The Challenge of Pragmatism in Authorship
Pragmatism, as I have come to understand it, is this: how the author conveys that which is objective as to affect the way the reader perceives it and reacts to it.
The author presents facts in a certain way to incite a reaction from the reader—which is, of course, subjective. My query stems from this turn toward the subjective on the reader’s half. What ensures that this is valid? It is already difficult to say what one means, but to manipulate the reader with what one means to say is a level of difficulty above that. If one is to be clear and concise with what one means to get across, mustn’t one sacrifice a certain amount of manipulative resources?
Were I to answer my own question, I would say, “Yes,” and further elaborate that this is what makes the manipulation so difficult. There is little room to be creative and/or manipulative with discourse when one must be so consistently crystal clear; even then that which is implied flies over people scratching their heads. I myself wonder what an author is trying to lead me to. As we read in an earlier reading in the course, a good book triumphs over the trouble of conveying meaning to readers; still, often times, I find the idea en route to my understanding a little vague… and perhaps this is because the simplest idea almost always clears the bridge of understanding between the author and the audience, but alone on the audience’s side of understanding it looks underdeveloped.
Pragmatism, as I have come to understand it, is this: how the author conveys that which is objective as to affect the way the reader perceives it and reacts to it.
The author presents facts in a certain way to incite a reaction from the reader—which is, of course, subjective. My query stems from this turn toward the subjective on the reader’s half. What ensures that this is valid? It is already difficult to say what one means, but to manipulate the reader with what one means to say is a level of difficulty above that. If one is to be clear and concise with what one means to get across, mustn’t one sacrifice a certain amount of manipulative resources?
Were I to answer my own question, I would say, “Yes,” and further elaborate that this is what makes the manipulation so difficult. There is little room to be creative and/or manipulative with discourse when one must be so consistently crystal clear; even then that which is implied flies over people scratching their heads. I myself wonder what an author is trying to lead me to. As we read in an earlier reading in the course, a good book triumphs over the trouble of conveying meaning to readers; still, often times, I find the idea en route to my understanding a little vague… and perhaps this is because the simplest idea almost always clears the bridge of understanding between the author and the audience, but alone on the audience’s side of understanding it looks underdeveloped.
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