http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123880307592488761.html#mod=todays_us_nonsub_weekendjournal
Alexander McCall Smith on the intense personal relationships readers form with characters and the ways that complicates the lives of authors.
This is an extremely interesting article I found in the Weekend Journal of WSJ. It is from the perspective of an author of fictional novels and how his job is complicated by people who look at stories too realistically as if they were true stories.
I thought this particular article worked really well with what we have talked about in class previously, especially remembering Dr. Lule's book. For instance, he brings up an issue of reader expectations when reading a crime or mystery fiction novel and how all of these stories follow a classic pattern: "First there is peace, then this peace is shattered bty the occurrenve of a crime, usually a murder. This leads to a search for the wrongdoer, his apprehension and punishment, and finally a return to peace." The suggestion here is that as readers, people want to see the moral balance restored. "It is these traditional novels that reassures us that we live in a moral universe."
I thought this particular comparison correlated really well with some of the points Dr. Lule was trying to get across in his book and what we talked about in class. How these templated stories, whether news stories or fictitious stories, provide a balance for society.
There is a lot more being talked about in this article and I think it would be a good read for everyone to check out. I just wanted to bring up that particular point in the article. In the end, the article is just trying to point out that it is in fact, just a story and authors should have a bit more freedom with where they want to take their work. Unfortunately, readers opinions sometimes skew where they take their stories.
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Your point does go really well with what we've talked about in class. It's all about how the reader reads the story and the fact that even though people may read the same story, everyone gets something different out of it. Authors may have a very clear idea as to what they want readers to take away from the story but regardless of their efforts to portray that message, it is still possible for readers to interpret it differently. Even if the story follows a familiar template making it easier for people to read because it follows along with their expecatations, readers are still likely to analyze the text differently in some way.
ReplyDeleteAs for the authors, I understand that they are concerned with writing things that appeal to readers so they feel their freedom is limited in that sense, but no matter what they write, there is a good chance that someone out there is going to like it. By taking a chance on writing something that doesn't fall within those template guidelines, it may produce a stronger impact or statement on the reader.
I also agree that this article goes well with the topics we talked about in class. I believe it was the Rosenwein theory that said all entertainment is about morality. And this article clearly demonstrates that because although a murder has happened, people still want someone to be caught just because it makes them feel better. The fact that the person gets caught does not bring the murdered victim back but it brings "peace" to the minds of the people who were close to the victims. This article helps support the theory about morality and it shows how authors think about what they write as well.
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