Re: Huck V.S. the Representational System

Poster： Kate Liu at 10:3:41 12/17/97 from ts2-ppp-02.fju.edu.tw
RE Eric Kao at 9:34:24 11/20/97 posted 「Huck V.S. the Representational System 」Subject

Hi, Eric,

Sorry to respond to your writing so late.

I think your analysis is quite original and interesting. Huckleberry Finn is a good choice for you to analyze issues in representation.

Here I have some suggestions:

1. Do you want to make a distinction between appearance and essence? Think more about this, and you don't need to agree with me. Basically, poststructuralism sees everything as construction, including what we regard as "essence" (femininity) and "truth" (love, god).
Remember Derrida's differance.

2. It's interesting to use the three approaches to representation on the novel. However, re-consider your discussion of the first two approaches. I don't think I completely understand you. But it seems hard to look at Huck's lie as "reflection" of reality. For me, what Huck, with his limited resources and understanding of language and culture, does is to make do with what he has to construct meanings. Just because of this, his actions (or lies) sometimes challenge the existing symtem of meaning.
Tom on the other hand, wants to do things to "reflect" heroic reality, though actually he gets it all from the book. This again, shows how artificial(constructed) meanings (such as hero) are.

Good work and thank you for your contribution.

Kate

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>> Hi, Eric,

>> Sorry to respond to your writing so late.

>> I think your analysis is quite original and interesting.  Huckleberry Finn is a good choice for you to analyze issues in representation.

>> Here I have some suggestions:

>> 1. Do you want to make a distinction between appearance and essence?  Think more about this, and you don't need to agree with me.  Basically, poststructuralism sees everything as construction, including what we regard as "essence" (femininity) and "truth" (love, god).

>> Remember Derrida's differance.

>> 2. It's interesting to use the three approaches to representation on the novel.  However, re-consider your discussion of the first two approaches.  I don't think I completely understand you.  But it seems hard to look at Huck's lie as "reflection" of reality.  For me, what Huck, with his limited resources and understanding of language and culture, does is to make do with what he has to construct meanings.  Just because of this, his actions (or lies) sometimes challenge the existing symtem of meaning.

>> Tom on the other hand, wants to do things to "reflect" heroic reality, though actually he gets it all from the book.  This again, shows how artificial(constructed) meanings (such as hero) are.

>> Good work and thank you for your contribution.

>> Kate

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