Language Quote by Terry Eagleton
““Just as it looks as though the sun moves round the earth, so ordinary language seems to invert the relations between signifiers and signifieds, or words and their meanings. In everyday speech, it seems as though the word is simply the obedient transmitter of the meaning. It is as though it evaporates into it. If language did not conceal its operations in this way, we might be so enraptured by its music that, like the Lotus Eaters, we would never get anything done - rather as for Nietzsche, if we were mindful of the appalling butchery which produced civilised humanity, we would never get out of bed. Ordinary language, like history for Nietzsche or the ego for Freud, operates by a kind of salutary amnesia or repression. Poetry is the kind of writing which stands this inversion of form and content, or signifier and signified, on its feet again. It makes it hard for us to brush aside the words to get at the meanings. It makes it clear that the signified is the result of a complex play of signifiers. And in doing so, it allows us to experience the very medium of our experience.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Role of Language in Philosophy, 1998
Language masks its own mechanisms, preventing deep engagement; poetry disrupts this concealment, revealing meaning through inversion.
In simple terms: Language hides meaning; poetry reveals it.
Key Takeaway
Use poetry to uncover hidden meanings.
Themes
language
poetry
philosophy
Mood
introspective
analytical
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- literary analysis
- creative writing workshops
- critical theory classes
Key Concepts
structuralism
deconstruction
Questions to Reflect On
- How does poetry change your perception of language?
- Can everyday speech become more reflective?
A Different Perspective
Poetry may be inaccessible to some audiences.
