Quote:
Originally Posted by Giggleton
But you're not precisely sure, we never can be. I will agree that there are some novels that have effected me far more than others but who I am to say that this or that novel will effect someone more or less than how the novel effected me? Trash or treasure?
How can we deal with absolutes when the universe is uncertain?
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So your judging the cultural contribution based on the effect the novel has on individuals?
I agree that it might not be possible to judge which novels will become culturally important, but judging the ones that have already become culturally significant is a bit easier. Is the novel still read? Is it imitated by other authors? Has the novel entered our cultural experience (either directly or indirectly). This is true whether you look at pulps or at books that attempt to be high literature. Clearly Jane Austin's works are culturally significant; 200 years later they are still read, still inspire other writers and adaptations. Equally clearly there are novels contemporary to Jane Austin's works that are totally forgotten. Maybe one day they will be discovered, though I rather suspect that the vast majority will never be "discovered".
Fortunately we are not dealing with the Universe here, nothing so grand as that needs to be looked at; we need only look at human culture which is a much smaller subject. Still subject to your silly platitudes I grant... but only by obviously embracing sophistry.
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Bill