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An Analysis Of Stanley Fish's Essay Is There A Text In This Class

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Stanley Fish’s essay “Is There a Text in This Class” refutes the idea that there can only be one determinate meaning of an utterance with the assertion that a phrase changes it’s meaning with each institutional nest that it is in. This goes hand in hand with the idea of authority, and who really has it. The anecdote that drives Fish’s explanation is a question asked by a student to her professor- “Is there a text in this class”. Although this is one of the only utterances Fish uses, there are many others that exemplify a similar result. For instance, if someone was to ask a girl “Do you want to go prom?” it has multiple meanings. The boy could be asking if the girl wanted to go to prom with her. Or he could be asking if she just wants to go at all, because she didn't have a date yet. This instability of the text, like shown here, is what drives Fish’s thesis. …show more content…

In fact, the meaning is rooted in the context, or an individual’s institutional nest, that it was uttered in. Furthermore, these institutional nests are not a result of individuality, but of a combination of our upbringing. In other words, our interpretive acts are not free. A state where norms are free floating and indeterminate does not exist; there are always meanings derived from our personal institutional nests. The institutional nest you are born into is the one that you will always see out of. This doesn’t mean that your opinions or beliefs won’t change, but they just won’t ever be fully replaced or forgotten. For instance, if someone grew up understanding the beliefs of one religion, but, as they became older, realized that they don’t actually believe in that particular religion, they might switch. Even though they have adopted a new religion and a new understanding, they can’t forget the way they were

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