On Sun, May 9, 2010 at 1:58 AM, David Bircumshaw
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> Uche wrote:
>
> >As I've said before on this list, I think a lot of that comes from the
> fallacy that linguistic constructs influence or reflect experiential
> realities, AKA the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. That hypothesis, dating from
> the
> early 20th century, caught the public imagination, especially in the days
> of
> modernism and post-modernism, and, for example, influenced Orwell's
> Newspeak
> nonsense. <
>
> I think Orwell's 'Newspeak nonsense' was somewhat influenced too by what
> both Stalinists and Nazis had done to language in their own domains, just
> as
> the German 'gruppe 47' was resolved about the need to confront the reality
> of the 'bloodied stumps of language' that the Nazis had left behind them.
> Celan's whole poetics can be seen as stemming from that.
> In the West nowadays the 'enemy' is the effect of Freemarket Fascism on
> language, something the Language poets seemed to have been exercised by in
> the beginning, but have become slightly fouled-up by in their development
> (it's a bit of a problem for US-Americans, living in a society where the
> state itself, and thereby the language of that state, 'America', and
> 'American', is a religion, a projection of capitalist heaven onto the rest
> of the Universe, whether the Universe wants it or not)
> I'm not inclined to rubbish Sapir-Whorf as readily as you are, Uche,
> although I admit that when talking of politicians it's obvious that
> language
> is not a reflection of experiential realities, a problem that exercised the
> European mind from at least Macchiavelli on.
>
David,
When I say 'Newspeak nonsense', I mean not just the fictional device, which
is a brilliant one, but the fact that Orwell in general writing seemed to be
advancing the basic ideas as an actual threat.
I think I'd better leave alone some of the politics you bring up in passing,
but thanks for the thoughts in regards the connected poetics.
As for rubbishing Sapir-Whorf, I usually have a triumphant gambit against
well-meaning progressives. I say: "Well, take my own native language, for
example. In mechanical senses it's much simpler than most European
languages. Just for example, almost all tenses are constructed by compounds
from simple verb forms. Your Whorfian thinking would land you straight into
the lap of Bell Curve thinking, that native Igbos and other Africaks of Kwa
language groups (the largest in Africa) are doomed to rudimentarily
sophisticated experience, but that is contradicted by realities such as the
extraordinary educational attainment of members of those groups who are
given opportunity on par with other groups, worldwide."
Not too many progressives are comfy with the idea that their pet pop science
theories in effect perpetuate old stereotypes about aboriginal peoples. But
in this case, I'm not going to pretend I have a chip on my shoulder about
how people perceive, say, the Igbo language. I don't. I know how rich and
varied it is. And I know there is nothing you can express in English that
you can't express in Igbo. It doesn't bother me how anyone else perceives
the language, so at least in my case there is no real sensitivity nor any
real injury.
My rubbishing of Sapir-Whorf is more basic than that. It's been rubbished
over and over by sociologists and professionals who have studied the idea in
earnest, many of who grew up on the pop science, and entered into their
studies assuming that language influences experience and thought, and
learning otherwise by actual, rigorous examination.
It's just incidentally true that I am personally very gratified that such a
deeply anti-humanistic theory as Sapir-Whorf has lost its legs to stand
upon.
--
Uche Ogbuji http://uche.ogbuji.net
Founding Partner, Zepheira http://zepheira.com
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