Just a little Snape musing...

[valis2]

rickfan37 did her own build-a-snape here and mentioned this really excellent point:

Here’s the Urbane!Snape myth again. I don’t know, and we’re given no clue in canon. I simply don’t believe he’s a closet opera buff and spends his spare time humming along to great arias, or that he can quote Dante or Shakespeare at will.

It really made me think of something new. I've always been a bit apprehensive about fics where Snape quotes Byron and listens to Bach.

I think what really is happening is that giving Snape these "pretentious" hobbies is a way for an inexperienced writer to "shorthand" their characterization of him, because in just a sentence of quoting/playing classical music, they set him up (in their minds) as a certain sort of character, aloof, mysterious, educated, etc. It's a short-cut.

The thing is, the sort of character they're trying to develop is not canon. Snape is a pure-blood, and would most likely know very little, if anything, about the Muggle world (his matchbox comment notwithstanding). And I'm certain that most pure-bloods wouldn't want to involve themselves in any sort of Muggle-world scrutiny.

So authors who attempt this short-cut are really doing canon a disservice, when what they really need to do is discover what would make him an aloof, mysterious, and educated character in Rowling's world.

Just my little musing for the moment.

Comments

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

you could've gone to the opening show of the opera house in Venice in 1637 and the aesthetics would've been exactly the same as they are in today's opera

I hate to be categorial, but no. The aesthetics of opera are very dependent upon situation, but it's unproductive to talk about that in the abstract. Modern operagoers would look at a performance of a Cavalli opera in Venice from the 17th century and go "What the hell is that?". That's part of why it's taken so long to get into understanding opera seria (and a book like Kerman's Opera as Drama just dismisses it as bad art.) French and Italian Baroque operas have very different aesthetics precisely because of different situations.

The rest of that is pretty much what I would argue, though. :)

[pen-and-umbra.livejournal.com]

A-ha! I now know one book I can point at and say "wrrronggg!" Thank you for the correction. (Also, quite possible what we mean with "aesthetics" is different, considering I approach it from a layman's background. I understood only about 2% of what Downing A. Thomas is trying to tell me, after all.)

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

Happy to help. In fact, I think that after I obtain some food, I could try to write out a better explanation of the aesthetic issues (if it'd be useful).

*waves at valis2 and hopes the journal crashing isn't too pedantic*

[pen-and-umbra.livejournal.com]

More on aesthetics? Please! (Though, uh, this is going beyond being tangential. Oops. Sorry, valis.) My comprehension of "aesthetic" is purely visual; what I'm assuming is really meant in this context is more along the lines of artistic impact and themes?

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

I've made a placeholder over in my journal here. There's nothing there right now, but as I went out to grab food, I know what I'll talk about first--voice types. :)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, I'm enjoying it tremendously. I am interested in opera, but very much a beginner, and this is fascinating. Thank you!