11.946, Disc: Literary Semantics

[The LINGUIST Network]

LINGUIST List:  Vol-11-946. Tue Apr 25 2000. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 11.946, Disc: Literary Semantics

Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar, Wayne State U.<aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Dry, Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at linguistlist.org>
            Andrew Carnie, U. of Arizona <carnie at linguistlist.org>

Reviews: Andrew Carnie: U. of Arizona <carnie at linguistlist.org>

Associate Editors:  Ljuba Veselinova, Stockholm U. <ljuba at linguistlist.org>
		    Scott Fults, E. Michigan U. <scott at linguistlist.org>
		    Jody Huellmantel, Wayne State U. <jody at linguistlist.org>
		    Karen Milligan, Wayne State U. <karen at linguistlist.org>

Assistant Editors:  Lydia Grebenyova, E. Michigan U. <lydia at linguistlist.org>
		    Naomi Ogasawara, E. Michigan U. <naomi at linguistlist.org>
		    James Yuells, Wayne State U. <james at linguistlist.org>

Software development: John Remmers, E. Michigan U. <remmers at emunix.emich.edu>
                      Sudheendra Adiga, Wayne State U. <sudhi at linguistlist.org>
                      Qian Liao, E. Michigan U. <qian at linguistlist.org>

Home Page:  http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded jointly by Eastern Michigan University,
Wayne State University, and donations from subscribers and publishers.


Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karen at linguistlist.org>

=================================Directory=================================

1)
Date:  Wed, 26 Apr 2000 00:23:54 +0100
From:  john.reighard at libertysurf.fr (John Reighard)
Subject:  Disc:  Literary Semantics

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Wed, 26 Apr 2000 00:23:54 +0100
From:  john.reighard at libertysurf.fr (John Reighard)
Subject:  Disc:  Literary Semantics


Apparently I disagree with everyone!

I have no problem with the term "literary semantics".  Semantics is a large
field whose main focus is the study of meaning in language.  That some
people with a primary interest in literature might be interested in
studying the "meaning of language" in the particular context of literary
studies seems to me eminently plausible.

The "meaning of language" in the poetry of e. e. cummings is obviously
quite different from the "meaning of language" in the sonnets of
Shakespeare.  I heard recently an interesting talk on the poetry of
Gertrude Stein focussing on what might be called the "non-meaning of
language".

Sculpture is also a large field whose focus is (I suppose) the creation and
appreciation of three-dimensional objects.  The material out of which such
objects can be made is surely one of the fundamental dimensions in which
these things can be seen.  An article by John Updike in the latest New York
Review pays particular attention to the different materials used by the
late medieval sculptor Riemenscheider (alabaster, stone, pearwood...) and
the effect they have on the final product.  Are we not here precisely in
the domain of "sculptural geology"?

John Reighard
Département de linguistique et de traduction
Université de Montréal
CP 6128, Succ. Centre-ville
Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7
Canada
tél :   514 343 6220
fax :   514 343 2284

e-mail: John.Reighard at umontreal.ca
        john.reighard at libertysurf.fr
        ZapReig at aol.com

245, rue d'Entraigues
37000 Tours
France
tél : (0)2 47 76 08 64  [no '0' for international calls]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-11-946