AsToldByGinger, Macherey

Macherey said, “for in order to say anything, there are other things which must not be said” (17). Upon reading this statement and others contained in the chapter, two things came to mind: the concept of magic, and the example of the story shown in class about the baby shoes.

When relating this quote to magic, a recent movie came to mind - Now You See Me.  In this movie, four magicians pull off a massive stunt in which they rob a bank, as well as an extremely wealthy man in order to pay debts to common people that he evaded. In the beginning part of the movie one of the magicians pulls off a trick while also pretending to reveal his secrets, he tells them that they’re not seeing the trick because they’re looking too close. This relates to Macherey’s ideas because the trick happens when the audience is distracted, “not because something has to be hidden in order to show something else; but because attention is diverted from the very thing which is shown” (19).

This reading also strongly reminded me of the story we heard in class:

“‘A Short Story’

For Sale:

Baby Shoes,

Never Worn.”

The story relating to Barthes and the idea of tmesis, where we interject our own ideas in the middle of text in order to create our own unique perception of the thought. This idea seemed to be true of Macherey’s thoughts as well, especially when he stated, “what is important in the work is what it does not say” (18). This is true for the baby shoes story as well as others, in which the reader creates and defines the meaning.

            Overall, I believe that Macherey is saying that text is based off of previous meaning and the ideas that the reader has. It is based off of inter-textuality and what the mind believes is correct to add to the things that are unsaid.