[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

This mischaracterisation of the position 'Reader's Rights' camp is one which has been commonly adopted on this thread. We are portrayed as positively encouraging the reader to wilfully misread and misinterpret what Tolkien has written and to deliberately come up with non-sensical meanings and crackpot theories if that is what he wants to do. But that misrepresents the reality of the position. Indeed, the label 'Reader's Rights' is in some ways misleading. I prefer the term 'reader's experience'.

Note that I said Readers' RIGHTS, not READERS SUPREME...

I believe I am correct is saying that the group of thought I refer to as the "Readers' Rights" group is the group that holds that the experience and interpretation of the reader takes precedence over that of the author.

If that is not what you are saying, then this thread is REALLY mixed up...

I agree that readers have rights, but I put the rights of the author first.

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

The interpretion of a work of literature occurs both consciously and subconsciously. Often, we have no conscious control over how we interpret a work and therefore what it means to us. That is not to say that one cannot reach a position through deliberate analysis and logical thought, but both processes will generally be at work here.

But in the event of a dispute between the apparent meaning of the author and the original perception of the reader, which wins? For example, when I first read the Lord of the Rings Minas Tirith was pronounced Mye-nass Tirith. I liked it that way, I thought it was correct. However, upon learning that the correct pronunciation was Mee-nass Tirith, I changed my pronunciation, because Tolkien's pronunciation- the author's pronunciation- takes precedence. It is the canonical pronunciation.

In the event, of course, that there is no clear statement by Tolkien on a subject- and if I could not make any sense of his conflicting opinions (think Gil-galad, but worse) then I would be perfectly fine with imaging my own solution. But if a letter came up from the depths of someone's attic laying out a different solution than mine- I would, perhaps reluctantly, accept it.

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

Of course, the reader has the right to be obtuse and stubbornly hold to an adopted position. But if he does so without having an honest belief in that position, then he will (in my opinion) be acting unreasonably and will be rightfully open to criticism for doing so.

Quite so. And my opinion is that Tolkien's word is the canon.