On Tue, 30 Nov 2004, Dennis Redmond wrote:
> Miles Jackson wrote:
>
> > No, if one person "reinvents" a language, it's gibberish
>
> By no means. There are degrees of reinvention, and a whole complex history
> of literary forms and cultural interpretation which that reinvention
> entails. But it doesn't happen by itself; subjects and subjectivities are
> required.
Yes, subjects are required, just as neurochemical signals in the brain are required, the stimulation of various motor neurons is required, a functioning medulla is required to keep stable patterns of breathing and circulation in the body. However, none of these necessary, preexisting conditions of language use meaningfully explain how language is used and how a language system changes. That level of explanation requires analysis of social structure and social relations. (Analogy: just as a psychologist can do meaningful scientific work without directly analyzing the chemical or physical forces at play in the human body, a social analyst can do meaningful scientific work on language systems without analyzing subjects. --It's okay for people in different disciplines to use different levels of analysis!)
Miles