Also relevant to the Postmodern? thread may be George Steiner's latest,
which Roger Kimball reviewed in the NY TIMES last Sunday. Asking, among
other things, "Does the eclipse of the messianic infirm the concept of
philosophic and poetic creation even as deconstructive and 'postmodern'
theories subvert that of the 'creator'?," Steiner here defines "grammar" as
"the articulate organization of perception, reflection and experience, the
nerve structure of consciousness when it communicates with itself and with
others," and says that GRAMMARS OF CREATION addresses "something of the
impact of this darkened condition on grammar." (There's a first-chapter
excerpt along with the review, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.)
Amusingly, Kimball (who's not as smart as Steiner, IMHO) suggests that
"infirm" in Steiner's eclipse-of-the-messianic question above could be a
misprint of "inform"!
Candice
'Grammars of Creation': Is the Future Just a Tense?
By ROGER KIMBALL
George Steiner, the polymath's polymath, asks more questions about
beginnings and the end
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/02/books/review/02KIMBALTW.html?ex=1001134582
&ei=1&en=a3ed4c14bf547b11
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
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