[Air-L] more fetishism

[Matthew Bernius]

Barry Wellman wrote:

I hope no one uses “self-glossing” except on their lips.
One problem is that anthropology needs to move beyond is the unnecessary
use of insy-poo language.

Mea Culpa. Though to be fair, there are a number of (European) Sociologists
who enjoy a good neologism, oops... I mean insy-poo language every now and
then. I've been spending a bit too much time with them as of late.

BTW, in general I totally agree that we should work to avoid over
"academicizing" our writing (and I did have a feeling I was going to get
some flack for "glossing"). In defense of glossing for a sec, at least on
the linguistic anthro side, a lot of these terms have pretty specific
meanings, and by glossing a gloss to gloss the gloss (sorry, I was feeling a
bit Bourdieuian :-] ) in a paper, we're able to convey a complex concept in
a single word (for those in the know). That said, if it's a paper for
general consumption, then a different register/writing and language style is
completely in order.

- Matt

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Matthew Bernius
PhD Student, Cultural Anthropology, Cornell University (
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/anthro/)
Co-Director, Open Publishing Lab @ the Rochester Institute of Technology (
http://opl.cias.rit.edu)
mBernius at gMail.com
http://www.waking-dream.com