A Writer's Notebook, Day Seven-Hundred-And-Sixty-Five

Yesterday, I began to discuss the concept of suspension of disbelief, and the rather strange, if not a bit mad, concept of denying the reader the option of that disbelief.  This is a rather strange concept, I know, and it is rather abstract at the moment.  This is one reason I want to continue thinking and writing about these concepts, as that is one of the best ways for me to clarify my own thinking.  I want to be able to explain this notion in a way that is sensible, even more, I want the explanation to offer a practical understanding, but that is not a simple matter, will require a lot more consideration.

For example, it is significant to consider language on a level that may is quite different from what I know I learned when studying writing in school, as it is a perspective rooted in the consideration of language in terms of the phenomenological process involved in understanding a piece of writing.  Words are not inert, but have an impact on the mind.  This is, of course, obvious, but what is the nature of that process?  I think the easiest way to consider it is that the word is an object that is passed from one person to another, but the object exists in subjective terms alone.  Their are things that will be in common, or should be, but their is a huge amount of the experience any word presents that is not universal, even for those who know the same language and have similar understandings of the word, they have individualized experiences that will be connected to that word through memory.  As a word is used, it gains new meaning, carries more along with it, changes.  

My point is, the language is not just a thing that is used by a writer to communicate, but also that the meaning given to the word through its use in a piece of fiction, becomes a part of that word in some way.  This meaning does not need to be the literal definition of the word, or even connected with that, but can be an association.  If a character uses a word or phrase, for example, there will be a connection that adds a layer to the word.  A writer has the ability to manipulate the meaning of the language, to connect it to various concepts that are not specific to the explicit definition of the word.  To write is to alter the meaning of language for a reader through its use.

How, I can imagine you are asking, is this connected to the ideas I was discussing yesterday and to belief or disbelief in fiction?  Well, for me, the key is in that understanding that a writer has the ability to impact the linguistic map of those who read their work, and considering this in the context of languages key role in conscious experience.  We understand our world through language, so the altering of language is to change that mediation of reality, is to alter how experiences are interpreted, is to change, even if slightly, an aspect of conscious understanding.  This may not yet be sensible, as I am still being, I know, rather vague, and again, that is a result of my working through complex ideas on paper, of considering the best way to begin explaining what drives much of my literary effort, but I think the general concept should be taking shape.  In essence, language is the key tool we use to mediate experience for conscious understanding, and it is also changed by those experiences in various ways.  A words meaning is far more than just literal, has associations, cultural dimensions, personal connections, and that map of meaning grows with the use of language, and so their is a pathway between the writer and the experience of the reader through the language itself, a way to view a piece of writing as a direct experience and not a communique.  Again, I am certain this will require more unpacking, as it is not yet clear to me how to explain all of this, but in writing about it, I am getting closer.