Language is a lousy way to express emotion
June 9, 2011 Leave a comment
I’m serious. Language is a lousy way to express emotion.
So much of expressing emotion is nuance: the tilt of the head (or raising an eyebrow, if you’re that fancy), a knowing glance, a comfortable silence.
We are, in many cases forced to express emotion verbally; using clumsy language, consisting of words.
It’s insane of us humans to think that we can express such deep feelings in such a crude way. I am starting to think of it as trying to hone crystal with river rock.
Granted, we are not all similarly afflicted: poets have managed to instill emotion using only words. That said, do you think there are a number of first-draft poets out there? Of course, poets draw on the collective consciousness and baseline knowledge of how people feel when describing a situation.
Musicians? Maybe.
Screenwriters? Not applicable. They have images and music and story-leading-up-to-the-moment.
Playwrights? See ‘screenwriters’, above, sans the music.
You get my drift. Disagree, if you must: I’m feeling frisky lately (it’s Spring!) and I’m ready for a debate.
Original Post: September 28, 2006