Hi Dr.Chomsky,
I have been following your speeches and articles for last couple of months. I am very much impressed by your opinion and attitude and I have lot respect for you. This is my first email to you.
Recently, I am trying to understand the concepts like Structuralism, Post structuralism and Post modernism. I was interested to know your opinion about it. So I read this article. And I have two questions based on that.
http://vserver1.cscs.lsa.
The article was written about 20 years back. Does your opinions have changed in these years or is it still the same that the Post modernist cult and the "theory" given by them is just truism and posturing.
Also the following lines provoked my thoughts. Because I am reading a novel written by an Indian author and many reader's response to that novel was that it is very hard to understand it. The author responded back saying this novel is re-creating "Mahabharatha" in which all the traditional Indian wisdom and Indian cutural and historical details exist. So it is hard to write it in a plain language.
Johnb made the point that "plain language is not enough when the frame of reference is not available to the listener"; correct and important. But the right reaction is not to resort to obscure and needlessly complex verbiage and posturing about non-existent "theories." Rather, it is to ask the listener to question the frame of reference that he/she is accepting, and to suggest alternatives that might be considered, all in plain language.
My question is, in which case a plain language is just not enough to communicate any sort of people. Or do you think any complex concept can be explained using plain language?
In my understanding literature is a different form of communication. Its purpose is not to impart a definite meaning but to demand the readers imagination and thoughts to understand what the text mean. It could be totally different from what the author was intended to say. In that case, is it right if the literature resort into complicated language?
Please answers my questions if possible. It was a great pleasure to email you.
Thanks,
Harish
Dr. Chomsky replied,
My views are about the same.
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