Submitted by virtualaenigma t3_z167s7 in books
virtualaenigma OP t1_ixcth9p wrote
Reply to comment by Ok_Let8329 in The deep meanings we extract from books are not a reflection of the author's genius by virtualaenigma
The author may have simply written a strong character who happens to be female. The author may never have intended the character's gender to be a focal point but a feminist would praise the book as though the author intended to strengthen a female character. That would be false praise for the author.
Maybe my example doesn't make sense but the point I'm making is that for me to praise a book for presenting a concept or a perspective that was not the author's intent is unearned praise for the author.
Ok_Let8329 t1_ixddqqq wrote
>The author may have simply written a strong character who happens to be female. The author may never have intended the character's gender to be a focal point but a feminist would praise the book as though the author intended to strengthen a female character. That would be false praise for the author.
The author is actually deserving of more praise in that example, because he wrote a strong female character subconsciously, and so he's naturally a feminist and his work is not contrived.
>Maybe my example doesn't make sense but the point I'm making is that for me to praise a book for presenting a concept or a perspective that was not the author's intent is unearned praise for the author.
You might've had this experience with a few books and are trying to extrapolate a universal theory. I can't think of any good examples of this, though.
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