At 09:01 рм 18/9/1997 -0500, you wrote:
>I would like to introduce myself to the list. My name is Susan Carr
>Shelton and I became interested in Noam Chomsky after hearing the tail
>end of a speech of his on C-Span. I had heard of Chomsky off and on over
>the years, in undergrad school as a English lit major and years later as
>a grad student in Communication Theory, I learned of his contributions
>to linguistics but that then he sort of drifted away from linguistics, I
>got the impression that his really serious academic work had been done
>when he was young and that all of the promise had been subsumed by other
>interests. I have continued to be a great general reader over the years,
>have been working in the social work field for the past ten years, and
>since I have consistently loathed the study of linguistics, have not
>heard or ran across a single mention of Chomsky until that C-span
>program. I was intrigued by the bits of what I heard and decided to see
>if I could use the net to learn more. I will no doubt be lurking for
>awhile, but would appreciate some recommended reading.
>
>Susan Carr Shelton
>
>
Dear Susan,
No, Noam Chomsky did not "sort of drift away from linguistics". As a matter
of fact
only a couple of years ago he proposed a new idea on the problem of language
(that the core structure of language is not only "universal" but also
"optimal"). In an interview by David Barsamian, of Alternative Radio,
Chomsky admits that this new idea about "optimality" was the second or third
time, in his linguistics work, that so important
a step was made. The first, I guess, was his idea about "universality".
However, it is Chomsky's writings on social matters (about 37 books) that is
a precious
and gigantic contribution to peaple all over the world. Chomsky is not
simply an
intellectual and an activist. Chomsky is an agonistis.
About "some recommended reading", you could start with the following:
1. Chomsky, Noam, POWERS & PROSPECTS, Allen & Unwin, 1996. You can also
get the book from South End Press, 116 Saint Botolph Street,Boston, MA
02115.
(on pages 29 and 30 you can find some material on "optimality", but I
would recommend Chapter 4 Goals and Visions).
2. You can find the same book, as in 1. above, with an additional chapter
(9), under
the title PERSPECTIVES ON POWER, publihed by Black Rose Books,
C.P.1258, Succ. Place
du Parc, Montreal, Quebec, H2W 2R3 Canada, or you can get it from
Black Rose
Books, 250 Sonwil Drive, Buffalo, New York, 14225 in the States.
3. Chomsky, Noam, YEAR 501, South End Press, 1993. (Must reading for all
Americans.)
4. Chomsky, Noam, KEEPING THE RABBLE IN LINE, Interviews With David Barsamian,
Common Courage Press,P.O.Box 702, Monroe, ME 04951 (Fax: 207-525-3068)
5. Rai, Milan, CHOMSKY'S POLITICS, Verso, 1995. (USA: 180 Varick Street ,
New York,
N.Y. 10014- 4606
6. Barsky, F. Robert. NOAM CHOMSKY, A Life og Dissent, MIT Press, 1997.
(You can find the entire book at:
http://www-mitpress.mit.edu/chomsky/)
7. You can also find a lot of material at the Z Net: <http://www.lbbs.org >
8. You can contact David Barsamian at 2129 Mapleton, Boulder, CO 80304
(Fax: 305 546-0592)
To introduce myself: I was borne in Athens, Greece, where I am living now.
My first contact with Chomsky's work was through his first book AMERICAN POWER
AND THE NEW MANDARINES in 1969. I am a civil engineer.
Nikos Raptis
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