Oblique interrogation of
Does "an oblique interrogation of this history" in the text below mean "an implied questioning and undermining of this history"?
Context:
The intention of the artwork Belshazzar’s Feast by Susan Hiller is that as viewers listen and gaze at the flames they begin to make visionary pictures out of the after-images they experience as a result of staring, ascribing meaningful narratives to the nebulous and suggestive. This is interesting to consider in the light of Freud’s dream-work and the early history of psychoanalysis, when hypnosis and the occult were repressed in the emphasis on language and analysis. Belshazzar’s Feast can be seen as an oblique interrogation of this history which echoes the history of Western philosophy as a moving towards enlightenment from the darkness and superstition of medieval times.
Top answer
The writer is using jargon of some kind. You can't interrogate a history in any normal sense of the word. Only those initiated in the secret language of whatever coterie she is writing for can understand her.
- The writer is using jargon of some kind.
- You can't interrogate a history in any normal sense of the word.
- Only those initiated in the secret language of whatever coterie she is writing for can understand her.
- Your interpretation seems legitimate, as far as I can tell.
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The writer is using jargon of some kind. You can't interrogate a history in any normal sense of the word. Only those initiated in the secret language of whatever coterie she is writing for can understand her. Your interpretation seems legitimate, as far as I can tell.
0cattttan oblique interrogation of this history
I take this to mean "indirectly wondering about this history". I don't sense that "calling into question" or "undermining" are implied.
CJ
0
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