(no subject)
I'm no longer comfortable with denotations.
This thought is frightening to an English major.
A denotation is the "dictionary definition" of a word . . . it stands in harmony with, but also in contrast to, the connotation of a word, or the meanings that are implied by the use of a particular word. For instance, "suffer" means literally "to endure pain," but it connotates "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" and "women suffrage" and "to be suffused with" . . . well, you get the idea.
Lately, I think, I've been articulating my emotions and ideas mostly in terms of connotations. Of, as serpent_dreams and I call them, "brackets"--packets of images and feelings that do not have a ready representation in written language.
It makes it deucedly hard to communicate with anyone, because every person's connotations are different and so we rely on denotation to derive meaning from anything.
And I've told denotation to go hang.
Ach.
I can't even remember the denotation of love--I honestly can't. And the myriad connotations fit together loosely, where they fit together at all.
Love to all those whom I love--whatever you think I mean by that.
This thought is frightening to an English major.
A denotation is the "dictionary definition" of a word . . . it stands in harmony with, but also in contrast to, the connotation of a word, or the meanings that are implied by the use of a particular word. For instance, "suffer" means literally "to endure pain," but it connotates "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" and "women suffrage" and "to be suffused with" . . . well, you get the idea.
Lately, I think, I've been articulating my emotions and ideas mostly in terms of connotations. Of, as serpent_dreams and I call them, "brackets"--packets of images and feelings that do not have a ready representation in written language.
It makes it deucedly hard to communicate with anyone, because every person's connotations are different and so we rely on denotation to derive meaning from anything.
And I've told denotation to go hang.
Ach.
I can't even remember the denotation of love--I honestly can't. And the myriad connotations fit together loosely, where they fit together at all.
Love to all those whom I love--whatever you think I mean by that.