Languages entering relation must first control their own specificities

Evidence

But because intertextuality is neither fusion nor confusion, ifit is to be fruitful and capable of transcendence, the languages that end up involved in it must first have been in charge of their own specificities. Consequently, it is aU the more urgent to carefully untangle moments ofdiglossia. Ifone is in too much ofa hurry tojoin the concert, there is a risk of mistaking as autonomous participation something that is only some disguised leftover of former alienations. Opacities must be preserved; an appetite for opportune obscurity in translation must be created; and falsely convenient vehicular sabirs must be relentlessly refuted. The ü”amework is not made oftransparency; and it is not enough to assert one’s right ta linguistic difference or, conversely, to interlexicalit:y, to be sure of realizing them. — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 620

Categorization

• DEFINE: Glissant’s caution here is decisive for the reader’s question: a hastened entry into ‘relation’ risks mistaking residual alienation for autonomous participation. This is the warning against false strategic essentialism — you must hold your own specificity first, or the ‘relation’ is a disguised leftover.
• XREF: Parallels the reader’s worry that ironic/secular strategic essentialism can collapse into residence-in essentialism: Glissant’s ‘too much hurry to join the concert’ names the same bind Spivak later flagged about her own term being co-opted. — connects to: Intertextuality requires prior linguistic autonomy rather than fusion — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 620; Authentic expression requires determining one’s native language — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 360
• QUESTION: Does ‘first have been in charge of their own specificities’ imply a temporal sequence — specificity secured before relation — which would itself require a phase of strategic essentialism?

Broader Connections

• Authentic expression requires determining one’s native language #expands (0.82) — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 360
• Intertextuality requires prior linguistic autonomy rather than fusion #expands (0.80) — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 620