read helen keller's account of how she didn't have a clue of what it was
that her teacher was spelling into her hand until she experienced a
breakthrough and constructed all by herself what language was for her.
before that she described to have had a lot of meaningless sensations.
klaus krippendorff
gregory bateson term professor for cybernetics, language, and culture
the annenberg school for communication
university of pennsylvania
3620 walnut street
philadelphia, pa 19104.6220
phone: 215.898.7051 (O); 215.545.9356 (H)
fax: 215.898.2024 (O); 215.545.9357 (H)
usa
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Burnette User [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 8:58 PM
To: klaus krippendorff; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Basic level aesthetics and density
On 6/7/04 1:39 PM, "klaus krippendorff" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> i think there is no visual language as independently teachable as is
spoken
> language. visual phenomena accompany spoken language, correlate with
spoken
> language, enrich spoken language, but is not a language in its own right.
Klaus,
The problem that Cheryl seeks to address may lie precisely in this dominance
of language and even in your conventions for acknowledging one. It is
probably worth an experiment to see if something can be taught, learned or
communicated through visual phenomena without the use of spoken, written or
gestural language. It wouldn't be what we are accustomed to, but, at least,
it would let us know whether visual things can serve to communicate an
intended meaning. I bet they can and often do.
Best always,
Chuck
|