Words. Chamberlin talks a lot about language, in particular the strangeness and wonder of how language works. Stories, he says, “bring us close to the world we live in by taking us into the world of words” (italics mine,1). He describes learning to read and write as learning “to be comfortable with a cat that is both there and not there” (132). Based on Chamberlin’s understanding of how riddles and charms work, explain this “world of words.” Reflect on why “words make us feel closer to the world we live in” (1).
I was drawn to this question for a couple of reasons. I’m an elementary/middle school teacher, and I’m fascinated by the minds of children. To sit back and watch the madness happen in a primary classroom, to see the connections, the battles, the daydreamers, the mathematicians, the artists, is incredible. In reading Chamberlin’s chapter “To Be or Not to Be” I found myself thinking of Piaget’s theory of assimilation and accommodation in cognitive development. Basically, assimilation is the easiest, we add new information to our existing knowledge base, with occasional reinterpretations, whereas with accommodation, one’s existing schemas are altered, and new information replaces old information. When Chamberlin describes his first experiences with school where it takes him a “couple years to develop faith in…[the] nonsense” of a cat being a cat while also not being a cat (131-132), I found myself considering how school, with its facts, binaries, and rules, might make it more difficult for children to comprehend these contradictions. Perhaps, if children were left to their own devices, we would not, in fact, end up with a Lord of the Flies situation, but one that embraces contradictions. Young children appear to naturally embrace the “both/and [mentality] rather than “either/or” (Chamberlin 127).
As a lover of words, I have always been drawn to rhymes and riddles where one has an opportunity to play with language. Rhymes and riddles are commonly filled with contradictions (a personal favourite: what gets wet while drying? A towel) and we are forced to think outside the box, to suspend our belief in what is fact and what is fiction. The nuances of language and the diversity in sound, rhythm, intonation contribute to our feeling at home with our words. Chamberlin introduces anthropologist W.E.H. Stanner’s work with Aborigines in Australia, explaining how the words we have for “home” in English cannot compare with the links Aborigines have with their homeland (79). Thinking closer to home, I considered how the Inuit have many more words for snow and ice than we do in English. Words make us feel closer to our world because languages develop to match the ideas and needs of its speakers; our values, beliefs, and ideals are reflected in our words
Our world is built around the shared belief in words, the “meaningless sign[s] linked to…meaningless sound[s]” (Chamberlin 1). When I first moved to Spain, I experienced the dislocation that arises when one is unable to communicate in our “world of words,” where I became one of the Chamberlin’s “babblers” (1). Our “world of words” can be both a welcoming and an isolating place. In reading Chamberlin, I found myself thinking about other instances where words influence how closely we feel to the world we live in. My mind wandered to preferred pronouns. As a teacher and a crisis line volunteer, it’s become more clear to me how tremendous of an effect these words can have on a person’s sense of belongingness and connectedness to the world. While not particularly related to Canadian literature, this example kept coming up as I was reading because, as Chamberlin illustrates with the dispossession of indigenous peoples lands, Jewish exile, and slavery, feeling “homeless” appears to be a common affliction for so many minorities, whether they be minorities because of race, religion, or sexual orientation. The “discounting of other people according to arbitrary categories of entitlement continues” today, and I think it’s worth thinking about how we function within these systems in our everyday lives (Chamberlin 49).
Works Cited
Chamberlin, J. Edward. If This is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. Vintage Canada, 2004. Print.
Cherry, Kendra. “Assimilation and Jean Piaget’s Adaptation Process.” Verywell Mind, Dotdash, 8 Oct. 2018, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-assimilation-2794821. Accessed 13 Jan. 2019.
“Inuktitut Words for Snow and Ice.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 9 July 2015, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuktitut-words-for-snow-and-ice. Accessed 13 Jan. 2019.
Robson, David. “There Really Are 50 Eskimo Words for ‘Snow’.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Jan. 2013, www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/. Accessed 14 Jan. 2019.
