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Putting Yourself Second: Some Thoughts on Reading
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10222 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1993 |
3,763 Words |
| Author
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Martin Mueller
Martin Mueller is professor of English at Northwestern
University, Evanston, Illinois. |
To read is to make sense of the words of an absent author. Some of the difficulties of this process are illustrated playfully and lucidly in Alice's encounter with Humpty Dumpty:
"I don't know what you mean by 'glory,' " Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't--till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knockdown argument for you!' "
"But 'glory' doesn't mean a 'nice knock-down argument,' " Alice objected.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master--that's all."
Who is in charge of meaning? This question does not arise in face-to-face conversation. You say something, and I understand it. If I do not understand, I signal my failure in deliberate or involuntary ways, and you try again. You may say the same thing or you may vary it slightly, but my response is partly the author of your utterance. In conversation, we make sense together not only in the sense that we take turns at speaking and listening but in a stronger sense that inextricably intertwines listening and speaking. John Stuart Mill took this insight to a famous extreme when he portrayed Harriet Taylor as the author of his most powerful insights.
This is a benign account of peaceful conversation, but it is a cardinal fact that understanding happens. It is never perfect: We may, for instance, understand one another all too well. But it works well enough, and the countless instances of good enough understanding provide the background against which we identify both forms of misunderstanding and skills required for the successful practice of deception.
THE ABSENT AUTHOR
Whereas, in conversation, speaker and listener make sense together, the relationship of reader and text is characterized by the withdrawal of the author. At some level, the separation of
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