Re: Book: Lunatic Lovers of Language

wayne chevrier wrote:

> I am currently reading this book, and I agree about the
> generalizations about auxlangers, but it does have some interesting
> material on the history of artificial languages.
If I recall correctly, she has nothing to say about Hildegard of
Bingen's Lingua Ignota; I don't even think she acknowledges it.
Nothing either, on John Dee.  One reference on page 12 to Dante;

> Her problem seems to be a confusion between glossalalia, language
> construction, and linguistic crankery (i.e. Marr).
Indeed.
Here's a sample statement; all conlangs fall into either one of
two categories:  "On the one hand, an intellect, a rational,
analytic, and logical understanding, a utopian-constructive
one which aims to organise the world, and is masculine in
essence.  On the other, a grasp that is intuitive, instinctive,
spontaneous, globalising, sensual, primitive-infantile, fanciful,
subject to hidden drives, in short hysterical, all of which are
the defining characteristics of women, children, and lunatics."
Page 24.  The one is represented by Nikolas Marr.  The other
is represented by Helene Smith.  The whole book is full of these
binary constructions and aporia.

Sally
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