“University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.” Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center, uwm.edu/lgbtrc/support/gender-pronouns/. Accessed 15 Jan. 2019.
I too, enjoyed Chamberlin’s discussion of the untranslatable Aborigine words “tulka” and “tjukurrpa”. I also thought of the Inuit’s many words for snow, as well as the fact that in French, the word “aime” is used for both “like” and “love”, whereas in English there is quite the distinction between the two. (Here is another great list of “untranslatable words”: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/11/24/lost-in-translation-ella-frances-sanders/ )
I am a teacher as well, and sometimes I must admit that I am unable to provide genuine answers for many of the “rules” that we have created as a society, especially with the English language. Much like the way Chamberlin’s father was momentarily stumped when asked why peas should be eaten with a fork if it’s acceptable to eat them with a knife in the Ukraine, I find myself stumped when a student asks why we write “forty” instead of “fourty”, or why “womb” and “tomb” rhyme with each other, but not “bomb”.
Chamberlin refers to the “arbitrariness of words” (8), but also points out that stories, and the words that they use are “rock solid as long as we believe in them”(8). I think that is a beautiful, romantic notion; there is no doubt that words have power. Your reference to preferred pronouns supports that, as does the language we use when discussing First Nations people- “Indian”, “indigenous”, and “aboriginal” are all extremely loaded terms. Words have power, and that’s why, as a teacher, I make a point never to tell my students “words will never hurt you”.
Hey Marianne,
Thanks for your comment and your link to the untranslatable words site, the illustrations used to illicit what the words really mean is a really interesting thing and makes me think about how visual images can sometimes give us an opportunity to share things when words fail, and how images can be universal, in a way that words can’t.
I agree with your sentiment about not being able to provide answers to some questions my students ask. Or even more strange, when we blatantly teach the wrong thing, or give the wrong answers (I’m thinking specifically the way I grew up learning math, or science) because the “real” answers are too advanced. I’m trying to think of a specific example, but the only thing that is coming to mind is when we’re first taught math, all of the “rules” we learn, that are then either discarded or changes dramatically once we are taught about irrational numbers and all those higher level math concepts. My boyfriend’s first language isn’t English and sometimes trying to explain things to him is hilarious and so very frustrating. I made brownies last night and he was calling what I was making “brownie” and I couldn’t figure out how to explain why we say brownies for brownies but cake for cake (as in plural vs. singular). English is a nutty language at times 🙂
You brought up the many terms we have for Indigenous people, and that’s so true. It’s hard to keep track of what is currently “most politically correct” as well as what individual people prefer. I always have a hard time when someone gets offended when someone else unknowingly uses an outdated term – as long as the person in question has the best intentions, I think we focus too much on always being “politically correct” and it hinders our efforts at reconciliation because everyone is so on edge and scared to use the wrong language. At the same time though, I definitely do think it’s important to try and use the language that makes people most comfortable.
Hi Kirsten,
Thank you so much for this lovely and thoughtful post – and, in particular, for introducing me to Piaget and the assimilation/accommodation theory! I also work with kids, teaching theatre specifically, and this is an uncannily useful means of breaking down how to both accrue and impart knowledge. I’ll certainly have this on the brain as I introduce the concept of mime and non-verbal storytelling to my six-year olds this week – so thanks for that!
More than that, I think Piaget actually shines a fair amount of insight into adult cognitive behaviour as well (and rightly so – for what are adults, if not overgrown children with more chores and less time for play?). I’ve been painfully aware – as I’m sure you have as well – of how inflammatory the sociopolitical climate has grown over the past several years, with an ever-growing tendency towards paradigm shifts than, I’d argue, has been evidenced in some time; certainly in my lifetime. I think the internet and the influx of an overwhelming array of social media channels plays a large role in this, as Dr. Paterson has mentioned a few times – namely by providing an unprecedented means to express and circulate words, and find community and consensus in doing so.
