Re: Uglossia and Utopia

Irina Rempt wrote:

>On Wed, 22 Sep 1999, Matt Pearson wrote:
>
>> If this is the case, then a utopia is properly not
>> a (proposed) "improvement upon society", but rather a model for
>> testing/exploring/expressing certain ideas about society.  Perhaps
>> if you adopt this (non-idiomatic, literary) understanding of "utopia" as
>> a creative form of social criticism and analysis, then you could view
>> artlanging as "utopic".
>
>Yes, if social criticism and analysis is one of your goals; but for
>many people it isn't. "What's it for?" is a common question, and most
>of us will answer "For fun".
*sigh*  I knew I wasn't expressing myself quite right.  I didn't
mean that artlanging is a form of SOCIAL commentary/analysis,
I meant that it's a form of LINGUISTIC commentary/analysis.
Artlanging is a thought experiment in linguistic structure and
aesthetics, just as utopia-building is a thought experiment in
social structure and values.  That's the connection, I think.
I didn't mean to imply that artlanging and utopianism have the
same GOALS, but merely that they involve similar PROCESSES,
- and the same healthy respect for imagination as a tool for
understanding the world.

Matt.