Atmospheres are both insubstantial and yet very palpable – for example, think about tension that feels so thick you could cut it with a knife. Whether you’re decorating a room or throwing a party, creating the right atmosphere can mean the difference between success and failure. But Dora Zhang argues that no one person is ever in full control of an atmosphere, it’s always something collective, not just a projection of one person’s mood. When it comes to literature, too, atmospheres emerge collectively from the readers, the characters, and the language of the text.
Tag: reader
Many poems speak to a “you” who is not you the reader. And when a poem addresses an inanimate object – like an urn or even a bar of soap – it’s especially clear that readers aren’t being addressed directly. But Jonathan Culler argues that these poems do address their readers, it’s just indirect. Poems that address goddesses, fictional characters and even inanimate objects allow readers to relate to the “you” and the “I” of a poem in complex, fluid and surprising ways.