marginal illumination

English translation: shedding (a small amount of) light on the edges of the subject

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	marginal illumination
Selected answer:	shedding (a small amount of) light on the edges of the subject
Entered by:	B D Finch

08:32 Mar 9, 2015

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics / sentence

English term or phrase: marginal illumination

the whole paragraph like this:" We are modern, this inspired Turkish modernist reminds us, to the degree of uncertainty we can endure. His scattered fiction is dispossessed of any circumstantial resonance as to place, time, voice, gender, agent, action, and consequence. Yet the tesserae fit together in a kind of scathing aleatory mosaic, an eloquent rehearsal of the condition of terrorism, to which Karasu has been much helped by Borges, by Bechett, and by Coetzee, yet aided most of all by his own shifty talent for marginal illumination, the oblique gesture, the sidelong swipe. What a world, to which this welter corresponds!"

What does "marginal illumination" mean here?

macky KudoZ activity Questions: 352 (2 open) (6 without valid answers) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 4
Local time: 08:23

shedding (a small amount of) light on the edges of the subject

Explanation:
There is a, probably deliberate, ambiguity about whether "marginal" describes the quality of the light or the area it is shed upon. It probably means both.

Selected response from:

B D Finch
France
Local time: 02:23

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4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

3 +4

shedding (a small amount of) light on the edges of the subject

B D Finch

4 +2

narrowly shedding light on/explaining the subject

Peter Simon

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

narrowly shedding light on/explaining the subject

Explanation:
In the complicated context, the author seems to be criticized for swiping generalization, or throwing only marginal light on what he writes about instead of proper, thorough analysis. In other words, he doesn't seem to know properly about his subject. See also here: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illumination

Reference: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/illumin...
Reference: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/illumin...

Peter Simon
Netherlands
Local time: 02:23
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Hungarian
PRO pts in category: 4

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

shedding (a small amount of) light on the edges of the subject

Explanation:
There is a, probably deliberate, ambiguity about whether "marginal" describes the quality of the light or the area it is shed upon. It probably means both.

B D Finch
France
Local time: 02:23
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 40

Grading comment

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marginal illumination

English translation: shedding (a small amount of) light on the edges of the subject

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marginal illumination

English translation: shedding (a small amount of) light on the edges of the subject

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