The Death of the Critic

[felis_ultharus]

Strictly speaking, the scriptible [sic] text, when seen in terms of structuration, is not an object as such (although some texts contain more scriptibles than others); it is 'ourselves writing' ... Like the genotext, it has to be created anew in each reader, the observer being part of the observed.

Where do I sign up for the English course with actual English in them...?

And while we're at it, a word for Julia Kristeva, Roland Barthes, and the other darlings of the world of the Ivory Towers: language does not need to be "liberated" from meaning. It is not "enslaved" to the author in a "relationship reminiscent of a bourgeois father at the head of the family."

Meaninglessness and incomprehensibility are not goals worth pursuing. Language does not need to be "freed" from representing things.

People like you encourage those gods-awful experimental novels where they go on for three pages without a complete sentence or a direction, and then the authors complain bitterly that people just don't understand their work.

Why am I even in these courses? I feel like I know less than when I started.

On a lighter note, melting_penguin and Steve had their baby shower today, and it was a marvellous event. Hours later, I am still very full. Since melting_penguin is due in 2-3 weeks, the next time I see them, they may very well be parents :)