PROJECT: Whoops (part
of the series Letters and Ideas)
I.C.W.: Suzanne
Caerteling
CLIENT: Art organization Extrapool
TYPE:
Research
project
The aim of Whoops is to examine the effect of language on social
phenomena and human cognition. It does so by analysing the use of language in
science fiction novels. Our method of analysis is informed by Benjamin
Lee Whorf’s theory on language, thought and reality. According to Whorf, a
linguistic system is not merely an instrument to convey ideas, it also forms
and structures ideas. Our grammar, as part of a linguistic system, categorizes
our impressions, guides our cognition and forms our world view.
Science fiction as a literary genre typically extrapolates specific
hypotheses and their ramifications. Within science fiction, linguistic issues
form a pivotal element, the concept of language is often related to concepts
like control, resistance, historical awareness, truth, time perception,
rational thinking and memory. An examination of these novels gives us insight
in how the use of language could produce subjects and the world they live
in.