…The time for pedantic purism is past; if we wish to communicate with the larger audience, we must use language they understand. We do not have the luxury of defining our words, their definitions are thrust upon us by usage.
I was struck by how much that sounds like something I might have said about libraries — only more compact and pointed — but it’s actually my father describing his position on an argument at the World History Association annual conference a couple weeks ago.
Later, I’ll probably use his words to shape my long standing theme regarding the language we use. Every field of endeavor field employs specific, perhaps opaque, terms; our challenge is to make knowledge accessible to interested outsiders, not exclusive.
In this case, however, the argument was about how we define periods of history in differing geographic contexts.
…we should give in to popular demand and accept the term “medieval” as a global historical period, not just a European period.
If we think about it, we can come up with a dozen reasons why this argument is wrong, but another moment of thought reveals that there’s really not much alternative. And, for an group that identifies itself as “the foremost organization for the promotion of world history,” would they not be failing in that promotional mission if they isolated themselves by demanding a unique vocabulary?
exclusion, history, inclusion, language, medieval, pedantic, pedantic purism, purism, Wilfred Bisson, Wilfred J. Bisson, world history
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Posted July 7, 2006 by Casey
Categories: Libraries & Networked Information, Politics & Controversy. Tags: exclusion, history, inclusion, language, medieval, pedantic, pedantic purism, purism, Wilfred Bisson, Wilfred J. Bisson, world history.
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[...] For anyone who still doubts the internet becoming a community, just like our towns, workplaces, and bowling teams - those who regularly post on Wikipedia are now Wikipedians. Just like people from Chicago are chicagoans and Boston are bostonians. The language we use is important and its usage can tell us what’s happening on the street - let’s listen and join up! [...]
I completely agree with you that if we want that all should listen to us, we need to use the language that is widely used. But today we have progressed so much that we can easily download all things on computers and can change the language as per the conveinence!
[...] For my part, this is more than just an excuse to link to DJ Ted Stevens’ Internet Song (yeah, “the internet is a series of tubesâ€), it’s an excuse to point out how Flickr apparently knows how to speak to their customers in language they we understand. I dare a library to do the same next time the opportunity permits. [...]