lili krakowski on tue 30 dec 03
Jargon is language meant to distinguish "us" from "them". It is used =
by s/nobs and such to put the lower classes in their place, and to trip =
up arrivistes. Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh dealt well with the =
subject. =20
The Lower Classes also use jargon to set themselves apart. In many =
cases they use patois or slang to do so, but that still is language used =
as jargon. The point here is to befuddle and mislead the perceived =
"upper-class", In the US we have of recent seen vast use of =
Afro-American patois by the middle class aiming at PC. PC in turn =
being a concept of showing off how generous oneself is as distinguished =
from nasty, snooty, bigoted Others. (I think Janet, that wonderful =
Welsh Human Resource might agree!)=20
Doctors adore jargon. "Gut", "tummy", "peeing" are rejected for =
"intestine" "abdomen" and my all time favorite "micturition". =20
Lawyers and accountants thrive on jargon. And all of it is meant to =
show their superiority to us mere mortals.
Art speak (still wearing crash helmet) is a form of jargon. It moves =
the Art Academic and the Art Critic into a higher sphere of knowledge =
and appreciation in which they talk down to the artist, and reverently =
to each other.
It is much too late in the day to try to stop it. Poets still may =
strive for language cats and dogs can understand, and potters still may =
try for pots the Common Man can use and enjoy--but pots long have become =
"vessels" and are used to win prizes not serve porridge.
The world of the creators, the makers, has been taken over, and is =
dominated by the Art Establishment. The A & C Movement (still my area =
of study) started as an attempt to preserve the handcrafts and the =
craftsmen as mechanization swept the land.
As more and more the making of things went into factories and there =
"progressed" from organized and regimented manual labor to the machine =
made, intellectuals thought to save the handmade by joining and =
identifying themselves with craftsmen. And, indeed at the end of the =
19th and first half of the 20th centuries this happened. This was done. =
But all too soon the intellectuals found their way out of trade and =
craft schools into full-blown colleges and universities, and we know the =
rest.
Things too numerous to list have changed since that last Romantic gasp =
of the 60s. It has become harder to be a "mere"craftsman because the =
market place itself has become more difficult to access without =
"artspeak" --which essentially comes from the Art Establishment. If =
there were nothing else to point to as a significant change--youngsters =
barely skilled in their craft spend fortunes entering shows! Trying to, =
anyway. These are not master craftsmen to whom shows are offered in =
tribute. These are kids who enter the craft world as active =
competitors. My mind she boggles. And I expect the poor, dear, aging =
thing, will boggle a lot more in the future.
Because from my point of view craft has become as competitive as sport. =
Which I for one lament. =20
Rant over. Happy 2004
Ann Kenworthy on tue 30 dec 03
Lili and all,
"Doctors adore jargon. "Gut", "tummy", "peeing" are rejected for
"intestine" "abdomen" and my all time favorite "micturition".
Lawyers and accountants thrive on jargon. And all of it is meant to show
their superiority to us mere mortals."
I am interested in the use of language, too. My most astounding experiences
have been with the medical establishment.
After our daughter's first heart surgery, many years ago, she was lethargic.
(This story has a good ending...she is now a pediatric cardiologist.) I
listened to her heart rate with a stethoscope and found that her heart rate
was about 40. We went back to the cardiologist with this information, and
learned that this was "inconsistent with good outcome." My husband and I
looked at each other....we always both went to these sessions together so we
could translate them when we got home. "What does this mean?" we asked.
"She could die from this," was the answer. So she got her first pacemaker
when she was about 8. Wrought havoc when she went through the scanners at
the airport. Our code language for something really, really bad is
"inconsistent with good outcome".
I don't think they necessarily developed this language to exclude others,
but to protect themselves. I don't know how this relates to the art
establishment, but clearly it (inconsistent with good outcome) is a way for
health care people to distance themselves from the emotional impact of a
reality. The good news is, my daughter the human doctor (the other one is a
veterinarian, so we are careful to distinguish in our family) doesn't talk
like this. Maybe a new generation is more clear on communicating clearly
with less emphasis on differentiating "them" from "us". Do you think there
is hope for the people who talk about art?
Ann, in southern Maryland
halfway between Washington and Patuxent Naval Air Station, and tonight there
is plane after plane after plane after plan flying over.....hope we find
that all is well.
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