A Portal to Insight

Creative Nonfiction is a handy portal for entering into an obscure or difficult-to-appreciate historical event, and thereby understand and appreciate it in a new and greater way.

The following series of articles is an attempt to illuminate a passage of the Bible that most people are unaware of. It starts with a front page newspaper article stating the facts (in a somewhat biased way) of the incident, followed by three very different letters to the editor (which should balance out some of the bias). These are then followed by a reminiscence of the perpetrator of the events, then things conclude by a summary from above.

May you be drawn into this historical event and be motivated to explore it further. Bible references are included in brackets.

The link is here  The Reluctant Landowner

God bless, Reggie H.

The Beautiful, Multi-complexity of Language

No other human activity is as involving and complex as language communication[1]. We can say anything we want, the sentences we spin  “off-the-cuff” throughout the day in all sorts of circumstances, emotional states, relationships… are appropriate works of creative art.  We talk to each person a little differently, we have a dialect for speaking to one child, a slightly different dialect for talking with another, a different dialect again for our spouse, parent, boss, pastor, policeman, etc., etc., etc.,  switching back and forth constantly without giving it a conscious thought[2].  We develop new sentence patterns.  Use words in new contexts, stretch their meanings[3], make metaphorical associations at the drop of the hat.  Then there are the innuendos, the undercurrents, the overtones, the unspoken implications, etc. etc. etc.  Language is a powerful tool in the hands of a fluent user.

One of the disadvantages of linguistic research is that laboratory findings can only be understood and explained to others by use of its own specimens (using language to explain language).  No other science is like this.  Also, not only are the specimens “out there” for laboratory research, but they are also, in all their infinite variety, crammed in the researchers’ own heads, always asking for more examples, further insights, possible exceptions.  This can drive one dizzy.

Out of a normal vocabulary of say 60,000 words, we can spin an infinite variety of sentences.  Out of the infinite variety of sentences there is no limit to the discourses we can create of any subject, any size, for any purpose. Yes.  Human language is complex beyond description, and there are over 6000 different languages, all doing the same work, fulfilling the same functions, using different vocabulary, syntax, semantic structures …  No wonder the field of linguistics has yet to fully conquer its territory.

A sub-branch of linguistics is Discourse Analysis.  DA studies whole discourses with all their parts.  It is a progressing field of study, with noticeable gains year by year.  Its lack of definitiveness is due in part to its subject matter.  Not only is language infinitely complex, but it can be approached in a variety of ways. Individual facets of the language scheme are scrutinized one at a time (like function, modality, semantic hierarchy, etc).  Any framework wide enough to include everything would be too cumbersome to handle.  Humans can theorize about language, debate about language, but language is bigger than our processing systems.  Language is something we use far better than we understand.[4]

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[1] "With the God of the scriptures at the center of our world view, language takes its place in God's creation along with man who speaks it. For the Biblical theist it is instinctive to espouse a high view of language and its categories.  Whatever the ultimate nature of the universe, God, in giving us language (or letting us develop it) has not duped us.  He has given us a quick and ready means of indexing things, finding our way around, and having practical insight into reality.  Whatever there is that is ineffable about matter and spirit, language at least gives us an open-ended way of grappling with it.  And just as no one can dogmatize about the limits of the physical accomplishments of man's body (with e.g., new athletic records being set all the time), so no one can intelligently dogmatize on the limits of language.” Longacre, pg 354.

[2] Halliday on register is related but not the same.

[3] “Words, then, are ‘slippery’ things.  They shift, sometimes almost imperceptibly, sometimes more dramatically, in the course of time.  ‘Time’ here can be a century in the life of the language, or twenty years in the career of a writer.” Carney, pg 85.

[4] “Language presents its skilful user with boundless resources.  Its major terms have layer upon layer of meaning.  Skilfully combined, these become phrases resonant with halftones, undertones, overtones and echoing reminiscences.  Skills in producing word magic are far better developed than those in analyzing it.” Carney, pg 50.

Foreign Elements

How do you explain things that reside far outside of your readers’ experience? Some cultural and religious practices are so foreign to our experience. Some things in the Bible are very much this way. Some things we can be very happy to be ignorant about, one of them was the abominable practice of child sacrifice.

How do you get such things across when the situation requires? Be creative.

An example of this can be found right here: Gone, Completely Gone.  This is a chapter from the book Josiah – Chain Breaker; An example of true collaborative writing by men and women in Papua New Guinea.

Enjoy.