It's amazing how far one topic can be taken just for one person to prove their point. I guess that's the way it goes.

^ Hey! There are only so many occasions on a musicals site where somebody shows willingness to contribute to a genuinely thought-provoking discussion about linguistics.

First of all, what is linguistics, language? And second, that may be true, but I wasn't trying to disagree with anyone. Making a plain ol' Switzerland comment.

Simply put, 'linguistics' is the study of language and its structure. While your observation may not be in any particular disagreement (although it could be interpreted as subtle criticism), note that while the point of my last statement was certainly true, the tone of text adopted was an informal one, hence the exclamative 'Hey!' and the smiley at the end.

Didn't notice the smiley.

Indeed. My main point was that you hadn't written anything to suggest you believed yourself exempt, so I didn't consider anything you wrote hypocritical.



Agreed. I had intended more to illustrate how I enjoy interdisciplinary approaches and tangential thinking. In retrospect, I should have been clearer. Ironic, really, considering this thread largely has been concerned with writing clearly and effectively. Even a guy with a B.A. in English like myself can be prone to misrepresenting his main idea. Though I suppose I haven't the benefit of drafting for these posts, favoring promptness over perhaps more concrete composition.


I favor the hybrid approach as well when trying to grasp a prevailing impression of a work. 60-70 years ago, however, you and I would have been castigated for that. We would have been viewed as lacking critical interpretive skills and/or being fickle, in a manner akin to the novice who suggests simply that "Conservatives and Liberals both have valid points" but takes no side.

For more intense study, though, I try to hedge myself in to a particular critical school. It's a lot like acting, really (well, I guess method acting, to be specific). One has to forget his/her own instinctual response and the emotionally appealing critical opinions of other theories. Then it becomes easier to see the threads of a particular critical perspective throughout a work as a whole. (Edit: Then again, some will say method acting involves forgetting oneself so that the "instinctual responses" are that of the character. OK, OK, it's a bad analogy).



Alas, I must confess I am largely regurgitating what any contemporary survey of Critical Theory outlines in America.

I think elphieglinda16 and random person need a moratorium, by the way.

You're..kidding me, right? Delay my activities? How does one do that?

I would suppose he means in regard to our frequent tangent discussions on this board.

Ture, we do get off topic.

I meant in regard to the misunderstandings which prompt the "Oh no I wasn't being rude" stuff. And not because it bothers me. It's just mildly amusing.

Sometimes unintentional humour is the best kind.

I should know, considering what happened in English today.