[Xmca-l] Khan and the Btottmans

[Henry G. Shonerd III]

Hi Gang,
I ask total forgiveness for occupying the XMCA waves, but the articles by the Brottmans (Return of the Freakshow) and  Muqtedar Khan (Shura and Democracy) evoked connections for me. 

In addition to the consultative and consensual elements of Shura, I wonder what Muqtedar has in mind when he says, "There is more in Islam that shura when it comes to reflecting over the nature of good governance and best polities. But we shall reserve that discussion for another occasion." I wonder if Jihad would be part of that discussion, especially the jihad within, the struggle we all have with ourselves, as individuals and as "cultures". 

Regarding the article by Mikita and David, what great metaphors: Carnival and Freakshow! Totally generative and in line with my on-going screed (David's term) to blend Cognitive Grammar (of which an essential focus is metaphor) and Vygotsky. In addition, an essential CG term Langacker uses in analyzing discourse is "On Stage" (OS), so in line with carnivals and freak shows that it takes the breath away. (I sent you the article, but I am attaching it again. Every teacher believes in repetition. THIS copy includes my highlighting, as sort of a study guide. I know, I'm insufferable.) Langacker defines OS as,  "…the profiled event. It constitutes the objective situation, which serves as the object of description." Keep in mind that the "object(s) of description" are conceptualizations in the minds of the participants in a discourse, which find external expression (canonically or prototypically through speaking or signing) in the discourse itself. The goal of discourse is generally that the conceptualizations in the minds of the interlocutors be "coordinated" in real time. It's a dynamic process, a work in progress.

 I am comforted by the Brottmans' observation that "we are all freaks together". Who doesn't belong to this club-in-the-making, this work in progress?

The Laughing Warrior
(Maybe you're one too!)