On allegory

Though the talks I attend in Iceland are certainly enjoyable, the theoretical discussion afterwards in the meat of the matter is really exceptional here at Berkeley. For instance, yesterday we were debating the degree to which structure rather than content can determine whether or not a novel is intended to engage, in the sense of encouraging the reader towards a specific action. Allegorical novels are typical understood as more intellectual, and less emotional, but the speaker yesterday argued for exactly the opposite, because that way each reader can make there own meaning. Not everyone's idea of revolution is the same.

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