The reason I have not been writing here is more personal than academic; the best way to describe my difficulty is that my brain works on problems in a comprehensive way. By this I mean that I have not been able to focus only on the academic questions involved in ideophone research, because there were so many other huge things to think through involved in doing field research. I have spent a lot of the time between last summer and now processing the issues that arose for me when I immersed myself in another culture and thought about my purpose there and my impact on the people I interacted with.
This led to questions of the purpose (and also the feasibility) of linguistic research in general. How can I do this responsibly? Is there a place for this type of theoretical academic research in a world with so many urgent practical problems? In any case, is it my place to be doing this research or should I be contributing in a more service-oriented way? Have I done everything wrong?
The only one I have an answer for right now is that I did not do everything wrong. I did get some things right and I learned a lot in the process. I'm looking for a way to make my future career more service-oriented. And in the next few weeks/months as I go through my data from last summer more thoroughly, maybe I will post here more often on ideophones. Maybe I will share other big ideas too. I'm sure I will keep working on my own worldview and trying to find solutions to problems (especially those related to communication).
Some examples of readings lately that have been on my mind: Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson; Tractatus Logico Philosophicus, Wittgenstein; Don Quijote, Cervantes; "Prophecy, Process and Plenitude," Givens (and does anyone have secular recommendations for readings about process and idea development? This was from my religion course and I would love other perspectives). More later.
Is there a place for this type of theoretical academic research in a world with so many urgent practical problems? In any case, is it my place to be doing this research or should I be contributing in a more service-oriented way? Have I done everything wrong?
ReplyDeleteAre you deliberately phrasing these as either/or questions? It seems to me that a perfectly coherent way to be in the world is to combine these perspectives as best as one can. (Not to say that's easy!)
I agree, it is a valid enterprise to combine field research with service and to address the "real world" while also doing theoretically-based academic research. But sometimes I have felt that doing both was not enough, that anything less than "saving the world" or at least making it visibly, drastically better is not enough. So of course I have had a hard time--that is a pretty ridiculous standard to set for myself and my work. I realize that, and yet I still feel I need to do ALL that I can to improve the world from a material, practical standpoint (poverty and injustice and all that). So... I'm still not sure how to do this in my own life.
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