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Language and Criticism
The Atlas of Languages: The Origin and Development of Languages
Throughout the World (Quarto/Facts on File, 1996, 224pp hc $35).
What was supposed to be a fun book of maps became an intensely
interesting read. I only wished it were longer and more detailed.
Bernard Comrie, ed., The World's Major Languages (Oxford University Press,
1990, 1025pp pb). The essays are not of equal interest, and the
concentration on Indo-European languages, especially almost-redundant
European ones, is perhaps unavoidable. Still, I read it all, except for
some skimming where it got too deeply into the jargon of linguistics for a
layman like me.
Douglas R. Hofstadter, Le Ton beau de Marot (HarperCollins/BasicBooks,
1997, 632pp hc $30). See review under "My Favorites of 1998" above.
Alvin Kernan, Shakespeare, The King's Playwright: Theater in the Stuart
Court, 1603-1613 (Yale University Press, 1995, 230pp pb).
Shakespeare seen from a completely different angle -- the influence of
contemporary royal politics on the work of the leading playwright of the
age.
John C. Meagher, Shakespeare's Shakespeare: How the Plays Were Made
(Continuum Publishing Company, 1997, 240pp hc $34.50). See review
under "My Favorites of 1998" above.
Takao Suzuki, Words in Context: A Japanese Perspective on Language and
Culture, trans. Akira Miura (Kodansha International, 1973/1978/1984,
177pp pb $10). At first this book seemed very promising -- an
exploration of how Japanese culture affects and is affected by the forms
of language. In the end, though, Suzuki succumbs to the temptation to
overclaim. Plenty of other languages -- including European ones -- find
substitutes for pronouns which eventually evolve into new pronouns. To
criticize linguistics for a western bias is fair; to condemn it for "ignoring"
something that is perfectly well accounted for and attested in other
languages besides Japanese is, ultimately, pointless and narrow-minded.
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