[bornacatholic]

So, according to you, Swift's "A Modest Proposal" can be understood by the critic to be a serious proposal.

[Borges]

He wouldn't make much hay with that. Historical context matters it's just not the only thing that matters. There have been such interpretive conundrums over the centuries. People took Goethe's 'The Sorrow's Of Young Werther' seriously when he intended it to be a send up of Rosseau's ideas. They ended up emulating the titular character and killing themselves. Oops. :-)

But decontextualizing art is done all the time. As social conditions change so does the way art is recieved. Can you imagine Dickens's reaction to a contemporary Victorian Professor who marvels at his use of dust as symbolism in 'Our Mutual Friend'? He'd be baffled.