Transcribe
Translate
Vampire, whole no. 8, December 1946
Page 18
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
VAMP'S NON-FICTION BOOK REVIEW The Tyranny of Words by Stuart Chase. (Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1938). REVIEWED BY HENRY ELSNER, JR. As a novel blurbed as a "once in a decade classic", van Vogt's "World of A" was a decided failure. However, at least in fandom, it did succeed to a certain extent in carrying out the author's purpose-- that of arousing interest in the science known as semantics. While your reviewer's interest was casually aroused by the discussions in fandom, I did not investigate the subject beyond reading one or two articles by Don Bratton, and several book reviews of Alfred Korzybski's Science and Sanity. My inertia can chiefly be accounted for by the fact that I had neither the six dollars nor the inolination to wade through a book which was reported to be a very deep philosophical treatise. I came to pick up The Tyranny of Words on the dollar counter in a book store because I had read and enjoyed The Economy of Abundance and Men and Machines by the same author, and because Korzybski and semantics are mentioned in the table of contents. This investment proved to be a very worthwhile one indeed, and was to provide me with many hours of stimulating and thought-provoking reading. The Tyranny of Words is composed of two main sections: the first eleven chapters deal with the subject of semantics in general, while the remaining nine chapters demonstrate semantic analysis applied to the external world, principally in the sociological field. A selected bibliography of twenty-five books (E.T.Bell, better known to fandom as "John Taine" is mentioned several times in the book, and is represented in the biblio by The Search for Truth and Men and Mathematics) and an appendix composed of twenty-two quotations, examples of horrible language which the reader is supposed to analyze, complete the book's 386 pages. Mr. Chase's outline of semantics, as he points out, is a composite thesis based upon two separate works in the field: Korzybski's Science and Sanity, and Ogden and Richards' The Meaning of Meaning. The word "semantics" is described by the author as follows: "He (Korzybski) was exploring the possibility of formulating a genuine science of communication. The term which is coming into use to cover such studies is semantics, matters having to do with signification or meaning." The study of semantics, as outlined in The Tyranny of Words traces language (meaning all methods of communication) from its origin, when words were simply labels for common things and actions, to the present time when many high-order abstractions are involved. It is demonstrated how, through the use of what Korzybski calls "the law of -18-
Saving...
prev
next
VAMP'S NON-FICTION BOOK REVIEW The Tyranny of Words by Stuart Chase. (Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1938). REVIEWED BY HENRY ELSNER, JR. As a novel blurbed as a "once in a decade classic", van Vogt's "World of A" was a decided failure. However, at least in fandom, it did succeed to a certain extent in carrying out the author's purpose-- that of arousing interest in the science known as semantics. While your reviewer's interest was casually aroused by the discussions in fandom, I did not investigate the subject beyond reading one or two articles by Don Bratton, and several book reviews of Alfred Korzybski's Science and Sanity. My inertia can chiefly be accounted for by the fact that I had neither the six dollars nor the inolination to wade through a book which was reported to be a very deep philosophical treatise. I came to pick up The Tyranny of Words on the dollar counter in a book store because I had read and enjoyed The Economy of Abundance and Men and Machines by the same author, and because Korzybski and semantics are mentioned in the table of contents. This investment proved to be a very worthwhile one indeed, and was to provide me with many hours of stimulating and thought-provoking reading. The Tyranny of Words is composed of two main sections: the first eleven chapters deal with the subject of semantics in general, while the remaining nine chapters demonstrate semantic analysis applied to the external world, principally in the sociological field. A selected bibliography of twenty-five books (E.T.Bell, better known to fandom as "John Taine" is mentioned several times in the book, and is represented in the biblio by The Search for Truth and Men and Mathematics) and an appendix composed of twenty-two quotations, examples of horrible language which the reader is supposed to analyze, complete the book's 386 pages. Mr. Chase's outline of semantics, as he points out, is a composite thesis based upon two separate works in the field: Korzybski's Science and Sanity, and Ogden and Richards' The Meaning of Meaning. The word "semantics" is described by the author as follows: "He (Korzybski) was exploring the possibility of formulating a genuine science of communication. The term which is coming into use to cover such studies is semantics, matters having to do with signification or meaning." The study of semantics, as outlined in The Tyranny of Words traces language (meaning all methods of communication) from its origin, when words were simply labels for common things and actions, to the present time when many high-order abstractions are involved. It is demonstrated how, through the use of what Korzybski calls "the law of -18-
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
