Sunday, November 09, 2003
Heir of the hornbook dept.
Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care by John McWhorter
Reviewer Robert George outlines below:
"BERKELEY professor and Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow John McWhorter's latest book - complete with a lengthy, yet witty title - tackles a big topic: The 1960s - in addition to the decade's racial, gender and sexual upheavals - also brought about a fundamental change in the way Americans speak and understand one another.
Where once existed a barrier between casual spoken English and a more formal, stylized way of speaking reserved for significant occasions, the casual form now dominates everything.
McWhorter places the blame on a nation that, beginning in the '60's started to question its own instincts and values. He declares that a love and respect of one's language is ultimately the clearest indicator of love and respect for one's country.
Anyone who has sat through a speech by the average baby boomer politician knows how much they fall flat in comparison to orators of past age.
On the year anniversary of 9/11 (McWhorter began writing on Sept. 10, 2002), rather than try to write their own speeches, elected officials in New York chose instead to read excerpts of classic speeches.
For McWhorter the trend is clear: Original and formal speaking, writing and musical creation has given way to people just "talking."
Thus, news-talk is the most popular radio format.
Thus, rap is the most popular "music" form.
If there is one criticism of the book, it's that McWhorter is almost too analytical in his approach.
In an apparent attempt to balance academic and mainstream audiences, McWhorter adopts a rather impassive tone.
Anger? Outrage? Perhaps McWhorter senses that those sentiments might fall upon deaf ears.
As James Brown once said, we are "talkin' loud and sayin' nothin'." In previous eras, the great orators of their times were those who could synthesize bits of information and distill it into knowledge - sustenance for both the immediate listener and subsequent generations.
There is nothing of that sort today."
¶ 11/09/2003 09:34:00 PM
Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care by John McWhorter
Reviewer Robert George outlines below:
"BERKELEY professor and Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow John McWhorter's latest book - complete with a lengthy, yet witty title - tackles a big topic: The 1960s - in addition to the decade's racial, gender and sexual upheavals - also brought about a fundamental change in the way Americans speak and understand one another.
Where once existed a barrier between casual spoken English and a more formal, stylized way of speaking reserved for significant occasions, the casual form now dominates everything.
McWhorter places the blame on a nation that, beginning in the '60's started to question its own instincts and values. He declares that a love and respect of one's language is ultimately the clearest indicator of love and respect for one's country.
Anyone who has sat through a speech by the average baby boomer politician knows how much they fall flat in comparison to orators of past age.
On the year anniversary of 9/11 (McWhorter began writing on Sept. 10, 2002), rather than try to write their own speeches, elected officials in New York chose instead to read excerpts of classic speeches.
For McWhorter the trend is clear: Original and formal speaking, writing and musical creation has given way to people just "talking."
Thus, news-talk is the most popular radio format.
Thus, rap is the most popular "music" form.
If there is one criticism of the book, it's that McWhorter is almost too analytical in his approach.
In an apparent attempt to balance academic and mainstream audiences, McWhorter adopts a rather impassive tone.
Anger? Outrage? Perhaps McWhorter senses that those sentiments might fall upon deaf ears.
As James Brown once said, we are "talkin' loud and sayin' nothin'." In previous eras, the great orators of their times were those who could synthesize bits of information and distill it into knowledge - sustenance for both the immediate listener and subsequent generations.
There is nothing of that sort today."
¶ 11/09/2003 09:34:00 PM
