Smiley Face - 1/22

The part of class that fascinated me most was Tmesis, the gap. I don't think we realize how much of what we interpret in influenced by ourselves. Being a double major with English, all of the literary texts I have to read are writerly texts that depend on the input of the reader to make the reading experience enjoyable. Even today in my English class there were 5 very distinct opinions in regards to the author's intention with his work yet at the same time all of them were correct.

At the same time there are some cases in which authors write a letter to a friend of some sort describing their intentions with their text, as found accompanying 'The Faerie Queen' by Edmund Spencer. It is helpful to the reader to know of what the author was aiming for, yet there is still 'the gap' in which only the reader can fill. This could be described as a form of voyeurism from the authors part. There were any many 18th century writers who would take their literary form as a letter giving the reader the feeling that they are sneaking a peek into the life of the narrative when they are not meant to. This was a very popular form Furthermore, there are other case in which author abuse their ability to open a window of voyeurism, as found with the literary piece 'Utopia' by Thomas More. Here he writes a number of fault letters to real people in an attempt to draw a bridge between the real world and fantasy: to make Utopia seem like a real place. A more modern day version of this would be found with 'The Blair Witch Project', when just before the movie's release information was released about its authenticity when really it was fake.

For hundreds of years authors have consciously or subconsciously picked up on the importance of readers and their input into a text that fundamentally completes it. Authors have also recognized the joy readers take in believing that they are looking into a window they should not be. The ability of seeing the world from a different perspective, to pervert the world if you will, is a key element to being an author of text and acting as that catalyst to their reader.