Pontifus: I’m telling you, the writing process is a learning experience in itself.
Otouto-kun: True.
Pontifus: I finally realized that the purpose of critical writing isn’t to share a critic’s knowledge, it’s to teach a critic something and give other critics something to bounce their ideas off of. Remember my whole approach: there is no knowledge, only questions.
Otouto-kun: NO, NOOOOOOOOOO, DON’T SAY THAT, I just got done being pissed at critics. This brings me back to…CRITICS ARE A WASTE OF SPACE!
Pontifus: You’re a waste of space.
Otouto-kun: You’re a waste of space.
Pontifus: You are.
Otouto-kun: No, you.
Pontifus: NO U…and don’t even say I’m a waste of space because I’m not an artist, I just sent you a thousand words of creative writing that I’m pretty pleased with.
Otouto-kun: I thought you said critics are for strengthening the bond between x and y.
Pontifus: X and y being artist and reader?
Otouto-kun: Of course.
Pontifus: No, I said critics create a new x-y, with critic as x, remember?
Otouto-kun: OK, but if you are going to write about something as a critic, who are you helping if it’s for other critics?
Pontifus: It’s not for anyone…or, rather, it’s for everyone.
Otouto-kun: You just said…AAAAAAAAAHHHH
Pontifus: See, I’m in favor of a criticism that’s accessible to more than just critics. Take out all the big and borderline meaningless words and actually say something. A critic is just a reader who knows how to write a little. It’s fan fiction minus the fiction.
Otouto-kun: “I finally realized that the purpose of critical writing isn’t to share a critic’s knowledge, it’s to teach a critic something and give other critics something to bounce their ideas off of.” WHAT IS THIS?
Pontifus: Alright, it’s to give other people something to bounce their ideas off of.
Otouto-kun: I thought it was for the good of the reader.
Pontifus: I don’t know, define “the good of the reader.”
Otouto-kun: HELPING THE READER, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN
Pontifus: If it’s “for” something, it’s for the unending search for knowledge — or, I mean, understanding. It’s philosophy.
Otouto-kun: Exactly, and it’s for spreading that knowledge, correct?
Pontifus: Not spreading so much as encouraging the pursuit of.
Otouto-kun: But still, it’s for helping the reader to better understand that knowledge, am I right or wrong?
Pontifus: I suppose that’s true, in a sense, though total understanding is impossible. The questions will never end.
Otouto-kun: So, as a critic, you find the knowledge and you write about it to help other critics and also to help people like me to better understand what they are reading, or watching, or playing, or anything, right?
Pontifus: If meaning in a text equates to knowledge, then yes.
Otouto-kun: Thank you, now it doesn’t seem so much like a useless club.
Pontifus: Criticism as a useless club is a common misconception…or at least I’ve decided it’s a misconception.
Otouto-kun: Well, that’s how you were talking about it; what was I supposed to think?
Pontifus: I didn’t mean to talk about it that way. I mean, I’ve talked about it like that before. It hasn’t been long since I changed my mind.
Otouto-kun: Well, I better understand now, I was just making it clear that it’s not ONLY for other critics.
Pontifus: It shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t only be for anyone, at least not intentionally so.
I’m not conscripting Otouto into holding long conversations with me to avoid working on the three drafts I’m in the middle of, I swear. And even if I am, this one seemed relevant, given recent developments. I really am writing a few art-centric posts, though, so you can safely assume (more or less) that my next post will be something along those lines.