Re: The 9th wave and its interpretation

[sbush@mail.utexas.edu (Stephanie Bush)]

> The only meaning is Kate's meaning--any other
> > "meaning" we may find may be more appropriately referred to as "implication"
> > or "significance".
<snip>  
> > So, it seems only logical to me, that all the people who are
> > discussing their various interpretations cannot all be right.
 

> There is no perfect fit between language and intention, ever.  There are
> always layers of things we can see in language that can give rise to
> possible interpretations.  (Though I would agree that some
> interpretations can be ruled out.)
> 
> Normally the way we choose an interpretation depends on the CONTEXT of
> use.  (That is, the situation, not just the other words in the text.)  
> In reading or listening to something, especially ART, as Kate's music
> is, the reader or listener RECONTEXTUALIZES it.  This is normal and
> unavoidable.  And most art is DELIBERATELY ambiguous and filled with
> conflicting and competing themes to stimilate people to have layers of
> reflection on it!

> SO, in short:  FOOEY!  We can have more than one interpretation of Kate,
> and she probably designed the music to be that way!  

The point the original post was trying to make was not that listeners
aren't free to interpret works of art, but that perhaps the only *true*
interpretation is that of the artist, and without the artist's input into
the interpretation process, we can never really know whether or not our
own, personal interpretations reflect the artist's original intent.  It
doesn't seem to me that this implies that we as listeners shouldn't engage
in interpreting this stuff to our heart's content.  I'm new to this list,
and the discussions of the Ninth Wave have served to re-engage me with one
of my very favorite pieces of music, regardless of the various readings'
empirical "truth" or their concordance with what Kate may have intended. 
I certainly don't agree with every theory that has been bandied about, but
even some of the most outrageous have opened my ears to the music's
possibilities, perhaps even in ways that the one true meaning could not. 
So, you're both right:  it's a floor polish _and_ a dessert topping.....

steph