In some cases, I think this manifests in really positive, hopeful ways: Truth and Reconciliation, ‘Me Too,’ ‘Times Up,’ and other widespread social movements holding unacceptable behaviour that had become far normalized and entrenched accountable, and working towards genuine, actionable change. Of course, inevitably in tandem has come a fair share of unpleasant pushback, none the least being the banding together of truly abhorrent discriminatory groups, and the propensity to articulate hate speech to a never-before heard magnitude. As you mention at the end of your post here, words have as much power to harm as they do to heal. Over time, it’s hard for the growing amplitude of them, healing and harmful alike, to not feel like a lot of shouting – a truly unproductive din.
This is where, I think, Piaget’s theories can really shine a light. I think, as a culture, we’ve become so swept up in the deluge of words we suddenly have the means to express that we’ve become fixated on paradigm shifts – the expectation that everything has to change, right here, right now. That, to me, sounds a lot like Piaget’s ‘accommodation’ – a very positive cognitive attribute, but not when it’s dialled up to 11 all the time. Instead, the more reading I do and conversations I have about Reconciliation, it seems like the inverse is the case – the key to a proper, truthful reconciliation is not just burning paradigms to the ground, but truly letting them sink in, stack up on each other, in a harsh and disgusting magnitude.
I think the key to properly healing is to allow a lot more ‘assimilation’ into our lives – to simply listen, allow facts, thoughts, and perspectives to seep into our heads, without assessing, evaluating, weighing, and dismissing them to such a heated and active degree as we’ve become used to. I think we, with such a deafening volume of words hitting our ears and eyes all the time, need to allow ourselves to be a touch less critical – to simply listen, curiously, and take in more knowledge before radically reshaping ourselves and posting inflammatory ‘reaction videos,’ tweets, etc. every time we learn a new fact. Just as you quite correctly articulate Chamberlin pointing out, kids are much better at building their knowledge base without as much ‘leading the witness’ judgment, and learn a lot faster and more effectively for it – and I think we ‘older children’ could actually learn quite a lot from their curiousness and willingness to integrate new knowledge and perspectives.
This is why I think this course is so valuable – it forces us to rethink our means of listening, learning, and telling stories. It forces us to listen, and reflect in a thoughtful, deliberate fashion. And it celebrates and showcases the ability of art to help teach us how to communicate and listen to each other, regardless of background, geography, or life experience. What better hope for the future could we have than that?
Hey Kevin, thanks for your response. I’m so glad you’ve been able to assimilate and accommodate Piaget into your teaching practice. And I totally agree with you that it’s not just for childhood development; I definitely consciously phrased it as “cognitive development” in my post when most people refer to it in terms of childhood development, because you’re right, we adults could benefit from taking a step back and thinking things through, letting things wash over us before making quick judgments.
You brought up the Truth and Reconciliation and other social movements being a great positive aspect of contemporary society, and I do think we’re making progress, but we have so much farther to go, especially with this particularly nasty political climate we’ve found ourselves in lately. This course has already given me an opportunity to reflect on my own prejudices and biases, and I’m loving learning so much about our classmates and how diverse we all are, but how able we still are to function in this blogging ecosystem and respectfully agree and disagree with one another. It’s pretty wonderful to watch in action!
Cheers!
Hi Kirsten,
Thank you for your wonderful insight! I can relate to your feeling of dislocation that arises when one is unable to communicate in our “world of words” because when I first moved to Canada, I did not speak any English at the time. When I think back to that time when I didn’t speak any English, I remember I was very frustrated, and I come to realize now how important words and language are in bringing us closer to our own world because language is largely responsible for creating and shaping our thoughts and emotions. I agree that words influence how closely we feel to the world we live in and bring us closer to our own individual world’s. Before, I used to think of language as a potential barrier when two people did not speak the same language because the connection is lost. But nowadays I think differently, I feel like even if the two person speak different language, when efforts are made to understand each other, the connection can still be made. It will be very difficult and may not be the same kind of connection when same language is spoken but I think beyond the understanding the language, the emotion, thoughts can still be carried into the words.