our lives. It does say that we have power even when we're powerless. The story isn't in the plot. The story is in Ron's reactions and asides, his irreverent attitude.

Draco's a contrast, but he's doing the same thing. His bluntness shows his stark refusal to be controlled by his circumstances. But his way has its downside: he's clearer, cleaner than Ron, but all hell is unleashed against him. Ron's way is safer, but little compromises sneak in till he's changed in ways he doesn't intend. Draco's changed, too, but mostly on the outside (with all the bruises and abuse). It turns out that Draco's the one who takes lasting damage - he breaks - but his sharp words act as a wake-up call to Ron. Ultimately, the fact that Ron was starting to tell "Death Eater"-type jokes reveals something more sinister: that over time his compromises would have changed him too much. So that's the dark side weighed against the hope.

See? That was clear, wasn't it? No "literariness of literature" to be found. But yes, Spivak, how a story is told reveals a great deal.

*grumbles at overly stylistic frou-frou writing*


ETA (much later): Okay, cesperanza's right, my dissection here isn't formalist enough. I still swung back to dissecting character. But! I can do it. Really.

On the other hand -- I feel vindicated. Learned from the prof. this morning that Spivak has won the New York Times' mean spirited Worst Academic Writer award (so has Judith Butler). More than once. Even proponents call her style "tortured English."

Yes, I feel tortured all right.

Comments

[libitina]

Also, (building on what cesperanza said) I think there is the style of writing that is necessary to world building (e.g. different people presenting their worlds in vocabulary and language, like you have Ron doing) - and there is writing where it's also about the clever manipulations of the words themselves (e.g. I like how Jeanette Winterson can do this... and Vergil did it, too)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

When I read Joyce in the late 80s I abandoned the idea of writing and studying literature altogether and became a Buddhist nun instead. Even though I was "good at it" I decided that literature (and lit studies) was meaningless and benefited no one, while at its worst produced a sort of self-centered arrogance (Joyce being an example of its worst).

Now I have the juxtaposition of wildernessguru's mother's cancer -- the sort of very real anguish that I noticed 20 years ago -- and the very type of literary study that turned me off in the first place. And I still feel exactly the same.

I'm trying to come to grips with this and my need to write, and I'm coming to the conclusion that creativity is utterly divorced from literary criticism. They're not even on the same planet. Maybe there's a world of difference between being Joyce and writing Ulysses, and being a critic and analyzing it.

I find value in writing (not as much value as being a nun, but still some) that I'm not seeing in these classes. The heavy weight of cancer has taken away the enjoyment I have in learning in and of itself, reminding me that I have a time limit in my own life. I find I want to strip away things that are not important to me.

Icarus

[libitina]

1) I am not a creative person, but I have talked to enough people to get the impression that writing just bubbles out of some people, and there is no stopping it. If writing brings you joy... if you feel addicted to writing... if writing calms you, excites you, and wrings you out and you need that... then you should never stop writing. If your characters speak to you, then you should never stop writing.

ii) Writing is not the same as publishing. It at least used to be that in order to be published, someone had to look critically at your work and decide it had merit. This is only relevant if writing or discussing writing is your vocation and you plan on making money at it.

C) Literature benefits me. Seriously. I enjoy reading; therefore, someone has to write the stuff in order for me to get my pleasure. Now I certainly can't ever hope to get through 10% of everything ever written to date... but that doesn't mean I can't also enjoy the stuff you are writing right here and now that appears readily packaged on my internet.

IV) You can do worthwhile things *and* write.

I do not, however, think I have made a convincing argument for higher education.

What do I know? I have a degree in Classical Studies. At best, it has made me more entertaining at cocktail parties and unimpressed by predictions of the immenent downfall of civilisation.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

1)
ii)
C)
IV)

*laughs*

I'm not having the same reaction to my Asian Studies class (there I'm merely behind). It could be I just hate postmodernism. Either that, or I'm in the wrong major. Do I belong in an English major (fortunately I have two) when I'm hating it this much?

This crap divorces literature from what interests me. It's like turning on the stereo and getting no sound, and having some asshat music critc tell me it's the concept of sound that matters. They may feel profound and clever with that statement. I don't care.

I'm also having a really shitty day. I have to write a paper on something I hate this much, my boyfriend's mother is sick, I'm behind with no chance of catching up, my Powerpoint presentation that I worked on until 10pm last night was just eaten by my computer, my clock on my computer was wrong (and I forgot) so I missed an important class today. Now I have to meet with a presentation partner tonight empty-handed. I'm going class in an hour empty-handed. And I'm going to come away from this quarter empty-handed. Except for my grades. My grades are going to really suck. I'll get that much.

Icarus

[libitina]

So that Classical Studies degree? Was soul suckingly painful. I loved the research and the classes, but producing papers on it was agonising torture.

I failed out... I think it ended up being three times. And the took me back. I was required to take short leave of absences twice. And they took me back. After the second one, I was very close to tranferring to the school where I had spent the term off... and I'm still not sure I made the right decision when I went back.

But. I have a piece of paper.

I could have majored in anything - the content so rarely matters. It was just the subject about which I felt most excited.

There was only one important lesson I learned.

Done is good.

Even if you think the presentation is crap, even if the essay is shitty - get it done. Crap is still good enough; whereas promises are useless. Give yourself permission to produce crap. Say what you need, and then get out of there. Short the word count. Double space. Turn in your outline. Anything you need - just get something done.

I rather wish I'd learned that lesson earlier in college.

I certainly never expected college to teach me to lower my expectations for myself.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you, that was helpful. It's a lesson I learned in corporate America (where done is not only good, it's everything) but being graded on quality made me forget.