Pinker makes many good points here, especially when it comes to the use of hedging language and the complicated line that academics walk between wanting to share information and wanting to communicate all the caveats and complexities of their subject matter at the same time. When it comes to working with clients, I try to push them gently into using more simple and straightforward language without forcing them too close to the terror at the heart of so much bad(dish) academic writing: if I say something simply and forcefully, what will my critics say back? ****** It’s easy to see why academics fall into self-conscious style. Their goal is not so much communication as self-presentation—an overriding defensiveness against any impression that they may be slacker than their peers in hewing to the norms of the guild. Many of the hallmarks of academese are symptoms of this agonizing self-consciousness.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 18:09:36 +0000
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