From: LouisFors@aol.com
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Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 15:04:01 EST
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Subject: Re:  # 452 musings
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I enclose Linda Coblentz's recent non-member post via "forward," since that's
the only way I know to deliver it.  

Linda speaks of sensing strong sexuality in # 452, a point I had made and then
quickly pulled back from, doubting my ground.  Let me rearrange Linda's points
into three, hoping not to distort her post too much:  (1) of what significance
should the writer's intent be in the act of reader/hearer criticism:?
(Although I was by no means a literature major in school, I got heavy doses of
"intentional fallacy," which, when I was studying, was a strong no no.  You
don't try to guess intentions, because you can't know them.  The text is all.
I'm curious to know where that concept stands today. (2) Meaning resides "at
least partly in the minds of the readers."  Of this I suspect there can be no
debate.  (Famous last words?) (3)  Is it not acceptable to apply thinking of
persons--like Freud or Marx or Jung or Susanne Langer--whose work came after
the artist's time?  If the investigatory tools are useful how does it matter
that they weren't known when the artist worked?  Medical doctors have
speculated repeatedly about the cause of Mozart's death, using medical
information not available when he died.  The assumed body of Jesse James has
been dug up to use DNA methods to see if it actually was James in the hole.
(I've forgotten whether it was.)  Carbon dating confirms time of the great
cave paintings of France and Spain.

Linda stated her case well, and there was probably no reason to rephrase it
except to incorporate the points more fully into my own thinking.  Please
forgive the length.

Thanks to all for previous help and, perhaps, for more of it.

Louis Forsdale