Week+10+Discussion+Questions

__Chapter 12: Determinacy/Indeterminacy__

2. On page 165 it is stated that “The concept of indeterminacy proposes that a radical limitation is built into the activity of literary interpretation, whose very attempt to find a determinate meaning in literary works prevents it from succeeding in this enterprise. Whereas ambiguity was a quality that literature presumably mastered, indeterminacy is a quality which makes literature a victim.” Do you see ways out of this ‘victimisation’ of literature?

4. In what ways is the question of determinacy/indeterminacy related to the last week's discussion of structures/systems? Are there ways in which indeterminacy closes itself off into some sort of system? Is the "A, B, or C" example at the end of the chapter an example of this, or could it possibly open up doors to "D, E, or F?"

5. The text "Reality Hunger: A Manifesto" is a treatise on the state of copyright/trademark in art, and is mostly comprised of plagiarized quotations. How does this relate to indeterminacy, and does it have any relation to Graff's discussion of tropes and phrases like "it goes without saying?" How does Graff's treatment of such tropes reflect the role tropes play in literature?

__Chapter 7: Performance__

1. With regard to the Beethoven/Czerny-example on page 92, do you think that author and performer have to have a common intention? If the author’s intention is manifest in the text, as suggested in the Beethoven-example, then where is the performer’s intention for acting out a text manifested?

4. Taking a look at the e-literature for this session, would you say that these are works or performances? Coming up with an answer, you might also consider the distinction between the ambiguity of works and the indeterminacy of interpretations, which would also include performances. If any performance is an interpretation of a work, so are all performances indeterminate? Or are they yet a work on their own?

5. How do notions of performance and Anderson's "field situation" (pg. 99) play into less performative expression, such as literature and criticism? What, if any, aspects of performance are involved in reading/interpreting text, and what implications do performances such as those described by Sayre have on literature in general?