‘Language is fossil poetry. As the limestone of the continent consists of infinite masses of the shells of animalcules,
so language is made up of images, or tropes, which now, in their secondary use, have long ceased to remind us of their poetic origin….[but remember!] the etymologist finds the deadest word to have been once a brilliant picture.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Poet.
Twice during the term, we will collaborate in building a lexicon of Elemental Thinking that becomes a “brilliant picture” of both living and dead, real and invented words. Each time we turn to a new element, you will contribute three words (or short phrases) to our lexicon following this structure:
Word 1: Pluck a word from the secondary readings and enter the author’s own gloss of that term. (Be sure to cite in short form: Author’s last name only, page number).
Word 2: Identify a word that appears (even if fleetingly) across two or more readings/listenenings this week. Gloss it however you wish: critically, speculatively, creatively, etc. Your gloss should put your word in motion for our conversation that week.
Word 3: Coin/Reanimate/or Ban a word (or etymology for a word) that you think would be useful to deploy (or destroy) this week. The word might be your own neologism, an archaism, or a word from another disciplinary field. Virginia Woolf once wrote of the “word coining” genius of the English Renaissance that it was ‘...as if thought plunged into a sea of words and came up dripping.’ Make your word drip with possibilities!
Inspirations:
See the list of “extra” words that appear inVeer Ecology [PDF]
Wordbirds: A Lexicon of Neologisms for the 21st Century
Banished wordlist
Due: Enter your word in this Google Doc [link] by Tuesday @ 5pm each time Elemental Words is Due on the syllabus: 9/9 (5%) and 10/14 (5%).