:: netwoman's blog ::

Hearing different (Blog) voices

Interesting piece over at Alas, a Blog.

"When most people read they hear the written words spoken in their minds. A disembodied vocal of authors, narrators, and characters fills their minds' ear acting out plays and essays, novels and poems. Blogs are composed with words and so are no exception to the rule, so chances are that you're hearing a voice right now."

"Usually, though, the voices people hear are new, unique, and private. Each reader hears his or her own version of a character's voice that is created from the reader's perception of the character's gender, age, race, ethnicity, personality, history, and personal appearance and how these things interact to create a whole person. These perceptions on the part of the reader can be the difference between a sympathetic character and one the reader hopes gets side-swiped by a bus. Everyone bring prejudices to the table while reading; people will inflict their views of blacks and whites and hispanics or men and women or the rich and the poor on the characters."

posted by Netwoman @ 7:52 AM