Interpreting the Variorum is the title of Chapter 6. Fish used the publication of A Variorum Commentary on the Poems of John Milton because he could show that the critics were arguing around a base set of agreements.
“I seized upon the publication of the Milton Variorum because it greatly facilitated what had long since become my method, the surveying of the critical history of a work in order to find disputes that rested upon a base of agreement of which the disputants were unaware.” Fish.
I looked up what exactly a variorum was and Wikipedia had a very nice synopsis of the word.
“A variorum is a work that collates all known variants of a text. It is a work of textual criticism, whereby all variations and emendations are set side by side so that a reader can track how textual decisions have been made in the preparation of a text for publication.” – Wikipedia 11/30/2013.
I have been trying to read the work that Fish is talking about. I looked on line for a web copy, but only found books for purchase. I did find a copy of the Variorum of Milton’s Poems at UNM library. I am planning on checking it out to read a little more about Milton. Since I have my training in science I find the variorum fascinating. I had not heard of a variorum. In science I have read reviews, which compile the literature on a certain subject. I did my graduate work on the effects of heat shock proteins on breast cancer. I read many heat shock proteins reviews which put together all the scientific research and analyzed and critiqued the different experiments. A Variorum reminds me of a review in the scientific community. If you are interested in reading the Variorum here is a citation.
A Variorum Commentary on the Poems of John Milton: Samson Agonistes [Hardcover]
Fish
writes about the Variorum and states that the formalist analysis is not completely
wrong but in the search for meaning they leave out the reader’s response. The reader’s response is the activity of reading. The critics are only looking for the final
meaning and have generated an assumption that meaning is within the actual text
itself.
Fish
states that the Variorum has tried to solve many questions like the one in L’Allegro.
What is the identity of whoever or whatever comes
to the window in L’Allegro? You can make
a case for “every proper noun within a radius of 10 lines.”
Fish
describes these questions and answers a formalist analysis. They go on the assumption that the meaning is
within the text. Fish points out you can
always point to any part of the text and it can prove but also disprove
anything. This is the wrong way to
analyze the poems or the text. The
question that the critic need to ask is what does this word or phrase do? They forget to include what the reader experiences
during the reading.
I agree with Fish that part of reading and enjoyment of reading is the actual experience of reading and not just the final conclusion of a piece of text.
