Wolfe's brilliance or my denseness?

Fernando Gouvea · 24 May 2011, 12:49 · from 2011-May.txt.gz

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From: fqgouvea at colby.edu (Fernando Gouvea)
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 08:49:25 -0400
Subject: (urth) Wolfe's brilliance or my denseness?
In-Reply-To: <992440.50784.qm at web161805.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
References: <992440.50784.qm at web161805.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <BB0B6909-2837-48DE-9BF1-609BCF2D15BC at colby.edu>

Yes, of course Dorcas immediately brings Acts 9 to mind, and the natural associations are ressurection, her other name Tabitha, and making clothes for the poor. I guess that's why I knew at once she had been in the lake of the dead.

================
Fernando Q. Gouv?a
fqgouvea at colby.edu



On May 24, 2011, at 1:26 AM, Marc Aramini <marcaramini at yahoo.com> wrote:

> but one more thing: any bible thumping type would immediately associate Dorcas with resurrection as soon as they heard the name, that's just the way it is in the bible and the way Wolfe works.  He plays by the cultural symbolist rules to build up meaning to some degree, even though he is a bit sneakier than most.
> 
> --- On Mon, 5/23/11, Ant?nio Pedro Marques <entonio at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>> else.
>> 
>>> By the way, "for the record" I had no idea the old
>> man's "Cas" was
>>> Dorcas.  I probably realized that on some
>> reread.  It's even possible
>>> that I needed it pointed out (maybe here).  Lee
>> Berman's point about the
>>> pronunciation was part of it.
>> 
>> I should point out that my instictive reading of Dorcas was
>> DAWRK-us (gave up on IPA), possibly not that far from the
>> AmE pronunciation, but not being acquainted with the name I
>> switfly considered door-KAZZ, seeing as there was a guy
>> nearby looking for a KAZZ. My language's orthography is more
>> (morpho)phonemic than phonetic, but unstressed sounds,
>> although reduced, aren't neutralised as in english (so
>> unstressed e/i may merge, as may o/u, but a doesn't merge
>> with anything), so we do pay attention to the graphic part
>> of it because it does line up with the pronunciation, even
>> if the rules are complex (they're part of the language,
>> anyway).
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