From: Leong Yew <lyew-AT-arts.adelaide.edu.au>
Subject: A Quick Genealogy of the World
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 14:43:20 +0930



Hello all,

While looking up the Shorter Oxford's entry on the "world" this morning, I came across something interesting which might be of interest to this discussion group. This refers particularly to the word's linkage to concepts and ideas associated with Western philosophy. In postcolonial studies, I can see a number of interesting lines of enquiry emerging >from this, not least the formation of colonial subjectivity and consciousness over the meaning of the world.

I've penned some notes about my reading of the dictionary entry (which appear below) and wonder how members of this forum would see postcolonial theory (especially the Bill Ashcroft ala Salman Rushdie's idea of "writing back to the centre") as conveying alternate meanings of the "world" that have been omitted from  English language dictionaries, and in particular, the OED.

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A QUICK GENEALOGY OF THE WORLD

The latest edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary provides three clusters of meanings over its entry on "world." The first is metaphysical, linking the concept to Western philosophies on ontology; the second is empiricist, highlighting the world's physical essence; and the third is socio-philosophical, connoting the world as a societal agglomeration. While the Shorter Oxford serves to authorize the use of the word, the "world" and to control its meanings from proliferating, I couldn't help but notice the historicity of the dictionary entry. By ordering its entry in such a manner, the dictionary unconsciously exposes the history of subjectivity - tying the formation of world-views to changing social formations. For example, the shift from medieval to the modern, from the insularity of the European world to its expansion through colonialism and imperialism.

While the Shorter Oxford's authority in pegging meanings to certain historical periods may be disputed, the Western-centred definitions of the "world" bear a number of consequences on postcolonial studies; in particular how the subject's imagination has been colonized and how certain meanings of the world have been made universal and total. One problem, in this regard, is an "obsolete" use of the word. According to the dictionary, between 1149 and the late 17th century, the world could have been understood as "An age or period in human existence or history." I have italicized the words, "age," "period," and "history" because they exemplify a certain standpoint linked to the end of the middle ages and the beginning of modernity. Johannes Fabian calls this the movement from Sacred (or Christian) time into secular time. Yet why its use should have started in "Old English" and ended in the late 17th century remains a mystery to me. After all, isn't the tendency to historicize or periodize human affairs a trade mark of  modernity?

Here then is a brief reorganization of the entry in the Shorter Oxford:

I.	Metaphysical - Western Philosophies of Ontology
Basic definition: "Human existence"

1. OLD ENGLISH (after 1149): "(Earthly) human existence; this present life"; "Earthly human pursuits and interests; secular or lay (as opposed to religious or clerical) life, pursuits or interests, temporal or mundane affairs."

2. MIDDLE ENGLISH (after the period 1150-1349): "A state of (present or future) existence"

3. OLD ENGLISH until Late 17th C: (obsolete) "An age or period in human existence or history." Note the use of  "age," "period" or "history."

4. Mid 16th C: "[Specifically] an age or period of human history identified by or associated with particular cultural, intellectual, or economic characteristics or conditions. Now rare or [obsolete except] as passing into sense [11]." Particularly, note a more pluralist use of the term, by bringing in diversity in culture, intellectualism and economics.


II.	The Empirical World
Basic sense: "The earth; a natural environment or system."

5. OLD ENGLISH: "The earth and everything on it; the globe; the human environment; [collectively] the countries on earth."

6. MIDDLE ENGLISH: "The (material) universe, the cosmos; creation as a whole; everything that exists. Also?, any part of the universe considered as an entity." This should belong in the above category. The understanding of the world as [divinely] created rather than formed establishes its sacred use.

7. Mid 16th C: "A section or part of the earth, [especially] as a place of inhabitation or settlement."

8. Late 17th C: "A particular realm of natural or created things; [especially] the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms"; "any group or system of [usually similar] things or heings considered as constituting a unity."

9. Early 18th C: "A planet or other celestial body, [especially] one viewed as inhabited."


III.	Socio-philosophical
Basic Sense: "People, society"

10. OLD ENGLISH: "The human race; humankind as a whole; human society."

11. LATE MIDDLE ENGLISH (after the period 1350-1469): "Human society considered [with reference] to its activities, occupations, problems, etc. Later also, the practices, customs, or social hierarchy of one's society; the concerns of society at large." * "[Usually with specified word] a particular part or section of the earth's inhabitants or of (a) human society, [especially with reference] to the place or time of their existence, or to their status, interests, or pursuits."

12. Mid 16th C: "Society at large, the public; public opinion."


One important thing to note here is that while the clusters of meaning do not flow seamlessly into each other time-wise, how certain meanings have come to prevail over others is indicative of subjectivity. Since my personal interest is on the conflation of the "international" realm with the "world," I was surprised to have discovered no mention of "international" in the dictionary entry. To a certain extent, this was appeased, especially by the ambiguity posed by meanings 4, 5 and 11. Even though these meanings originated during the period of Old English, their continued use hides the discursiveness of "international" and naturalizes it within the context of the 12th century. In other words, the dictionary does not have to define the world as "international" in order for it to be understood as such.

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Leong Yew
Department of Politics
University of Adelaide
Adelaide, SA 5005








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