The World of Words | Assignment 1:3, Q3
In “If This is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories: Finding Common Ground”, Edward Chamberlin unravels the myriad and complex roles stories play in our lives, describing how stories “bring us close to the world we live in by taking us into a world of words” (Chamberlin, Introduction). What exactly is this “world of words”, and how does it accomplish this marvellous feat?
The Story of Schrödinger’s Cat
Before we can unravel the complexities of the world of words, we must first understand the paradoxical nature of words. Chamberlin introduces this concept by using the example of a teacher pointing to the letters “C-A-T” and asking “what is that?” (Chamberlin, ch.6). Of course, the answer is “a cat”… but only if you accept that words are both what they mean, and not. “C-A-T” means “cat,” albeit an intangible cat. As nothing more or less than a word, “cat” both exists and doesn’t exist, much like the theoretical cat that is at the centre of Schrödinger’s famed thought experiment. Schrödinger’s cat has received prompted endless discussions about quantum theory; however, what I find most relevant is that Schrödinger created a cat at all. In order to articulate the nebulous nuances of quantum theory, Schrodinger turned to the world of words and created a story. It is in the realm of stories, the world of words, that such supposed logical impossibilities can be understood as reality.
Riddles and Charms
“This power [of the imagination] seems to be most obvious at the point where mystery and clarity converge—in riddles and rhymes, for example—and it is remarkable that it is often when we are most conscious of the arbitrariness and artifice of their form that we surrender to the power of a story or a song.” (Chamberlin, ch.6)
In January 2020, Early Music Vancouver hosted the early music group Sequentia for a performance of their concert “Charms, Riddles, and Elegies of the Medieval Northlands: Words of Power.” The concert featured songs from the 8th to 11th centuries: songs with lyrics featuring riddles and charms. The programme notes for the concert include quotes from Anglo-Saxonist Craig Williamson, who stipulates that these charms “are working songs with a purpose, with power over human affairs.” Riddles and charms serve as a gateway to the convoluted world of words, in which the strange and the wondrous thrive, and provide us with an opportunity to explore the paradox that lies at its heart. When solving a riddle, we allow ourselves to dismantle and reassemble language in order to make sense of the nonsensical; to enter into the covenant of a charm, we readily suspend our disbelief. Riddles and charms give us the two extremes of untangling the world of words: riddles rely on intellectual detachment, while charms demand emotional involvement (Redekop 220).
Strangeness and Wonder: A Most Ingenious Paradox
“Words, a letter and a letter on a string/Will hold forever humanity spellbound.”
– “Words,” The Real Group
We are all spellbound by the sense of wonder that underwrites our words. As long as we accept the power of words we can allow ourselves to get lost in ideas that can both only be imagined and yet are very real. Words afford us the power to “believe it and not,” the great paradox of the world of words. In the world of words, reality and imagination reveal themselves to be far from mutually exclusive. Accepting this paradox allows us to make sense of the senseless, to internalize external matters, and thus to connect on a deeper level with the world we live in by explaining it through our stories. Words transform the unknown and the unknowable to the familiar and codified, and thus make us feel closer to the world we live in.
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Works Cited
Chamberlin, J. Edward. If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories: Finding Common Ground. Kindle ed., Vintage Canada, 2004.
“Charms, Riddles & Elegies Feat. Sequentia Ensemble for Medieval Music.” Early Music BC, www.earlymusic.bc.ca/events/charms-riddles-elegies-feat-sequentia-ensemble-for-medieval-music/. Accessed 24 January 2021.
Real Group, The. “Words (a cappella, The Real Group).” YouTube, uploaded by edisonprince, 14 February 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPwwDr0qFow. Accessed January 24, 2021.
Redekop, Magdalene. “Charms and Riddles in the Mennonite Barnyard.” ESC: English Studies in Canada, vol. 19 no. 2, 1993, p. 209-227, Project MUSE, doi: 10.1353/esc.1993.0034. Accessed 24 January 2021.
Siegel, Ethan. “Ask Ethan: What Are We Getting Wrong About Schrodinger’s Cat?” Forbes, 26 June 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/06/26/ask-ethan-what-are-we-getting-wrong-about-schrodingers-cat/?sh=767e118bdd9b. Accessed 24 January 2021.
