The idea
of language and its origins and imperfections has been discussed for decades. Theorists
like Locke and Derrida have committed entire essays to the concept of language.
Both essays are thoughtful, complex, and frankly quite dense with information.
I was struggling with grasping these concepts until I realized I already knew
them. I had read about them in one of my favorite childhood books as a 4th
grader. The answers I needed were found in Frindle.
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| Book Cover, Frindle- Andrew Clements |
Frindle is a novel by Andrew
Clements and is about a young 5th grade boy named Nick Allen. Nick
is known for his acts of creative trouble making, his “thought-grenade”
questions, and avoiding homework at all costs. His language arts teacher Ms.
Granger has a love for language, and as a part of one of his tricky schemes,
Nick asks Ms. Granger where all words come from, and Ms. Granger tells him to
do research on the topic and present an oral report on his findings. The answer
Nick discovers is simple, words are invented and through culture the use of the
word spreads until everyone understands what it means and continues to use the
word. It is then that Nick thinks of his next scheme: he is going to invent a
word! He decides to never refer to a pen as a “pen” again but rather as a new
word; “frindle.” He puts his plan into action by going to school and only
referring to pens as frindles. Not too long after, his friends begin to use the
word, as well as the office supply store in town. Eventually, Nick and his
school received national attention all because of their new language. Many
years pass and Nick has grown into a successful business man who sold the
rights to the word frindle and made a great profit. Frindle is used all around
the country in real conversations. He
receives a package from Ms. Granger and sees that it is a dictionary with a
bookmark marking the page where frindle is now listed as a real word.
Locke’s
essay, “Essay on Human Understanding” takes a look at the origins of words, and
how words have imperfections. He talks about how words sometimes mean different
things to different people. He says that he is “certainly doubtful and
uncertain in their significations,” meaning that he isn’t sure that each word
can mean the same thing to every person (Locke, 817). This was pretty clear in Frindle. When Nick first came to school
and starting to call pens frindles, no one really knew what he was talking
about because they only knew to use the word “pen.” Locke also explores how
words have to uses; to communicate in every day conversation, and to explore
the philosophical and abstract world around us. Nick accomplishes both in Frindle. By the time he is an adult,
frindle is an everyday word for a writing utensil, however, it also shed light
on the philosophical idea on the creation of words and language. If a 5th
grader can completely reinvent a concept that had already been established for
hundreds of years, what does that mean for the rest of language? Is it that
easily replaceable?
Derrida’s
essay, “Difference” explores the ideas of how the process of signification
works and connects an idea with a word. Derrida argues that words or language
is defined by the idea that is connected to it, also known as the signifiers.
Nick Allen utilizes this idea when he tries to establish “frindle” as the new
word for pen. When he goes to school, he asks his friend for a frindle, and
when his friend doesn’t understand what he is asking for, Nick holds up a pen,
points to it and says that it is a “frindle.” This connected the image of what
was previously known as a pen, the signifier, and connects it to the new sign
of “frindle.”
While he
might not have known it, Nick’s tricky scheme ended up being so successful
because of the theories found in Locke and Derrida’s work. He utilized the idea
of developing a signifier, and he knew he would have to spread the idea around
to many people so that different people could understand the new definition.
The idea that language is complex and changing isn’t something that only experienced
theorists can explore, but even a 5th grader can develop language
and change the way the world sees a word.
My attention was grabbed at your question about language, "Is it that easily replaceable?" What I find interesting about Locke's essay of the origins of language, is that he never does delve into the rules past cultures have made for their language. While creating a new name for an object may be an easy task, what about the replacement of prepositions (in, of, through, around)? What about commas and periods? If I just decided to switch their uses one day, would 'because I said so' be a sufficient enough answer? In the part of his essay titled, "Of the Abuse of Words," Locke states, "Thirdly, There is no knowledge of things conveyed by men's words, when their ideas agree not to the reality of things," (Locke 825). Has the language of which our culture has developed not, at least part, of our reality? I know I am asking many questions here, all rhetorical though. Your blog post really got me thinking. Like the word 'frindle', I would have to believe that this word had absolutely no use until he was much older and received the package from his teacher, showing the word in the dictionary. Not until then, do I think, that the word 'frindle' became reality, therefore became part of the language. I know this reply doesn't consist of many complete thoughts, but I hope it brings up some questions in your own mind! Thanks for the post Chelsea!
ReplyDeleteNot only can new words be created for "signifiers", but also original words can be considered arbitrary because of the different meanings that might be held by a person. For instance, a person can think of the word "pen" in a different sense than the physical object. Someone might say "I'm going to go pen this right now", which might mean they are about to go write something in pen. The word "pen" becomes a symbol, then, for an action instead of a physical object.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if we were to apply Derrida's "differance" to this example, not only is language arbitrary, but the ideas that words signify are also arbitrary.
This post makes me think a lot about the poetry of Asian American poet Li- Young Lee. His poetry is heavily centered on language and his struggle to communicate through English and his native tongue. His poem Persimmon's speaks of a language barrier in which two words can be mixed up, or have different meaning to two different people. This goes back to what Locke would say is one of the failures of language.
ReplyDelete