The Meaning of Words

Author control is an interesting idea when you consider that words can mean different things to different people. How can we guarantee the same words will be interpreted in the same way every time a book is read? We simply can’t.

If this is the case, it seems to be a common assumption that authors have complete control over their work, and to a certain extent this is fair. Authors can indeed pick and chose the words they use, but they can never guaratee the words will always mean the same thing.

In today’s symposium Adrian said: “A word only means something by virtue of what it isn’t”. Therefore, a word has no built-in meaning and can never be judged for what it is, because it isn’t anything. This is quite a mind-boggling idea, but Mia elaborates on this quite well. Words are given meaning and feeling by those who read them and interpret them. In this light, no author has ever had control over the messages conveyed in their writing.

In considering what’s at stake for authors whose work has entered a multi-mediated communication environment (the Internet), the idea that words are only given meaning once they’re interpreted is an important one. If authors never really had control over their writing in the first place, then nothing has changed. The only difference is that readers are able to navigate the words differently, making it possible for them to generate more meanings than traditional forms (books) have previously allowed.

I’m struggling to see the harm in this. Perhaps there is none, and maybe if we start to let go of the feeling that we’re always losing something, we might begin to understand what we can gain from embracing the contemporary media environment.