For our essays, we were fortunate enough to critique works that were already deemed "classics," making our interpretation of them easy due to the large amounts of critical writings on the works at our dispossal. Sure we can assign our own meaning (and I definitely feel that it is very important to do so), but really, who can argue with years and years of prior criticism and analysis?
As far as actually composing poetry goes, the meaning is left solely up to us to create. The poems can mean whatever we like, and then on the flip side, our audiences have much more freedom of interpretation since none of us are established authors. The reader can then decipher our poetry in any way they see fit. However, with this authorial freedom, comes the burden of creating poetry that actually speaks to the audience in a way that we intended. Of course, there is always wiggle room for interpretation, but if I would write a poem about oranges, and everyone in our class interpreted it as a poem about apples, then I as an author am confronted with a predicament. I may have written a beautiful poem, but if my audience interprets it different than my intentions or creative passions, then I may have to go back and re-work it.
“interpretation of meaning in one and the creation of meaning in the other.”
ReplyDeleteArt, you say that we interpret the meaning of one, and create the meaning of another. I say that we do both for each. I say this, because when we’re writing about poetry, even classics, we’re only interpreting a meaning that we created from our own experiences, or something we’ve previously read. Just because there are loads of interpretations on critical works does not mean that each reader is going to interpret them the same or even look at them in the same way. And while I do understand what you’re saying about how when we write poetry we’re creating meaning: I also think that we’re creating a meaning we know will be interpreted by audiences. Essentially, if we ignored our intended audiences everything we wrote would be far less meaningful and wouldn’t impact our readers or listeners the way we wanted. That’s why when I’m writing a short story or a poem and I read it over after it’s completely done, I edit it. I edit it not just for grammar and spelling, but I edit it based on the effectiveness of my delivery methods, because I’m thinking about how it will be interpreted.
Art,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your thoughts on this topic. You bring up a good point about studying "classic" poems. I mean, honestly, what is so great about William Carlos Williams' "A Red Wheelbarrow" that has resonated with readers over decades? It seems like a tedious task to analyze something that has been picked apart by scholars over the years and to have a fresh, innovative take on it. Analysis feels like a no-brainer sometimes, whereas creating a new piece can be an emotional, inspirational experience.
I do think, however, that a reader's interpretation of a given work should be viewed as valid, even if it does not fully correspond to the intention of the writer. The beauty of poetry and any creative piece of literature for that matter, should be found through various means of interpretation on the part of the reader. Poetry's ability to speak to different people on different levels only adds to its beauty!
Paula Jennings
I agree that interpreting meaning and creating meaning are the most significant differences in writing poetry and analyzing the poetry of others. It is quite a leap to go from reading the poetry of others and writing one’s own, so much so that you may feel as if you are trying to mimic the style of another’s work. I found that I was searching for a way to best represent the mood of a particular period where the line poetry form was at its height, most notably with the work Jack Kerouac who made great use of the line structure. It can be difficult to adhere to the form a certain poetic structure but that is perhaps the most rewarding part of writing a poem. Seeing the completed product made me feel as though I had conveyed meaning in a momentous way. You make a great point that “poetry is up to us to create” and it is, the meaning can only be derived from the author who created the poem and put their emotions into print.
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