Contrary to the anthropological opinions of Kroeber and White during the mid-century, genius is t... more Contrary to the anthropological opinions of Kroeber and White during the mid-century, genius is taken by current practice to be a kind of person with extraordinary intelligence who gets used to accomplish great things. If the difference between a normal person and a talented one is that of degree, then the difference between a talented person and a genius is that of kind. By this logic, Solieri was talented and Mozart a genius. New generations define genius by matching seeming solutions to apparent problems, and exemplars of genius—a new Newton, Balzac, Joyce, or Einstein—is identified, explained, and celebrated. Every generation also worries about lost possible geniuses. Sometimes a forgotten or ignored genius is remembered. Only rarely is the very idea of genius confronted. The genius drama needs a new analysis.
Verbal play among the Hanunóo of Mindoro is surprisingly similar to that practiced by the Dubline... more Verbal play among the Hanunóo of Mindoro is surprisingly similar to that practiced by the Dubliners of Ireland. The similarity invites a comparison of the work habits of their scribes: the ethnographer Harold Conklin and the novelist James Joyce. A Joycean version of an ethnography of the Wannaknow is presented as a textual focus for the comparison.
Constructing School Success: The Consequences of Untracking Low- Achieving Students. Hugh Mehan, ... more Constructing School Success: The Consequences of Untracking Low- Achieving Students. Hugh Mehan, Irene Villanueva, Lea Hubbard, and Angela Lintz. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 247 pp.
This paper is an attempt to grasp the social structure guiding naturally occurring talk among söm... more This paper is an attempt to grasp the social structure guiding naturally occurring talk among söme children and their teacher. Although many (most strikingly Saussure) have called for language to be understood äs a social Institution, in the formulation ofunits and procedures of analysis, the institutional accomplishments of talk have been investigated largely äs an afterthought. By focusing on collusion, this paper directs an analysis towards the identiflcation of the efforts participants must make to preserve their conversation äs an appropnate moment within the life of an Institution. The consequences, from the point of view of Linguistics, of using this starting point is briefly outlined, and the particular brand of formal analysis emerging from artiflcial intelligence is criticized äs being methodologically insensitive to the social structuring of language.
Contrary to the anthropological opinions of Kroeber and White during the mid-century, genius is t... more Contrary to the anthropological opinions of Kroeber and White during the mid-century, genius is taken by current practice to be a kind of person with extraordinary intelligence who gets used to accomplish great things. If the difference between a normal person and a talented one is that of degree, then the difference between a talented person and a genius is that of kind. By this logic, Solieri was talented and Mozart a genius. New generations define genius by matching seeming solutions to apparent problems, and exemplars of genius—a new Newton, Balzac, Joyce, or Einstein—is identified, explained, and celebrated. Every generation also worries about lost possible geniuses. Sometimes a forgotten or ignored genius is remembered. Only rarely is the very idea of genius confronted. The genius drama needs a new analysis.
Verbal play among the Hanunóo of Mindoro is surprisingly similar to that practiced by the Dubline... more Verbal play among the Hanunóo of Mindoro is surprisingly similar to that practiced by the Dubliners of Ireland. The similarity invites a comparison of the work habits of their scribes: the ethnographer Harold Conklin and the novelist James Joyce. A Joycean version of an ethnography of the Wannaknow is presented as a textual focus for the comparison.
Constructing School Success: The Consequences of Untracking Low- Achieving Students. Hugh Mehan, ... more Constructing School Success: The Consequences of Untracking Low- Achieving Students. Hugh Mehan, Irene Villanueva, Lea Hubbard, and Angela Lintz. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 247 pp.
This paper is an attempt to grasp the social structure guiding naturally occurring talk among söm... more This paper is an attempt to grasp the social structure guiding naturally occurring talk among söme children and their teacher. Although many (most strikingly Saussure) have called for language to be understood äs a social Institution, in the formulation ofunits and procedures of analysis, the institutional accomplishments of talk have been investigated largely äs an afterthought. By focusing on collusion, this paper directs an analysis towards the identiflcation of the efforts participants must make to preserve their conversation äs an appropnate moment within the life of an Institution. The consequences, from the point of view of Linguistics, of using this starting point is briefly outlined, and the particular brand of formal analysis emerging from artiflcial intelligence is criticized äs being methodologically insensitive to the social structuring of language.
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