Language, all said and done

Danièle  Moyal-Sharrock

doi:10.4396/2024201

Danièle Moyal-Sharrock

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4396/2024201

Parole chiave: Language, Grammar, Literature, Certainty, Wittgenstein

Abstract

I begin, with Wittgenstein’s help, by opposing the view that language is rooted in principles biologically programmed in our brains in advance of use; arguing, instead, that it is rooted in human action and reaction, and embedded in our practices. I then discuss the fact that language is a human construct, but that this does not prevent its being autonomous. Because language is a perennial collaborative achievement – hinged on a grammar conditioned by our human form(s) of life – it has a force and a life of its own. This is not to say that it is impervious to change. I suggest that language best evolves in the hands of creative writers who, through interrogating, wrestling with, and sensitively wielding language, are able to make it say, show and do things that question and enrich our concepts, and thereby our understanding of ourselves.

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