Making Meaning
In one of the oddest search queries I've ever seen in my referer logs, I show up as number 7 for Tolstoy, art is a form of communication, a vehicle which the artist can use to communicate his feelings and emotion; it is a "means of intercourse between man and man".
Now this certainly beats being number 218 for mom bent over tits, though it does make me wonder. Who would go through 217 results for that query before landing on my site? I feel certain they were disappointed. You can't please all possible audiences.
But I don't want to be a snob. I was cleaning out a bunch of old academic mail today (obviously), and ran across some stuff that made smoke roll out my ears. I won't name this guy (an English professor), but people like him contribute to the reasons why I think I prefer to continue in writing instruction rather than try to scale the battlements of the literature guardians:
My problem with encouraging "writing" is that for the most part it's based on what I consider false premises:The author of this is a major scholar. Starting with the first point: it (to me at least) has been shown convincingly that writing is what has made modern society possible. Without it, we'd be back to trying to memorize everything. From his view, "writing" is best done by only the qualified, elite folks; it is not a skill that is developed, but rather an innate "talent" that you are born into. He's talking himself out of a job. If talents are innate, then what's the point of education? This part is just a continuation of an age-old Greek debate. The second part, regarding "consciousness-raising" goes right back to the problem of education. If learning to write is not educational (and therefore consciousness raising) then why are people employed in humanities departments? As for the first part of this "false" premise, I would refer him to the work of James Pennebaker who has done scientific study on such factors as T-cell counts before and after writing activities (after traumatic events), which show that people who do try to express themselves become healthier. The first premise is purely classist; the second premise, pure ignorance.
- Everyone not only can but should be a "writer."
- "Writing" is a priori either therapeutic or consciousness-raising.
But that's not the worst thing I've heard come out of a teacher's mouth. I remember sitting in a classroom where a writing "teacher" said: "Not everyone belongs in college, the world needs auto-mechanics too." I suppose that's why I almost feel insulted when people call this an "academic blog."
I will never be like these people. If being an elitist snob is a prerequisite for admission, you can count me out now. I like to think that I can help people more effectively "make meaning" in their writing. Everyone should be a writer. That doesn't mean that they will ever find an audience outside a small circle of friends, but it does mean that their lives would be better if they picked up the craft of writing to help them make sense in the world.
Here here! Good on you, mate.
-----COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Norm Jenson
EMAIL: normjenson@yahoo.com
URL: http://www.onegoodmove.org/1gm
DATE: 06/04/2002 12:27:00 AM
Damn that was good. Your prize whether you value it or not is a link on my list of notable blogs. Best Regards,Norm
-----COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jill
EMAIL:
URL: http://cmc.uib.no/jill
DATE: 06/04/2002 6:06:00 AM
I completely agree with you, Jeff, that that professor's comments are appalling. Of course everyone can write. I love that blogs allow people's writing to be read, and who cares if it's a small circle? Not many people read academic publications, either! But I guess I just don't want to write off "academia" totally because of some bad attitudes. I've met a few of those elitist professors who want to keep everyone without a grey beard out but also so many generous academics who are genuinely interested in hearing what others have to say, and to encourage writing and openness and sharing. That's the kind of academic I want to be. I generally just try and ignore the lone professors.Maybe I'm lucky to have found a spot where the academics around me are helpful and open-minded. Well. Most of them.
-----COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Loren
EMAIL:
URL: http://home.attbi.com/~loweb3/In_a_Dark_Time.html
DATE: 06/04/2002 11:15:00 AM
Except for the excessive homework, I always enjoyed teaching writing classes the most precisely because you could teach everybody something. You could tailor the class to the individual's level. Everyone needs to write at some level because good writing is nothing more than good thinking. And teaching people to think to me was at the very heart of teaching, and democracy. And, oh, by the way, elitist teachers aren't limited just to colleges, high schools have their share too.
-----COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pascale Soleil
EMAIL:
URL: http://weblogs.radio.com/0100595/
DATE: 06/05/2002 12:36:00 PM
Writing can serve all kinds of purposes or none. I thought of this thread of comments after reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/03/books/03ACKE.html (Diane Ackerman talking about her poetry and psychotherapy).