Welcome to the course blog for Engl 206/CWL 257: Enlightenment Literature and Culture!
Monday, February 14, 2011
For Credit: Finding a Way In
What interpretive questions would you like to ask about this text? Feel free to respond to this post by either posing a question for your classmates to respond to, or by answering a classmate's question.
Deadline: Friday (2/18), start of class.
9 comments:
Anonymous
said...
My question is: how do we approach a text that is self-referential? I've always been taught that the 4th Wall is only to be broken in the most rare of occasions, but as per our discussion today this story doesn't exactly function that way. I'm just not used to it, and I don't know if there's a nuance to it that I'll miss.
What is the significance of the various proverbs that are placed throughout the novel? For example, several proverbs are indented in the text on page 122 and page 125. Are they a literary technique with their morals relating to similar actions occurring in the chapters?
What is the quarrel about between Bao-yu and Dai-yu that triggers Dai-yu to cut the jade into several pieces? (page 124)
I am interpreting Bao-yu and Dai-yu to have a romantic connection as the novel progresses even though they are cousins. Am I misinterpreting their relationship?
Celeste- I do not think you are misinterpreting their relationship. It was quite common back in the day to marry cousins, even if they were "first cousins" and whatnot. I'm not sure about page 124; I have noticed that she is prone to fits of jealousy if that helps at all O.o
In "The Story of the Stone" we can relate to one of the reoccurring themes of love. However, I feel that this story is very similar to the others that we have discussed in class with such a tragic or unpredictable ending. I would like to ask others, what do they think are others themes besides love that are significant or illustrated from the perspective of the author Cao Xueqin. I would also like to understand the importance that the author wishes to capture with this form of literary narration. He seems to know all the emotions and events from every characters point of view. In what ways, does this relate to the larger literary work expressed during this time period?
How are we supposed to understand the chain of authority in the household as it is presented in the Sword and the Stone, I'm rather confused as to who is in charge of whome, when, and why?
Demosthenes- breaking the 4th wall (the barrier between audience and work) is not as unusual as you think. Now, I don't know what the tradition in olden China was, but I've read several works that function with an aspect known as "metadrama": a work that acknowledges the audience or breaks the 4th wall in some way.
Examples of this include Shakespeare ("A Midsummer Night's Dream), Samuel Carson Beckett ("Endgame"), and even solo shows/plays like Guillermo Verdecchia's "Fronteras Americanas". As far as missing some nuance, I wouldn't worry too much about it, just keep reading the novel and interpret it how you will.
What worries me about the text is the continual references to fairies and their names! How is it that their names can be so obvious as Disenchantment or Dumb and Numb that ferry the Ford of Error (94)? There is no way to misinterpret those names (I think).
Also, has anyone else noticed how the names of the servants differ greatly from the names of the aristocracy characters? The characters are given human names, but like the mythical characters, the servants have romantic names - Nightingale, Pearl, Aroma, Skybright and Snowgoose. What do you make of this? Is there some sort of cultural significance or practice I'm missing?
My question would be how can we relate to the different chacters in the story? Some of them deal with knowing they are disappointing a loved one, others deal with different issues involving love. What charaters are most like students today?
@ Jetara I feel that the author purposely used this form of narrative because it was common at the time. The stories had to have some type of relation to the culture as a whole, in which the audience could take something from it. I think with that aspect, it was easy for this worked to be taken on b others and continued. They almost have a set groundwork for how things are suppose to go. We see the characteristics that Bao-yu possessed in the story, which as a author who is continuing the work of Cao Xuequin would be easy during that time. One would not be able to differentiate between authors. It may seem like these stories from this time period are the same, but I feel they each have their own unique spin on a common category or circle of themes.
9 comments:
My question is: how do we approach a text that is self-referential? I've always been taught that the 4th Wall is only to be broken in the most rare of occasions, but as per our discussion today this story doesn't exactly function that way. I'm just not used to it, and I don't know if there's a nuance to it that I'll miss.
What is the significance of the various proverbs that are placed throughout the novel? For example, several proverbs are indented in the text on page 122 and page 125. Are they a literary technique with their morals relating to similar actions occurring in the chapters?
What is the quarrel about between Bao-yu and Dai-yu that triggers Dai-yu to cut the jade into several pieces? (page 124)
I am interpreting Bao-yu and Dai-yu to have a romantic connection as the novel progresses even though they are cousins. Am I misinterpreting their relationship?
Celeste- I do not think you are misinterpreting their relationship. It was quite common back in the day to marry cousins, even if they were "first cousins" and whatnot. I'm not sure about page 124; I have noticed that she is prone to fits of jealousy if that helps at all O.o
In "The Story of the Stone" we can relate to one of the reoccurring themes of love. However, I feel that this story is very similar to the others that we have discussed in class with such a tragic or unpredictable ending. I would like to ask others, what do they think are others themes besides love that are significant or illustrated from the perspective of the author Cao Xueqin. I would also like to understand the importance that the author wishes to capture with this form of literary narration. He seems to know all the emotions and events from every characters point of view. In what ways, does this relate to the larger literary work expressed during this time period?
How are we supposed to understand the chain of authority in the household as it is presented in the Sword and the Stone, I'm rather confused as to who is in charge of whome, when, and why?
Demosthenes- breaking the 4th wall (the barrier between audience and work) is not as unusual as you think. Now, I don't know what the tradition in olden China was, but I've read several works that function with an aspect known as "metadrama": a work that acknowledges the audience or breaks the 4th wall in some way.
Examples of this include Shakespeare ("A Midsummer Night's Dream), Samuel Carson Beckett ("Endgame"), and even solo shows/plays like Guillermo Verdecchia's "Fronteras Americanas". As far as missing some nuance, I wouldn't worry too much about it, just keep reading the novel and interpret it how you will.
What worries me about the text is the continual references to fairies and their names! How is it that their names can be so obvious as Disenchantment or Dumb and Numb that ferry the Ford of Error (94)? There is no way to misinterpret those names (I think).
Also, has anyone else noticed how the names of the servants differ greatly from the names of the aristocracy characters? The characters are given human names, but like the mythical characters, the servants have romantic names - Nightingale, Pearl, Aroma, Skybright and Snowgoose. What do you make of this? Is there some sort of cultural significance or practice I'm missing?
My question would be how can we relate to the different chacters in the story? Some of them deal with knowing they are disappointing a loved one, others deal with different issues involving love. What charaters are most like students today?
@ Jetara I feel that the author purposely used this form of narrative because it was common at the time. The stories had to have some type of relation to the culture as a whole, in which the audience could take something from it. I think with that aspect, it was easy for this worked to be taken on b others and continued. They almost have a set groundwork for how things are suppose to go. We see the characteristics that Bao-yu possessed in the story, which as a author who is continuing the work of Cao Xuequin would be easy during that time. One would not be able to differentiate between authors. It may seem like these stories from this time period are the same, but I feel they each have their own unique spin on a common category or circle of themes.
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