- Culler explores the relationship between language and meaning, as well as how language develops meaning, in “Literature, Meaning, and Interpretation.” The link between language and meaning is one topic from this chapter that I find intriguing. The message the speaker is attempting to convey and the reader’s interpretation of the text. When the speaker goes into great depth and describes even the tiniest elements. This permits the reader to mentally see and imagine the scene. This particular choice of language engages the reader while also conveying the message in a non-monotonous manner. The use of language and its meaning are intimately connected. The speaker chooses carefully which words to use in order to deliver his message with the fewest number of words possible in a text.
- Jonathan Culler addresses some of the ways poetry pushes us to think about how language works in Chapter 5 of Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. The use of metaphors is one method that interests me. The speaker utilizes two ideas that are unrelated, yet when combined, they produce a meaning and image in the reader’s mind. Emily Dickinson’s poem The Brain is Wider Than the Sky is an example of this. Emily compares the brain to the vast sky, which does not seem to fit together, but when viewed from the reader’s perspective, it becomes clear that she is comparing the brain to the sky, which is limitless. This helps shape the meaning of the poem by, helping us understand the message the speaker is trying to get across using the use of metaphors.
