ABSTRACT
The heart of J. Hillis Miller’s work is the reading of literature. This chapter provides an understanding and close reading of Miller’s work that resists a stereotyping of Miller and sees him in terms of one aspect of his world, most notably of deconstruction. There is, as is well known, a classical framework, such as the consideration by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle of the relations or contentions among poetry, philosophy and rhetoric, to help the reader to understand rhetorical reading and criticism, which Miller exemplifies, and that understanding helps to put deconstruction in context. Miller’s interest in rhetoric, even where he differs from Plato and Aristotle, reminds the reader of the common knowledge of classical past. In Medium Is the Maker, Miller explores literature, media and technology and argues that the mode used to materialize a literary work determines performance and meaning, the computer transforming literature at its root.
