Author, Reader, or Text? (aka Canonicity Slapdown 2005)

[Bêthberry]

Hmm. I sense something here, not a monkey wrench so much as a ... "Thenamire." Or are we caught between atar and a landlubber?

Originally Posted by alatar

I assume that we get back to the 'reader majority' where the 'meanings' are averaged and outliers (opinions that are way, WAY outside the curve) are thrown out.

At one time it was thought ludicrous that stomach ulcers were caused by bacteria, and yet...

Originally Posted by Thenamir

I think it wise to place both extremes into the great wastebin with those who have never read LOTR and have no intention of doing so. Add to them those whose distorted worldviews force a single message on *every* work they encounter.

That leaves us in the Great Middle, and even amongst ourselves we are mired in endless debate on ...

I'm not sure what to think of these two suggestions.

Alatar and Thenamir, are you both saying that extreme interpretations should be rejected simply on the basis of being extreme, that is, in the minority or seemingly absurd? I'm not sure how logically sound that would be, for the extremes or absurdities of one generation often come 'round to being the middle of the road opinions of later generations. It seems a bit of a tautology to accept only those whose ideas appear to lead to certainty. Could not uncertainty be a plausible meaning?

Or

Are you suggesting that LotR, like many books, in fact creates its own kind of reader, who happens to have certain qualities which fall in the mainstream?

Kettle, signing off...