Mythic language fuses word and object until cunning exploits their divergence
Evidence
The mythic destiny, fatum, was one with the spoken word. The sphere of ideas to which the decrees of fate irrevocably executed by the figures of myth belong, is still innocent of the distinction between word and object. The word must have direct power over fact; expression and intention penetrate one another. Cunning consists in exploiting the distinction. The word is emphasized, in order to change the actuality. In this way, consciousness of intention arises: in his distress, Odysseus becomes aware of the dualism, for he learns that the same word can mean different things. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 66
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines the mythic stage where word and object are undivided, versus the cunning that exploits their rift.
- XREF: connects to: Language’s performative power depends on masked underlying paradigmatic structures; Language preserves fossilized worldviews within its living metaphors — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1599; Words used instrumentally become lies; only obdurate thought resists (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Language’s performative power depends on masked underlying paradigmatic structures
#expands(0.80) - Verbalism results when a word loses its action dimension
#complicates(0.80) — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 257 - Language preserves fossilized worldviews within its living metaphors
#corroborates(0.75) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1599 - Words used instrumentally become lies; only obdurate thought resists
#qualifies(0.75)