Language ____ Space _____ Language

Language ____ Space _____ Language

By Chelsea Roles

Experimenta.
(SPACE and PLACE – Design for the Urban Landscape,
2008, http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/38976/space-and-place-design-for-the-urban-landscape)

Language is essentially a collective understanding amongst a group of people that is used to rationalise certain things. It gives meaning to certain people and therefore is able to attach certain meanings to places and space. It empowers some, by allow them to name and can disempower others by taking away and changing their space.

Naming is giving something otherwise undiscovered, a name. On the social network Goodreads, although a book is already ‘named’ by its author prior to its publication, reviewers on this site are able to rename it, on a less literal level. For example, on Goodreads, in the past, and still to this day, the novel Twilight is known by its short cliché summary, “The book about a chick who falls in love with a vampire and a werewolf.” Although the book still has its original name, reviewers were able to socially changed it, as

“Words alone, used in an appropriate situation, can have the power to render objects” (Tuan, 1991). Reviewers on sites such as Goodreads are able to give books new ‘names’ and categorise them however they please; they have the power. This in turn creates a place where authors are scared to visit, but also creates a safe place for people to express their honest opinions. This leads into how language is able to create a certain type of space on this site. As noted by Tuan,

“Warm conversation between friends can make the place warm; by contrast, malicious speech has the power to destroy a place’s reputation and thereby its visibility” (Tuan, 1991).

The majority of users on Goodreads share positive feedback, reviews and leave encouragement for authors. This in turn creates a light-hearted, honest, comfortable space, and a sense of positive identity for the polite users. On the other side of the spectrum lay the small minority of users who spread malicious reviews and rate low in order to veer readers away from a particular author or book genre. This creates a negative and hateful space for many readers and authors; giving these ‘trolls’ a powerful and feared profile. The space of the site is dependent on the language used by those on Goodreads, as noted by Sapir, when she states:

 “The fact of the matter is that the 'real world' is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group” (Sapir 1958, p.69)

If Goodreads is continued to be treated as an outlet for negative energy from users, the space of the site will only continue to reflect these thoughts and views. If every user was polite and encouraging, the space would in turn reflect the habits of the users and be a comfortable space for all.

Therefore, language and naming in the social network Goodreads creates both a negative and positive space for users. Luckily, majority of the time the space is positive and respectful language is used in order to create a positive, happy community. I will continue to analyse the social network and try my hardest to use positive language in order to contribute to the light-hearted space of the site.

To read more on Tuan’s works on language and the making of place, click here.



References:

Experimenta. (2008). SPACE and PLACE – Design for the Urban Landscape. [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/38976/space-and-place-design-for-the-urban-landscape/

Sapir. (1958). Space and place quote. In Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 4 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au

Tuan, Yi-Fu. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Vol. 8, No. 4 (Dec., 1991), pp. 684-696