In Response to My Q&A #1 (Part 2)

“2. Are novels truly objective in the way in which they should be interpreted?”

Similarly to my previous question, I now view this as a question that could be worded in better way. However, I do think that that this is still a subject that should be focused on.

During class on Wednesday, we spent some time discussing Nussbaum’s claim that the individual reader should not play a role in the process in of interpreting a literary text. In her own words, “seeing something in a literary text is unlike seeing shapes in the clouds, or in the fire” (9).

And so, from that quote, I find that I have a better question. What role (if any) should personal interpretation play? Clearly, in Nussbaum’s view, the answer would be none, but I am not ready to completely accept that answer just yet. It seems that, although there is only one correct way to interpret each piece of literary work, personal interpretation could still play a minor role.

In order to explain, I will provide an example. Even though a reader may reach the correct conclusion in regards to the significance of a story, they could end up understanding the work in different way once they relate the work to their life. For example, if a person had an experience that was similar to what they read about in the novel, then they may place more emphasis on that particular aspect of the story. Accordingly, they may still have interpreted the story in the correct way, but still understand the story in a subjective manner.

However, this is not to imply that a piece of literature is completely up for personal interpretation. I would agree with Nussbaum in that there is only one correct personal interpretation for each piece of literary work. However, although that aspect of interpretations is completely objective, it seems that there is still a role for personal interpretation in regards to the way in which a person views each piece of literary work