The natures of both reading and writing are beautifully similar to the nature of the universe and our place in it, as understood through a Biblical, Christian lens. Foster suggests that “a reader’s imagination is the act of one creative intelligence engaging another” (114). The writer invents and constructs a new world in a text, a profound mixture of the base functionality of language and the creative use of that language to form distinctly new worlds. The reader then, understanding how to interpret a set of symbols or images on a page or screen, can adventure out into the constructed literary world. The reader can ponder the author’s symbolic choices, empathize with the Heroes, rejoice in the destruction of the Villains, and take great pleasure in the grand swathes of exposition.
So too does humanity exist in and explore this beautifully and imaginatively created physical world. Just as literary worlds are constructs of words, so also the Earth and Universe were spoken into being, as the book of “Genesis” accounts: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (1:3), “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so" (1:9). Readers explore the written word through an interpretation of symbolic shapes, and humanity explores the physical word through an interpretation of the five senses' perceptions. The relationship between authors and readers is a shadowy projection of the relationship between The Author and humanity—exploring, enjoying, puzzling over, and marveling at creation. A reader’s creative intelligence, through the simple act of reading, engages with creative intelligence of the author; a living person’s creative intelligence, through the simple act of living, engages with the creative intelligence of the Creator.
Dear Josh,
ReplyDeleteI just re-read this part in Foster yesterday. I love this idea of the reader and the writer connecting through imagination. We will read an article early on in the year by Nabokov, who echoes this very idea--good readers must have imagination, just like the writer. This also taps into the idea that we as readers as well as writers are "creators," a sort of biblical implication perhaps. The reader needs the writer, the writer needs the reader. Perhaps this is true of God and man.
This makes me think about the sacred relationship between author and reader (and the text itself even. Art is at is essence "spiritual." "Spiro" is the Latin verb for "breathe." So, to "inspire" is to breathe into. The ancients believed in the 9 Muses, divine beings who presided over all facets of art. So art requires the divine on some level I would say.
ReplyDeleteThis post made me think of artistic collaborations. As a ballet dancer, one of my favorite collaborations was that of choreographer George Balanchine and composer Igor Stravinsky. These two men came from different disciplines; dance and music. What is beautiful and relevant about their work is that they melded their respective expertise to create one individual piece of artwork. The music would not exist if it weren't for the choreography and vice versa. When people watch a Balanchine-Stravinsky ballet,they likely notice they way the music and the dance inherently fit together. It is as if the dancing is a physical manifestation of the music. George Balanchine has a famous quote that goes, "See the music; hear the dance." This dynamic could not be achieved without the give and take relationship of the composer and the choreographer. I believe this dynamic is apparent in literature as well. The choreographer and the composer become the author and the reader. These two positions inherently need each other. One could not very well exist without the other. What is interesting about the author-reader relationship is that the two may have never met, but together they create a reaction. The author's writing makes the reader feel some sort of emotion and inspires some sort of reaction within the reader. Granted, not every reaction is one of prominent significance, but each shapes the reader's life and actions in some way. Therefore, the author-reader relationship is a form of artistic collaboration.
ReplyDelete