ChittyChittyBangBang 1/30

In class on tuesday we explored "the gap". I have never heard the terms, "writerly" and "readerly" texts before. Although writerly texts are more interesting to read in my opinion because they are open to interpretation and allow you to fill in the gap. The same goes for when we read into the photographs of Marilyn Monroe and the man with his shirt open. These pictures are more "pornographic" and exciting because there is a gap to fill in. It is left up to our imagination and we can decide what it means, what is happening in the picture, or what is underneath Marilyn's dress.

I enjoyed the discussion we had on "perversion" as well. When we first began talking about it, I was a little shocked because I, as several other, associate that term with being negative and sexual. I like Barthes use of the term though, encouraging us to be perverts: to question the reading, to read between the lines, to just pull the text inside out and find other meanings it could have. The term is aggressive and says a lot. We dont have to be naive, we dont have to accept what is written on the page. We can explore it and challenge it and I agree with Barthes that that is important. "In difference is where we get pleasure"--Barthes

We also dove into Macherey this past class period. The quote that sticks out in my mind from our class session is: "Are there texts which say what they mean...without depending directly on other texts?" (16)

This quote sums up a lot of what we have been discussing in class this term. We can't help but associate things with prior experiences and knowledge. Texts are usually going off of something else the author has heard. The author might be challenging that, agreeing with it, or exploring it furthur. It reminds me of the ghoti exercise. We have been taught what each letter sounds like and looks like next to other letters and that is how we live our life. Texts are always going to have similar styles as anthother text, using a language or an idea someone else has used.