{"id":93106,"date":"2015-12-31T15:00:52","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T20:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=93106"},"modified":"2015-12-21T12:48:02","modified_gmt":"2015-12-21T17:48:02","slug":"whos-number-one-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/31\/whos-number-one-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Who\u2019s Number One?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re away until January 4, but we\u2019re re-posting some of our favorite pieces from 2015. Please enjoy, and have a happy New Year!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Eugen_Rosenstock-Huessy\"<\/a>

Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy<\/p><\/div>\n

Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy and the role of the first person.<\/em><\/p>\n

It can be staggering to realize, suddenly, that something you\u2019ve never thought about\u2014something you\u2019ve always accepted as real\u2014is just an article of faith. Language is often what turns the lightbulb on: someone defines reality afresh with a new word (mansplaining<\/em>, Rebecca Solnit) or by showing the hidden powers and interconnections of an old word (debt<\/em>, David Graeber). Rarely is the realization about language itself.<\/p>\n

\n

Of all the dogmas of classical antiquity, only grammar has held its ground. Euclidean geometry, Ptolemaic astronomy, Galenic medicine, Roman law, Christian doctrine\u2014the schools have radically demolished them all. But even now, Alexandrine grammar still reigns.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The quote is from Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy<\/a> (1888\u20131973), a deeply idiosyncratic Christian theoretician of the modern era. (All translations are mine, from the two-volume The Language of the Human Race: An Incarnate Grammar in Four Parts <\/em>[Die Sprache des Menschengeschlechts: Eine leibhafte Grammatik in vier Teilen<\/em>].) Rosenstock-Huessy inspired a few cognoscenti, including W. H. Auden and Peter Sloterdijk, but he is still, it is safe to say, deeply, deeply obscure. It is hard to know what to do with him. I certainly find off-putting the self-evident all-importance of Christ\u2019s Birth or God\u2019s Divine Purpose, which he regularly tosses into his philosophical arguments. (Auden: \u201cAnyone reading him for the first time may find, as I did, certain aspects of his writings a bit hard to take \u2026 Speaking for myself, I can only say that, by listening to Rosenstock-Huessy, I <\/em>have been changed.\u201d) The grammatical dogma he means, though\u2014and which he spent more than one 1,900-page book in mortal combat against\u2014is the innocent-looking list dating back to the Greeks: first person, second person, third person. I love<\/em>, you love<\/em>, he\/she\/it loves<\/em>, or, if you studied Latin, amo, amas<\/em>, amat<\/em>. Read More >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re away until January 4, but we\u2019re re-posting some of our favorite pieces from 2015. Please enjoy, and have a happy New Year! Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy and the role of the first person. It can be staggering to realize, suddenly, that something you\u2019ve never thought about\u2014something you\u2019ve always accepted as real\u2014is just an article of faith. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":754,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20653],"tags":[17434,8032,17437,231,16982,687,16937,17439,4508,17435,17436,530,17438],"class_list":["post-93106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of-2015","tag-eugen-rosenstock-huessy","tag-first-person-2","tag-fourth-person","tag-grammar","tag-greek","tag-language","tag-latin","tag-perspective","tag-second-person","tag-the-language-of-the-human-race","tag-third-person","tag-translation","tag-zero-person"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Does the First Person Come First?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The primacy of \u201cI\u201d goes all the way back to Greek grammar, and it colors our whole perception of the world\u2014but does it have to be that way?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/31\/whos-number-one-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who\u2019s Number One? by Damion Searls\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"December 31, 2015 \u2013 We\u2019re away until January 4, but we\u2019re re-posting some of our favorite pieces from 2015. 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