boxes and bricks
P30GDS1 who-is-at MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU
Sun, 04 Feb 96 11:24 CST
Good question Mike. I think that a 'box' text would be one
where we can intuit or whatever that the text in and of itself
is critically lacking in terms of directing its own interpretation,
and that context is critical in this situation. a 'brick' text
is one that gives the illusion (which i think is always a fals
illusion) that it does not need any further context for inter-
pretation; that is, it is a self-contained text in that it either
tells us exactly what it means, or it points with unambiguous to
the finite context needed to interpret it. In the Grateful Dead
example, all any of the debutantes etc at the ball would have to
know, according to the frame presented, is that the item 'x' to
be interpreted either; 1) is obvious to anyone possessing a modi-
cum of context on the matter, or 2) all you would have to do to
'get' the message of the item is to ask some hippie.
i wonder how these brick folk would interpret the following bits
of info: 1) the dead's publicist has a phd in history from
umass and is a respected keroauc scholar, 2) some of the
finest musicians around have either sat in or collaborated wiht
the dead (including ornette coleman, branford marsalis, david
murray, willie dixon, and even miles davis!), and 3) the dead
regularly commissioned pieces from contemporary classical com-
posers. i submit that these last three 'box-like' openings into
the complex meaning of the dead world are too damaging to the
'brick' motif and so would have to be shunted off....
thanks for listening to this ramble...
gary