MerryChristmas!, Barthes, 1.22.09

In class on Thursday we discussed the idea of tmesis or the gap that we fulfill when reading a text. We learned that tmesis is the process in which our brains are rewriting what we are reading. While the rest of the class seemed to have no problem filling in the gap with the "A Short Story" exercise, I seemed to have considerable trouble doing so. Like Julie, I completely separated the words and their meanings. I disregarded capitalizations or any grammatical extras like quotations, semicolons, and periods. They were just words to me. I felt no need to imagine what is the meaning beyond the words because the meaning lies in the word itself and only changes when we attempt to interpret it. I assumed that the exercise was to show how grammar plays a role in the meaning of words, not about tmesis.
Another idea that Barthes coined was that "from one reading to the next, we never skip the same passage". In other words, while watching a movie a second time, one realizes more about the movie and the meaning changes. This may be a stretch, but I related that idea to one of mine. Have you ever gone to a place when you were a child and thought that it was so big? The people were so much older and the place where you were seemed massive. You go away for a few years and you come back to that same place with the same people. The place all of a sudden seems smaller and the people don't seem so old. Even now, I can remember being in high school when my brother went off to college and thinking he was so accomplished and so much older than myself. Now that I am here, I still feel the same, but my perspective has changed. Perhaps we can apply some of Barthes' quotes and theologies to our own lives in a similar way. However, in the end, I believe that this is all about perspective and how one "sees" things.