Verbalism results when a word loses its action dimension

Evidence

When a word is deprived of its dimension of action, reflection automatically suffers as well; and the word is changed into idle chatter, into verbalism, into an alienated and alienating “blah.” It becomes an empty word, one which cannot denounce the world, for denunciation is impossible without a commitment to transform, and there is no transformation without action. — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 257

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines verbalism/“blah” — the failure mode the reader must avoid when redesigning learning away from mere talk about liberation.
• XREF: connects to: Mythic language fuses word and object until cunning exploits their divergence — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 66; Nazi-era speech patterns survive Hitler’s downfall as popular communicative forms — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 993; Literary description signals the breakdown of human relation to action — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 402 (+2 more)