virtualaenigma OP t1_ixb98nu wrote on November 22, 2022 at 3:32 AM

Reply to comment by Ok_Let8329 in The deep meanings we extract from books are not a reflection of the author's genius by virtualaenigma

I don't mean that the skill and talent of the musician or the writer should not be praised. They may very well be excellent in their craft.

What I mean is that often people will praise a piece of work for eliciting a certain feeling or making them think a certain way. They will talk about that feeling or perspective as an intentional choice that the author made, for which they ought to be praised. But if that was never the intent of the author, isn't that more from the reader's interpretation than from the author? It doesn't mean that the author is any less skilled as a writer but that particular feeling came from the reader, not the book.

For example, a feminist reader may praise a book for its portrayal of strong female characters. If the author never really intended to highlight strong female characters, isn't that unearned praise for the author?

Ok_Let8329 t1_ixbfre1 wrote on November 22, 2022 at 4:29 AM

>For example, a feminist reader may praise a book for its portrayal of strong female characters. If the author never really intended to highlight strong female characters, isn't that unearned praise for the author?

That example doesn't really make sense. The author still wrote strong female characters, whether a feminist praises it or not.

virtualaenigma OP t1_ixcth9p wrote on November 22, 2022 at 2:07 PM

The author may have simply written a strong character who happens to be female. The author may never have intended the character's gender to be a focal point but a feminist would praise the book as though the author intended to strengthen a female character. That would be false praise for the author.

Maybe my example doesn't make sense but the point I'm making is that for me to praise a book for presenting a concept or a perspective that was not the author's intent is unearned praise for the author.

Ok_Let8329 t1_ixddqqq wrote on November 22, 2022 at 4:32 PM

>The author may have simply written a strong character who happens to be female. The author may never have intended the character's gender to be a focal point but a feminist would praise the book as though the author intended to strengthen a female character. That would be false praise for the author.

The author is actually deserving of more praise in that example, because he wrote a strong female character subconsciously, and so he's naturally a feminist and his work is not contrived.

>Maybe my example doesn't make sense but the point I'm making is that for me to praise a book for presenting a concept or a perspective that was not the author's intent is unearned praise for the author.

You might've had this experience with a few books and are trying to extrapolate a universal theory. I can't think of any good examples of this, though.