Re: describing the minority as literate is a circular argument?
Bruce Byfield wrote:
[At any rate, to describe the minority as "literate and sophisticated" is a circular argument. In this context, both words mean "well-versed in the standards of the minority." So, really, what you are saying is that they know what they know.]
i have a feeling i'm going to regret this, but HUH???????
Simple: who decides what is "literate" and "sophisticated"? The answer, of course, is the minority (assuming, as seems reasonable, that the minority is the educated elite). Since this minority sets the definition of "literate" and "sophisticated" in terms of their own standards, of course the members of the minority are both.
Members of the minority tend to talk as if their standards of grammar and spelling are an absolute. Since they have a good deal of influence, they are very successful in convincing others that this is true. However, from a linguistic standpoint their standards are just one of several for a language, and not deserving of any more respect than the alternatives.
The shortcomings of accepting the elite standards as the only standards should be obvious to anyone who compares university literary magzines with other writing. While the literary magazines sometimes contain interesting material, would anyone seriously argue that their contents are consistently better written than works from other sources? Many would argue the exact opposite.
--
Bruce Byfield
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield
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describing the minority as literate is a circular argument?: From: diotima
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