Reading into 'Our Words' : a conversation with David Whitlaw

Abstract

This article considers the contested nature of reading and readership, and divergent meanings ascribed to texts following publication. It asks three important questions. 1: How does the physical or digital form of text, and the mode of geospatial transmission, influence readership and a given reader’s ascription of meaning. 2: Is there any such thing as a misreading of a text? or are all readings of texts valid, regardless of the intended meaning of the author? 3: Can powerful misreadings lead to contested ownership of texts between authors and readers? The article takes as its case study Nova Scotian retiree David Whitlaw’s passionate reading/misreading of Eric Brotchie’s poetic verse Verba Nostrum: For our teachers, published in a previous edition of TXT magazine (Yapp, 2013). In finding the poem in a printed book 5,000 kilometres from Leiden (and 17,500 kilometres from Eric), David’s readership could never have been intended, and his ascription of meaning ever presumed. Following an introduction, the article takes the form of an interview conducted with Mr David Whitlaw by Ms Hilary Drummond (BDMS Alumna 2013) in Greenwich, Nova Scotia in January 2018. Audio files (.mp3) of the full interview and David’s reading of ‘Verba Nostrum’ are available for online readers.