"I kind of had this obsession a few
years ago about creating a new form
of expression. It was of course an
abstract and lost quest, but I was
feeling all art forms seemed used
up. I was especially rejecting
words. They seemed so rusted and
dirty. And they’ve been used for
such evil ends. Sometimes, you
know, language is so limited. It’s
like...if you think about it...
She holds her hands out fairly wide and round.
This is an individual’s mental
experience and perception and... (she holds her hands together and forms a small circle.) This is how much can be expressed
through language. We just don’t
have words for so many of the
impressions we have. "
This quote was taken from the draft of Richard Linklater's 1995 movie Before Sunrise. This wandering never made the actual film, but it's a common enough idea, the fact that words are dead, that language is restricting. Performance art, film, and music try to do what words can't through their respective mediums. Maybe, despite his dialogue-heavy films, Linklater became a filmmaker instead of a writer.
Although I agree with Linklater on almost everything, this is something I'm at odds with. Sure, there's a lot Celine's speech that I agree with. Words are rusted and dirty, and they've been used for such evil ends, but I don't necessarily think language is limited. I've found that it's the best way to not only express my feelings and get them out there, but, also, to identify and categorize previously abstract feelings before.
Writing, for me, is just such a good therapy to really get my feelings and thoughts out there, whether it's through creative writing or simply doing a "brain dump." I found this great website called 750words.com last year that functions as a way for people to write down their thoughts as they come to them in 750 words. Here's a paragraph on the front page describing the website:
I've used the exercise as a great way to think out loud without having to worry about half-formed ideas, random tangents, private stuff, and all the other things in our heads that we often filter out before ever voicing them or writing about them. It's a daily brain dump. Over time, I've found that it's also very helpful as a tool to get thoughts going that have become stuck, or to help get to the bottom of a rotten mood.
I would not want to live in a world without language, a world where thoughts and feelings can't be expressed succintly. Sure, language isn't raw or dynamic, in a sense, but maybe it shouldn't be. It's like a camera, something to document the rawness in real time, something that can be universally understood.
But are there emotions that kind of break through the seams of language, things that aren't documented in writing that we feel? I don't see much evidence to say there is, even though, like agnosticism, those who believe language is limited would say that there is no way to tell.
I think the biggest flaw in the argument, however, is that one can't call a language limited if that person's understanding of the language is limited in its own respect. It's like disliking a candidate when you don't even know that candidate's platform. No one knows the English language in its entirety, so one can't say "there isn't a word" for this because there probably is. And even if there really isn't a word for something, if it's never been said before, there is the word "ineffable":
I found that language can actually do something that transcends identifying feelings I have. Language sometimes categorizes feelings that I had--but only in my subconscious. I've tried to build my vocabulary over the past few years, and one of my most notable discoveries was the word "sonder":
I had experienced sonder before, but I never thought that anyone else experienced it like I did. Words like these make me realize that I am not alone, that I am connected to other people and share the same emotions with them, and I think I could only find that out through language.
The previous two pictures were part of a BuzzFeed article I surprisingly loved, entitled 32 of the Most Beautiful Words In The English Language. I highly recommend it, and, if you read it, I hope that you learn about what the power of language can do as much as I did.