I think I'm about to blow my second post for the time period, Robert - so if you want to continue the discussion (which is very interesting I grant you), then you'll have to hop over to Catallaxy. I suggest you camp on the other Roman post I've got up over there: http://catallaxyfiles.com/?p=2302

Anyway, back to your question, where you wrote:

"there remains for me questions regarding a writer's expectations (if any) for the nature of any (or all) reader's response. He or she may have them, of course, as writer; up to them. But is a reader entitled to respond in accordance with whatever he or she takes from the piece?"

Many postmodernist theorists would answer in the affirmative, and to be fair, they do have a point. Once an author is dead (literally, not figuratively), then it's no longer possible to go back to them and ask 'what did you mean by X?'

However, I do believe that this can be taken too far. Elucidating meaning can be very difficult (I see this all the time in my day job - I'm a lawyer). But it can be done. When a court construes a statute, it uses a combination of earlier legal decisions (precedent), principles of statutory interpretation, parliamentary speeches commending the bill and academic commentary. Lawyers can draw fine distinctions and settle on a reasonable range of possible meanings. They usually don't presume to identify 'one' single meaning, though.

[Continued from the previous post, where apparently I exceeded my word limit. This is rather awkward]

I think an author's input is similar to the speech in parliament commending the bill (often - but not always - the second reading speech). If an author says 'I wanted my work/this poem/this scene to mean X', that view has to be accorded respect. That doesn't mean other readings are meaningless or somehow illegitimate, just that they shouldn't be accorded the same weight. Obviously this process becomes harder once the author dies, although many writers leave comprehensive notes and commentary about their work in one form or another, which can be examined. If the author is alive, though, then it's a simple matter to ask.

All that aside, though, each reader reads a book in his own way, and brings his own history to it. People who struggle with brutality in fiction are going to struggle with a lot of my stuff - I don't 'spare' the reader. I accept that. By the same token, I'm not forcing anyone to read what I write, either!

There is a very comprehensive blog citing sources about this subject at
http://www.stumbleupon.com/tag/x-mas-truth/
It has a lot in common with Helen Dale's article.

I am not going to read all 45 posts so I may just be repeating what somebody has already said.
The winter solstice was celebrated in all sorts of forms across Eurasia and North Africa. Saturnalia came out of the earlier Greek festival celebrating Kronos. In a way modern western Xmas is the same thing, employees get time off to celebrate the winter (summer in the Southern Hemisphere) Solstice to celebrate the fruits of their labour as they have done long before the invention of Judaism. It was from Roman invasions of Britain that the word ‘God” was brought back to Rome. God the Anglo –Celt god of beer or mead celebrated the year’s beer vintage at the Winter Solstice. It warms me to see every year the amount of eskies pass through the door to the great feast. Australian Xmas celebrations would do God (the western Celt god of beer) proud. Keep it up ye righteous, cheers.

Now Ester, that’s a similar story of a pagan festival stolen to plug up the gap that the absence of a date for the crucifixion and the absence of evidence for the crucifixion. To cut a long story short the crucifixion and resurrection story was most likely inspired by northern pagan rituals over Ester the fertility and resurrection of the sun. The Easter bun got its cross from string tied to offerings destined for spirits. Offerings were hung from ceilings to prevent rats from stealing the offerings. This practice continued until quite late in history until a more prosperous and christianised urban class consumed the offerings to the spirits themselves.

I for one find all these traditions beautiful and relevant and they connect us to our ancestors and roots wether we are Atheist, pagan or Christian, Jew Moslem or Buddhist.
Future generations may worship Harry Potter but they should continue the ancient joy of this season for what ever the belief on some level it brings everybody together.

The only threat I can see is the modern worship of capital and extension of retail opening hours.

Barney25, did you click through to the original article?

http://www.stevethepro.ukf.net/xmas/articles/spirit1.htm

It has a lot more in common with Helen’s essay than just facts. Some of the text is identical.

The following lines of text from Helen’s essay appear to have been lifted verbatim from Steve the Pro’s website, specifically this page:

http://www.stevethepro.ukf.net/xmas/articles/spirit5.htm

“Christmas, of course, does not belong to us.” [the first line of prose in Helen’s essay]

““Put the Christ back in Christmas”, we’re always told.” [the second line]

“In fact, when you celebrate Christmas by eating too much, drinking too much, feeling up the boss’ wife at the office party, driving the porcelain bus and or spending a fortune on presents almost, but not quite, entirely unsuitable for the person to whom you gave them, you come rather closer to the real spirit of Christmas.” [third para]

“Rome’s Saturnalia was a curious mixture of ancient fertility rite and social event.” [seventh para]

“Romans decorated their doorposts with holly and kissed under the mistletoe. Shops and businesses closed and people greeted one another in the street with shouts of Io Saturnalia! On one day of the 12, masters waited on their slaves at table while, in the legions, officers served the ranks. A rose was hung from the ceiling in banqueting rooms, and anything said or done sub rosa went no further than the front door.” [the entire eighth para]

“Christmas is a venerable pagan festival, on a sort of permanent loan from Ancient Rome…” [second-last para]

Oddly, that last line is not verbatim to the original:

“Christmas is a venerable pagan festival, on permanent loan (or should we say stolen) from Ancient Rome.”

For some reason Helen seems to have been a bit shy about alleging theft there.

The original website suggests the original article was written in 2005, here:

http://www.stevethepro.ukf.net/xmas/articles/index.htm,

so it appears highly unlikely that it took the text from Helen’s essay. More likely, Helen copied the text and passed it off as her own, without attribution.

I think an explanation is required.

Yes Clive i did. I came to the same conclusion as you.