Revolution or progress?
God of the Machine has always been pretty much the only arts blog on the link menu for quite some time. As one of the “select few” that are the readers, I appreciate it for the critical analysis of poetry, an art form which I enjoy very much. I’d probably like it even more if I had the critical turn of mind, where I could differentiate between “good” and “sucks,” but I digress.
The current post* is a response to a post at Mrs. DuToit’s about the ownership of the English language. Mrs. DuToit makes the case for the blogosphere being a revolution for the English language in that control over the formulation has been removed from the “ivory towers.” She makes this point in reference to the common practice of dissecting a blogger’s grammar and spelling as opposed to dissecting the argument which is put forth. Aaron takes a complementary, not opposite, view in saying that it is part and parcel of the evolution of the English language. Therefore, he says in his conclusion, “don’t wait around for the revolution, it won’t be televised and it won’t be blogged either. It isn’t coming.”
I enjoyed the original arguments, and found value in both positions. The problem I encountered was in the comments to Aaron’s discussion, where Mrs. DuToit gave a backhanded compliment and followed with what appears to me to be the same thing she was taking umbrage over in regards to comments. While I happen to think that the A,B,C quiz was poorly formulated in context of the discussion, I do not believe that a “strawman” was set up. Rather, it was a point in support of the argument that even some academics recognize the fluidity of language and that “native speakers will never be wrong.”
How’s that for a worthless post?
*As much as that means anything in blogging terms.
