answering jody Re: pynchon-l-digest V2 #1582

[Dave Monroe]

Now why the insult here, Jody?  For taking issue with a seeming
elitism?  For pointing out that one really should not work one's way
DOWN from an assumption of the "genius" or "vision" or "artistry" or,
for that matter, "intentionality," "coherence" and/or "self-identity" of
an author, presumed or otherwise?   This is, indeed, as someone offlist
pointed out to me, a theological, perhaps Scholastic (Thomas Aquinas was
mentioned as having precisely argued from the assumption of the "genius"
et al. of that Divine Author), mode of argumentation.  And, at any rate,
again, if anyone wants to invoke such entities, well, please, specify
what they are assumed to consist of, and specify how any given
speculation/observation/argument might fly in the face of any such
assumptions.  But I do think one has to work one's way up to assertions
of "genius" et al., and here's where that attention to detail, to the
ineviatble multivocality of language, the inevitable dissemination of
meaning, and those ineluctable operations of textuality, is important.
But, really, I see no point to the insult, to any such insults, here ...