Relating a theorist to our English Department Symposium was not easy. I attended Hollis Seamon’s section in which students read pieces of their short stories or micros that they had created for the class. I also am a student of this Writing Fiction class and I also read a portion of one of my stories. I was looking through all of the theorists that we have studies so far and I realized that I had no clue on how to relate anything they had said to students reading pieces of their stories. I found a few things that I thought might work so I’m just going to wing it so here goes. I was looking back through my notes and I remember reading Jameson’s individual/aesthetic part of his piece. I actually had forgotten what exactly “aesthetic” had meant, so of course I had to “Google” it. Wikipedia says that aesthetic is “a branch of philosophy called value theory or axiology, which is the study of sensoryor sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. Aesthetics is closely associated with the philosophy of art.” I read a little bit further and found that there was something called The Aesthetic movement. The Aesthetic movement “is a loosely defined movement in art and literature in later nineteenth-century Britain. Generally speaking, it represents the same tendencies that Symbolism or Decadence stood for in France, and may be considered the British branch of the same movement. It belongs to the anti-Victorian reaction and had post-Romantic roots. It took place in the late Victorian period from around 1868 to 1901, and is generally considered to have ended with the trial of Oscar Wilde. I thought that this was extremely interesting and I thought that I could try to relate this movement to Jameson, as well as the readers at the symposium.
I read a bit more on this and I found that the artists and writers of the Aesthetic movement “tended to hold that the Arts should provide refined sensuous pleasure, rather than convey moral or sentimental messages.” Thinking about this statement, I realized that the students today were doing the same thing. Yes, they were reading stories that were mandatory to complete the class, but they all volunteered to read them aloud to others. In a sense, they were all getting some type of pleasure from sharing them with other people, I know because I did this. Reading a story that you yourself have written and having images and thoughts that were once in your mind conveyed to others is an amazing feeling. Of course you are nervous once you get up in front of a room full of people, but it is the aftermath that is truly worth while. Just seeing the looks of satisfaction on people’s faces and knowing that you shared a piece of yourself with them is the real pleasure. Wikipedia also said that “the main characteristics of the movement were: suggestion rather than statement, sensuality, massive use of symbols, and synaesthetic effects—that is, correspondence between words, colors and music.” I realized that this is exactly what the students had done. They had used so many different techniques and each of their stories were different from the others. They all have used different symbols in their stories ranging from an apple to a smile. The flow of the stories almost seemed musical, and certainly full of colorful images and descriptions. All of these stories were created in order to get the pleasure of reading them, which is exactly what The Aesthetic Movement was all about.
On page 1964 Jameson says “The great modernisms were, as we have said, predicted on the invention of a personal, private style, as unmistakable as your fingerprint, as incomparable as your own body. But this means that the modernist aesthetic is in some ways organically linked to the conception of a unique self and private identity, a unique personality and individuality, which can be expected to generate its own unique vision of the world and to forge its own unique, unmistakable style.” I figured that this statement can also be related to the students that read today. If you think about it, all of the students today were obviously individuals and it was prominent in the stories that they had read. No two stories were a like and each had their own unique sense of self that was portrayed throughout them. They all have unique personalities and their own personal styles that showed through their readings. From a homeless woman sitting on a bus to a crazed man slaughtering innocent victims, each of these students clearly showed their own identity through their story. It is their imaginations and their different techniques of each story that makes them individuals. Whether their stories were factual or not, each of them did have an “unmistakable style” that could clearly be seen.
Now that I’ve explained the “easy part” (in a sense) of this theory, it’s time for the “so what?” Honestly, I really have no idea about this part. I guess what it really all comes down to is the fact that each of these students were brave enough to read these pieces. In doing this, thoughts and emotions that were held inside their minds were aloud to break free, in a sense, as they were shared with others. I personally think that this is one of the key points in literature. What is the point of writing something, whether it is something small and “insignificant” or a something that some would call a masterpiece if it is not shared with others? It is the sharing and conveying of writings that truly makes them valuable. By valuable I do not mean in a money sense. What I mean is valuable in a sense that this information that is shared could possibly change or even corrupt the views and thoughts of others. It could possibly go either way, but no matter what, when you read something, it will definitely make you think about it; even it is for a brief moment after. I think that this is what theory is really all about. Sharing different views with others and then picking them apart brings people closer together. Not to sound like a flower child or anything, but I do believe that English, as well as writings of any kind can do this. It is truly the individualism and originality of each of the reading that were performed today that bonds these students. It doesn’t matter how different each of their stories were. It is the recognition of their individuality that connects them to Jameson’s theory. They all had a common purpose to be there today, which was to share and hopefully aloud others to reflect on their works. After all, this is truly what literature is all about.
