Thank you, Valentine, for this very interesting po...

2009-06-12T18:09:18.937-04:00

Thank you, Valentine, for this very interesting post. I think that geographical excursions such as the one you are embarking on, and those that take place as what you describe as instances of dérive, do indeed have a close relationship (which would not have occurred to me) with the phenomenon of independent agency of characters that we have discussed in OnFiction.

I remember a striking passage in your post of 25 September 2008. "What seems particularly interesting about this phenomenon [of apparently independent agency of characters in the course of writing fiction] is not just that the characters have agency, per se, but that their actions open up whole lines of narrative and perspectives on the world to which the author might very well not have access without the particular agency afforded by the character's traits, experiences, and activities." I think you are right that landscapes have the same potentiality.

Have a good trip, and I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts about Willa Cather.

Comments on OnFiction: Exploring the Character of Place

Thank you, Valentine, for this very interesting po...