The language
of perception
Language shapes the way that we
perceive things (Van Luyn, 2013) and what a person writes or posts has the
power, even if only read by one other person, to have an impact. The internet
and social networking sites have broadened the horizons for many and has
exposed them to different cultures and to a new sense of what is space and place.
It has created a whole new form of communication that allows users to not only
be influenced by a greater number of people but also given them the ability to express
their own thoughts and opinions to a wider audience. This week I delved further
into the many groups that reside on Goodreads in an effort to see how people
were using these new spaces and how language was being utilized by its participants
to express themselves in it.
On Goodreads I can find a review
or discussion group on almost any book or topic I desire and most contain not
only people’s opinion of books but also their thoughts and feelings on various
issues that stem from the subject matter. ‘The unique qualities of fiction have
allowed novels to explore moral and social questions’ (Van Luyn, 2013) and it
is these questions that many of the discussion groups have started from and
then expanded on. The groups provide people with a ‘virtual’ space in which
they can discuss anything they like. There
are guidelines for what can and cannot be written in the groups and the
administrators of the groups and the moderators of the site have the right to
modify or remove anything they deem inappropriate.
Being a book site there are a lot
of reviews and for one book ‘The
Help’ I found a review that complained that the language the author used did not match with the character descriptions and affected their ability to grasp what the
author was trying to convey. They felt that if the book stated a person spoke
in a certain way then the writing should be done in that style. This showed how
the use of language can affect a person’s sense of place and their ability to
put themselves where the author is trying to lead them. Taun (1991) wrote ‘language
is a force that all of us use every day to build, sustain, and destroy’. I
found it fascinating how people responded to the review and how they used their
language to portray their feelings. The virtual space they were exploring turned
into a place that provided them with the opportunity to do so.
Taun. Y (1974) Space and place. Image Retrieved 20/09/2013 from: http://blog.sfmoma.org/2011/06/positive-sign-28-29/
Van Luyn, A. (2013). ‘Our space: Networks, narrative and the making
of place’, BA1002 Lecture: Week 5, retrieved from http://learn.jcu.edu.au
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