Out of sequence here, sorry.

[Shannon Carter]

First, let me apologize for posting out of sequence: I deleted all GALA
messages posted after the votes were tallied on the last agenda item before
I got a chance to read them. I don't know what item is up next on the
chopping block, so I will use my ignorance as an excuse to post short
comments on two earlier items:

1. On an interdisciplinary status?
2.  In what ways might the philosophy of this organization relate to
feminism?

For the first, I would have to say that I too (thank goodness, as the votes
are in on this) am strongly in favor of interdisciplinary status for this
organization. While I agree that this might make things difficult when
judging the quality of journal or conference submissions, I argue that an
interrogation of boundaries must be integral to any true study of gender and
language. This includes not only sociological and psychological boundaries,
but also those arbitrary divisions that make up our "disciplines."

Though I am not a linguist, my understanding of the work of linguists
corresponds with an earlier posting that notes that perhaps the field of
linguistics is inherently interdisciplinary. Rhetoric, my "discipline,"
covers such a large territory that it too may be seen as inherently
interdisciplinary. Which leads me directly into a discussion of the
importance of the second issue: the relationship of GALA's philosophy to
feminism.

Kenneth, I think you are dead on at every point in your discussion on this.
I think this idea of interdisciplinary status is directly tied up with a
feminist agenda. While feminism is as diverse as any theoretical/ideological
stance, I do think that many feminists would agree with Kenneth's argument
that this "feminist/ masculinist dichotomy is an artificial one." This is
true, I argue, of any dichotomy and any boundary drawings.  So I think it
would be exhilarating to see a GALA welcome scholarly discussion on all
issues relating to gender. I wish I could remember who posted that wonderful
email on the ways in which such a discussion of gender and boundary would
stir up some hot debates, not only between feminists and nonfeminists, but
also among the feminists themselves. This is the stuff I want to be a part
of!

So an organization committed to studying gender and language as it relates
to artistic creation and interpretation, development of our metaphors (as
all of this relates to the fascinating stuff in cognitive science and
neo-Darwinism via Lakoff and Turner and Fauconnier), the development of our
poetic language as subversion to revert to the presymbolic stages via
Kristevian analysis, and on and on . . .

I can't thank you people enough for the rigor with which you have set up and
continue to maintain this list. I think (I hope) we might be on the ground
floor of something really big.






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