The web is wide

[dolorosa_12]

First up, I am sorry that I haven't replied to anyone's posts or comments for quite a while. I've been in a very bad place for quite a while, and it's left me with little emotional energy. But know that I am reading.

A conversation with a friend a few days ago on Facebook made me realise how much of what I take for granted as being common knowledge, is, in fact, anything but. She was talking about 50 Shades of Grey and mentioned that it reminded her of Twilight. Hardly surprising, I replied, since it originated as a piece of Twilight fanfiction. It soon became apparent that this was new information to her, and indeed to everyone else participating in the conversation. I found this hilarious. Weeks before the book was even published, the internet was flooded with posts about its origins, compare-and-contrast articles where those in possession of the original fanfic went through it line by line to see what had been carried over into the published work.

I've been shocked at this kind of ignorance before* (when, for example, I had to explain to my sister what macros were - she knew what I meant, but had never heard the name), but I really shouldn't be. For one thing, five years ago, I did not know how to do tabbed browsing. For another, I know very little about anything that isn't literature, some areas of history, or geek culture. I'm sure there are groups of lawyers, or mathematicians who would be horrified at my ignorance of what they consider basic elements of their respective fields. But after five-and-a-half years online,** the whole thing is fairly intuitive and obvious to me. Very little that I see shocks me (although to be honest I don't go around actively looking for things that might shock me), and most of what I see makes sense in the context of the culture in which I find myself immersed. What surprises me (but really, really shouldn't) is that the rest of the world does not find it equally fascinating and immersive.

This isn't really the place for it, but have a link for Isobelle Carmody speaking about her latest collection of short stories.

I felt as light as sunlight in the face of the weight of history that people carried. ... It made me feel light, but also insubstantial. That is exactly what it feels like to be an Australian in Europe.

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* And in my other life, I am shocked when people don't know stuff relating to medieval literature or history. 'You just described Shakespearian English as "Old English"? Seriously, how poorly-educated are you?'
** I used the internet before that, of course, but I don't consider myself to have been online. I had a couple of email addresses, which I checked from time to time, and that was about it.

Comments

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

The other day, I was talking to a colleague about blogs and he had only the vaguest idea of what they were. I found this quite bewildering.

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is seriously astonishing. I haven't come up against that particular issue for quite a while ('like a diary, but online and with your friends able to read it' is how I described it to my grandmother, years ago).

[ymarchoggwachul.livejournal.com]

'You just described Shakespearian English as "Old English"? Seriously, how poorly-educated are you?' – YES! Haha, I’ve always fought hard to fight this particular tendency, to assume what everyone just ‘has’ to know, but I have to admit that *that* was my one particular hobby-horse for years!

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

The thing with this particular piece of ignorance is that it could be quite easily avoided if people in English-speaking countries were taught English in the same way people from other countries are taught their own languages: learning basic linguistics and a little bit about the history of the language as well as studying texts, as we do. Basic linguistics isn't so difficult - not difficult enough to require it only be taught at university level - and studying the history of a language isn't that different to studying any other kind of history.

[ymarchoggwachul.livejournal.com]

Yup, quite right. In Victoria, the only direct opportunity to cover this content is in VCE 'English Language' (as opposed to our 'regular' English). I'm treated like a bit of a guest star in those classes to read excerpts in Old English, and it shocks the students every time. However, it comes back down to an issue that is a side-effect of a progressive education system - prioritising knowing how to do something (skills), as opposed to just knowing something (knowledge). Obviously, anything with historical value but little practical application takes a beating in a system like this. And keep in mind that to many Australians, basic linguistics isn't seen to possess any practical value whatsoever. :(

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that's so cool. I can't read Old English at all, and if I tried, it would probably come out sounding like German.

I understand what you're coming, but if you (general 'you', not you specifically) are going to argue that students should only learn things that are of practical value, you might as well scrap most of the higher level maths curriculum and just teach people how to fill in tax returns. But no one ever argues that...

I'm probably coming across as your typical humanities student with a chip on her shoulder, but it's because anti-intellectualism really irritates me, and I think people who argue for the 'usefulness' of things based on their practical application have a limited understanding of what 'practical' really means. (I realise that you are in no way one of those types - quite the opposite - but what you're saying sparked off a little tirade on my part. Sorry.)

[cereswunderkind.livejournal.com]

The reviews / demolitions of 50SOG on Amazon are hilarious!

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

I will be sure to check them out tonight!