Frye

I can say that I have had some experience reading Northrop Frye, though that experience lies more in the reading of his views on literary criticism. In Frye's never-failing characteristic style, Words with Power offers the mind about as complex of a puzzle as it can handle. I find myself having to go back and read passages two or three times to really begin to get a grasp on what it is that is trying to be said. Thus far, I have had a particular liking for the section dealing with perception in the reading of a text. To quote, "arrangement means selecting for emphasis, and selecting for emphasis can never be definately right or wrong." Suffice to say that this statement alone could be immidiately and with little thought dumped into the bin of literature labled "heavy." It would seem that Frye is making the argument here that all text, that is words arranged by an author in an effort to gain meaning, are open to as many interpritations as there are readers. Thus said, the supposedly concrete writings of the bible are called into question because like any text, it is merely a bunch of words arranged by a writer(s) in an attempt to develop meaning within a reader. Interesting stuff to say the least; I'll have to read more to see where Frye takes this argument.