Linguistics is our best tool
for bringing about social change
and sf is our best tool
for testing such changes
before they are implemented
in the real world,
therefore the conjunction of the two
is desirable and should be useful.
Suzette Haden Elgin
1996
We will look at the worldview imaged in SF created languages.
The main one will be Láadan; we will also look at Klingon and other
minor ones such as Kraith, gender marking in Maerlande, Darmok of ST,
and SF historical change.
We will read works where linguistics and/or language factors are major
plot devices, such as Elgin's Native Tongue, Arnason's Woman of the
Iron People and Watson's The Embedding.
We will then look at how SF writers in English manage to construct worlds
where derivational thinking, basic to English, does not function such as
Slonczewski's A Door into Ocean and LeGuin's Always Coming Home.
Course Materials:
Fiction
Book Presentations: There will be class presentations of various works
by groups of students who will provide classmate with a written abstract of the work
presented (to help memory come exam time).
Con-Language: Groups of students will work together each to construct
a con-lang over the course of the semester. Presentation of the languages will be
counted as a final paper.
Term Paper: An individual term paper dealing with a linguist/linguistics
as plot or writing in English around/over/beyond derivational thinking.
This may consist of analyzing from some subset of our readings plus other materials
you find/read/collect how authors use the English language and still carry us out of
derivational thinking. It may also consist of a creative work of your own in which
either of these two facets of the class are realized.
Additional Resources:
| Assignments | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Week One
January 07, 2008 Classes Start January 08, 2008 |
January 10, 2008
(Found Online) (Found in Language Lab) (.pdf by e-mail) | ||
| Week Two
January 15, 2008 |
January 17, 2008
Always Coming Home: p. 7-42 -Introduction: Women and Linguistic Innovation (M. Lynne Murphy), pp 1 -Women and Linguistic Innovation: An Annotated Bibliography (M. Lynne Murphy, with selected bibliographic entries by Rebecca Haden and Suzette Haden Elgin), pp 3 -Places Where a Women Could Talk: Ursula K. Le Guin and the Feminist Linguistic Utopia (Kristina Anderson) pp. 7-10 | ||
| Week Three
January 21, 2008 No Classes MLK Day January 23, 2008 |
January 25, 2008
(Emailed) | ||
| Week Four
January 29, 2008 -The Serpentine Codex pp 43-49 -Chart of the Nine Houses pp 46 -Where It Is pp 50-52 -Maps pp 450-453 -Some notes on medical practices pp 471-477 |
January 31, 2008
-Four Romantic Tales pp 96-111. -Long Names of the Houses pp 409-413. -Kinfolk pp 424-429 -Living on the coast pp 488-492 -Love pp 493-498 pp 11-32 | ||
| Week Five
February 05, 2008 |
February 07, 2008
pp 33-44 | ||
| Week Six
February 12, 2008 |
February 14, 2008
-A Note Worth Noticing (Fran Holman Johnson), page 45 -Book Reviews -Review Essay: She or He in Textbooks (Deborah Kennedy), page 46 -Anne Pauwels’ Non-discriminatory Language (Carol Ann Valentine), page 49 | ||
| Week Seven
February 19, 2008 -Dangerous People pp 318-338 -Some of the other people pp 414-423 -The modes of earth & sky pp 499 |
February 21, 2008
-Poems pp 69-82, pp 112-120 -Some generative metaphors pp 483-485 Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin | ||
| Week Eight
February 26, 2008 -Poems pp 251-262, pp 387-405 -A Note and a Chart pp 500 -Native Tongue: pp 225-324 |
February 28, 2008
-Dancing the Moon pp 242-250 -Kesh Musical Instruments pp 444-450 -The World Dance pp 454-461 -The Sun Dance pp 462-468 | ||
| Week Nine
March 04, 2008 -Some Brief Valley Texts pp 305-313 -Lodges, Societies, Arts pp 430-433 -What they wore pp 434-436 -What they ate pp 437-443 -About the train pp 469-470 -A treatise on Practices pp 478-479 -Playing pp 480-482 (Found In The Language Lab) |
March 06, 2008
-Writtenn Kesh pp 494-498 -Spoken and Written Literature pp 502-505 -Glossary pp 509-523 (Found Online) | ||
| Spring Break
March 08,2008-March 15, 2008 |
Spring Break
March 08, 2008-March 15, 2008 | ||
| Week Ten
March 18, 2008 -Pandora pp 53, pp 95, pp 147, pp 239 pp 314, pp 339, pp 486, pp 506 |
March 20, 2008
(Found In Language Lab) | ||
| Week Eleven
March 25, 2008 |
March 27, 2008
(Sent by e-mail) | ||
| Week Twelve
April 01, 2008 |
April 03, 2008
(Found Online) | ||
| Week Thirteen
April 08, 2008 |
April 10, 2008
| ||
| Week Fourteen
April 15, 2008 Term Paper Due By Friday |
April 17, 2008
Term Paper Due By Friday | ||
| Week Fifteen
April 22, 2008 April 23, 2008 Classes End |
May 1, 2008
| ||