In reading texts, it is more often that we tend to visualize the setting, the physical features of the characters based on what is described there, etc. We see how the characters move, act and feel as well as how the conflict arises and how it is resolved. Then, after one point, some people go back to what they call “reality.” They have seen texts apart from their lives, as source of diversion, escape or entertainment for the various things that we face in life. We have forgotten that texts are given birth, written by people like us in some definite time and place.
Texts are literally just pieces of papers filled with meaningful ideas or events arranged on a particular plot or direction, but there’s something more to them than just this. This more-ness is the one that more often people tend to disregard as they read the texts. . What I am referring to in this more-ness is that in every direction and every sense, when dealing with texts, there seems to be an intimate connection between the writer and the reader. Consciously or unconsciously, the writer’s and the reader’s strings of thoughts get connected and it is in this very simplistic sense that one has touched the other’s lives. For example, an author may have seen a young high school student reading his novel; the author will suddenly get interested and join the student in his reading. Then, after talking about the text, suddenly, they will start to share something about their own experiences. In this specific case, the text builds a new connection, extends the boundaries of the two people and allows them to share their lives with one another at that short span of time. It enlarges both the world of the student and the author to include another person in their lives
A point to add, an argument may be raised here by considering a case like this: if the reader gets a different interpretation from what the author intends to mean, which one will be technically correct? This question cannot be directly answered, but one thing is certain— by the fact that the two gather different meanings in the same text only strengthens the idea that texts are indeed rooted to the richness of reality. As they are rooted from a rich source, the texts themselves become rich in nature and there are plenty of insights that can be gathered. We must note too that though a text roots deeply in the richness of reality, it lets us not just only see reality, but also act on reality based from what we have seen so far. Thus, it calls for a particular transformation based on what we have seen, an action for striving and making our lives more meaningful and a movement toward a better self at infinite possibilities.
Indeed every single word or text delivered by a specific author is actually sharing his/her experience. And it is up to us to interpret their words upon our experience. Their words may or may not change our present state of living, and it depends on whether we will act or ignore the words that we have seen or listened. The richness of reality comes from the interrelation of our own experience and that of others. So by saying "I" we mean that "I" exist with others, because we can't form our experience without the interference of other people, given that we are all relational being. We form our unique experience by constantly taking in other's experience and sharing out our own experience.
ReplyDeleteWai Yiu So (A)
Reading is my hobby and for me, reading is like travelling. When I read, whether fiction or non-fiction, I tend to visualize every description written as if I were there. I didn't have to go to the Louvre to know that the Mona Lisa is located on the first floor , all i did was read the DaVinci Code. I didn't have to go to Forks, where Bella lives, just to know it always rains there, all i did was read Twilight.
ReplyDeleteTexts whether fiction or non-fiction are manifestations of the reality the author has seen, heard, felt, in short--experienced. Thus, as they manifest these experiences in their texts, they give their readers the opportunity to experience the things that they have. The authors of the books I've read have given me the chance to go to places that I have never been to and see things that I have not yet seen and it is by this interaction that our "self" is formed.
Ynna Roldan, A
"We must note too that though a text roots deeply in the richness of reality, it lets us not just only see reality, but also act on reality based from what we have seen so far."
ReplyDeleteAmazingly said! Personally, I've always been fascinated by the written word. Novels, short stories and poetry have this amazing ability of transporting you through time and space. They have the ability to create worlds that you can explore like Middle Earth, Narnia, Westeros. They can make you feel attached to certain characters in whom we empathize. Words have the ability to make things feel so real, that sometimes, we get lost in the wilderness of text. When we read fiction, we feel as if it's real because it IS rooted in reality. Although texts and words are only written or spoken abstract things, it has the capability to transform us. It can teach us lessons, it can inspire us to change, it can inspire us to act.
People sometimes forget that words have so much power.
"We must note too that though a text roots deeply in the richness of reality, it lets us not just only see reality, but also act on reality based from what we have seen so far. "
ReplyDeleteThis line helps me remember another Philosopher who we've in discussed in class, Luijpen. I've realized that text is one way we experience the other worlds of people. Text in all its form is the avenue for us to take notice the "Many Human Worlds" Luijpen mentions. I guess it's through our interpretation or Mimesis that we relate to these texts/Other Human Worlds.
I like how you explained "more-ness of the text", I always think of it as "there's always more to the story than the text or how we see things," so I agree with your point.
ReplyDelete"If the reader gets a different interpretation from what the author intends to mean, which one will be technically correct?"
I have asked this question to myself too many times already and I end up thinking, this is because of the different environment/ situations the person is exposed to that's why they have different interpretations. In a way, it shows us the reality that people have different insights, like what you said.
Diane Cheng (C)
I like how you noted that "the text builds a new connection, extends the boundaries of the two people and allows them to share their lives with one another at that short span of time." Because through reading a text, we become in tuned with the author and we become aware that there is more to this world. We become open to the realities of the world and accepting that there are many different stories, different protagonists, different problems, different lives, and so much more differences, that we might not have realized just through our daily lives.
ReplyDeleteThrough text, time is not an issue, we become interconnected with the thoughts of others, past, present or future wise, and in a sense, this can help define our perceptions of the world around us, making us more aware to evaluate ourselves and make us more, hence, the more-ness of a text.
Trixia Tan (C)
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ReplyDeleteI agree to his point. There should be an intimacy between the reader and writer for them to be in contact with each other. Indeed, it is the moreness which brings the two entities together, and let the connection transcend the boundaries between them. Again, we return to the idea of opening yourself to others in order ton reach out to them. This leads us to prove that Marcel's Philosophy is also applicable.
ReplyDeleteMar Tan (C)
I agree with what you said that text offers a transformation on the person. Although things like literature and art come from an imagined world, they are nevertheless real to the person making them, and the person experiencing them. My friend was reading Calvin and Hobbes, and at the end of the comic strip he cried for a day because he was really affected by the ending. According to him it really developed him and he learned from it, and it just goes to show how literature can go into the "real" world and affect people and change them.
ReplyDeleteMiguel Co (A)
Yes, I agree with the point that there is really a connection between the reader and the author. A connection exists because the reality remains that some sort of sharing happened. The sharing of experiences, the sharing of smiles, the sharing of thoughts, the sharing of laughters.
ReplyDeleteMore so, I always think of texts, reading and these connections, as somehow, a sharing of selves. When we read a text-- any text of a matter, even if its just a word, it already evokes something. It already represents something of value to the person who chose to mention that word. Example, even the simple mere texts we see on the streets, the graffiti's or random words/flyers stuck on electrical poles, walls or what-- these words are still stories-- in which, the author is represented-- where a part of his/her self is given away.
Denise Tan (A)