communication

Not too long ago, in response to a comment I made about a particular piece, a fellow writer told me, "That's because you're a modern reader."

I've been thinking about that statement. What does it mean? What does it say about me? What does it say about my writing?

Here's my working conclusion: Art holds in balance three things--reflecting the culture in which it is written (and communicating to that culture), transforming the culture in which it is written, and transcending the culture in which it is written.

In my studies of intercultural communication, we talked about the role of the receiver versus the role of the communicator. I won't bore you with the details or the debates (which center basically around the onus of responsibility for clear communication), but the communicator has to make some efforts to communicate effectively to the receptor (how far the communicator has to go versus the receptor has to come--well, you can join the debate for that one).