Character Motivation

Fan Interpretations vs. Academic Analysis

Fan Interpretations vs. Academic AnalysisThis is basically an argument between subjective and objective rationalization within the study of character motivations. While in fandom spaces, some people like to explore the deconstruction of a character’s motivation as if they have a free-formed agency independent of authorial manipulation—this type of study is fine within that particular space. Fandom-based character interpretation however have no place in a student’s academic work. Despite the conceptualization that “the author is dead”, when it comes to the intentionality inherent in parsing motivation, a character is not independent. Everything a character does is immersed in authorial intent; everything a character does is for a purpose. The point of an essay would be discovering what a character represents within a larger social/political/historical context and not uncovering the internal logic of the character itself. Instead of answering what a character is doing, try illustrating why they were written doing it (whatever “it” is).

Tweet that reads: People always seem to just run with the idea that "all interpretations are true", but forget the corollary that "all interpretations are true so long as they're rational and you can derive it from evidence in the text". And by this, I mean that there's a limit to fan interpretations/theories/headcanons that you can come up with before it sounds like you're talking about a whole different work entirely

Now, for those who wish to explore arguments that contradict the prescribed intentionality of the author, there is a way to take an ahistorical approach to a narrative. In order to successfully pull off this type of argument, one is typically exploring the thematic elements of a text and establishing why said text is still important for a contemporary audience.