[lit-ideas] Re: The Serpent's Club
- From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 09:52:19 -0500
Robert Paul wrote:
"I still believe that sexual politics brought back the earlier usage [of
'their' as a singular pronoun]--so to speak--even though few recognized
it as an earlier usage."
I agree that sexual politics was the occasion for this interest in the
usage of 'their'. While Robert's involvement in the Pronoun Wars is in
the past and he can afford to remain indifferent now, there are those of
us who still feel the effects of those Wars and, having any hope of a
career that even modestly reflects that of Prof. Paul, must step
carefully.
Robert continues:
"But that something happened in the 13th century does not strongly argue
that it should guide us today. Indeed, to appeal to it as a precedence
which legitimates current usage makes no sense when it comes from those
for whom established practice is a merely descriptive expression. If
anything goes, then an appeal to 'precedence' is of no use."
I, of course, don't think that 'anything goes' just as I don't think
that it makes sense to apply logical criteria to grammar. Grammar has
logical form which is shown and therefore cannot be said. When I spoke
of the history of the use of 'their' as a precedent, I was not
suggesting that it found its legitimacy in the fact that it had been
used. Rather, I was suggesting that this history may serve as a reason
for the usage of 'their' in the singular. Furthermore, the fact that
literature (eg. Shakespeare, Jane Austin) that includes this usage is
still being read today gives more support. I, personally, find the
landmines from the Pronoun Wars still lying around and so when I write,
if I can find a pronoun that allows me to bypass these dangers, I am all
too happy to use it.
Sincerely,
Phil Enns
Toronto, ON
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