“Words of Power. Charms, Riddles and Elegies of the Northlands, with Sequentia.” YouTube, uploaded by Juan March Fundacion, 31 March 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq7f0-UkvEc. Accessed 24 January 2021.
Wow, Schrödinger’s cat, Magda! Very good! But in 1935 they didn’t have a metaphor for superposition so I think he was kind of reaching for the cat, don’t you agree? There’s a theory that all human knowledge is metaphorical but, really, any quantum effect can hardly be compared to anything in our macro universe and Einstein’s “God playing dice” was no worse than the cat. This really shows the limits of narrative like nothing else I’ve seen. Thanks!
Cheers!
Joe
Haha – that’s exactly what I was thinking! With something as hard to grasp as quantum theory (which, to be fair, my knowledge of is limited to what is discussed in sci-fi and The Big Bang Theory), our instinct is to turn to metaphor and story to find a path to understanding. As Chamberlin repeatedly says, we accept the stories scientists tell – why can’t we extend that acceptance to other stories?
Hello Magdalena,
While reading your post I truly felt that I was entering a mythical space – your writing style is beautiful, and your added references are a wonderful addition.
What came most to my mind while reading your blog was a quote by Sarah Dessen, in her novel ‘Just Listen’. In it, she writes: “a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in you or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment.” This was one of my guiding philosophies in high school, and how I view the idea of a charm. When I was having a bad day, I would turn to my favourite songs. Even today, when I am missing home, I turn on my “Tap Into Tradition” compilation CD, which features songs written in and about Nova Scotia. Words can bring comfort; “certain stories and songs seem to hold a place in people’s hearts” (Chamberlin ~195 [ch. 9]).
Within chapter six Chamberlin talks about how charms, riddles, songs, and stories help us to comprehend the world around us. Your concluding comments reflect this, and your link to “Charms, Riddles and Elegies” fits so well with Chamberlin’s writing. Chamberlain writes that “[a] charm is both magical and musical […]; [t]hey collapse the distinction between the imagination and reality” (~184 [ch. 8]). This intersectionality – this meeting of ‘two truths’ (~222 [ch. 11]) – has the power to strengthen human connection. In a way, could we consider that stories and songs are charms in the way they hold power to shift perception?
Hi Samantha,
Thank you so much for your comment – and very sweet compliment!! And thank you for sharing that Sarah Dessen quote – I completely agree that some songs have an uncanny power to transport you back to somewhere (and somewhen) else. And when that power can be shared between people, their power increases exponentially.
So, I think that stories and songs could absolutely be considered charms in the way they hold the power to shift perception! Chamberlin mentions that charms encompass a wide range of stories, from personal anecdotes to constitutions. It seems to me that the key factor in distinguishing a charm is the element of belief – and, much as Chamberlin mentions how national anthems are, however fleetingly, believed when sung – singing (or listening to) songs has an immense potential for belief. 🙂
Cheers!
Hello Magdalena! I appreciate how you bring in all these different sources and examples from different areas, such as music and physics, into this post! You draw a really compelling line between the “world of words” and the “wonder of words.” If I’m reading you correctly, it seems like the power of words/stories to provoke wonder comes from their ability to bring “impossible” concepts into simultaneous co-existence–such as reality/imagination, clarity/mystery, and being/non-being–and it is this synchronicity that brings us closer to our world.
Personally, I think stories harbour truly trans-formative power; entering into certain worlds has definitely changed and deepened my understanding of not only the world, but also myself. So, I suppose I am curious to hear your opinion on this: do you think this property of wonder or ability to produce change extends to worlds that aren’t necessarily populated by words? For instance, artwork or music without lyrics?
Hello Grace!
I absolutely agree that stories “harbour truly transformative power.” 🙂 On a personal level, I have always been more drawn in to works of art that include words (as I’m studying opera, there might be a bit of a vocalist bias in that!). However, I do believe that music without words and the fine arts have their own power for change – in my opinion, they are linked more directly to emotions, in some ways bypassing the cerebral elements that words bring to the picture. However, that is solely based on my own experiences! I have instrumentalist friends who find music without lyrics to be insurmountably transformative, so I think there must be an element of subjectivity. At least for me, words heighten the experience – but other “worlds” still have their own intrinsic power!