Review by Brendan Donaghy -- Why Do We Quote?
Posted: 22 May 2019, 12:24
[Following is a volunteer review of "Why Do We Quote?" by Ruth Finnegan.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Ruth Finnegan is a distinguished academic with a background in classical languages and literature, though much of her work over the years has been in the field of social anthropology. Professor Finnegan notes in the preface her fascination with why we quote, about why we feel the need ‘to echo the voice of others’ in our own speech and writing. It is her opinion that, while previous academic studies have shown much scholarly interest in quotations, the essence of why we quote has been ignored. Why Do We Quote? is her attempt to mix a ‘down-to-earth account of people’s contemporary quoting’ with what lies behind it.
The author’s research for this book is based partly on her personal experience, but also on the opinions of two hundred others, members of what the writer calls her ‘Mass Observation' panel of writers. Assisted by this group, she focuses on selected aspects of quoting. She starts by looking at contemporary tastes, at what she terms the ‘here and now of quoting’. She teases out the fact that people use quotes more than they know. Citing Shakespeare, the Bible or some other high-culture source may be most people’s idea of quoting, but Professor Finnegan demonstrates that most of us quote without even realizing we are doing it. Whether that takes the form of recycling old, familiar sayings (‘many hands make light work’), or phrases borrowed from family members (‘as my mother used to say…’), or lines from popular songs or television shows, most of us pepper our speech with quotations on a regular basis.
In later chapters, the author moves out from the present to look further afield. She takes us through the history of how quotes were marked out on the page from earliest times, including the diple arrowhead marks found in the books of the ancient Greeks. She looks at the way in which quotes have been gathered and stored, giving us a long history of quotation anthologies as an example.
The writer has obviously spent much time researching and writing this book. Yet if her scholarship is to be lauded, the presentation of her work is perhaps not to the same high standard. This is, literally and figuratively, a difficult book to read. Perhaps the difficulties were exacerbated by the fact that I was reading an electronic version of the book, but the choice of fonts and the small text sizes made reading it very difficult at times. The writer’s use of supporting illustrations and photographs also adds to the impression of impenetrability. She gives us photographs of original, handwritten contributions from her Mass Observation panel, together with photographs of seventh-century scribal citation marks and passages from an eighth-century manuscript of Bede’s Commentary on Proverbs. There are many other similar examples. Not only are these difficult to decipher, but they also do little to add to the reader’s understanding or enjoyment of the book.
I also picked up more typographical mistakes than one would expect from a leading academic. Words are missed out at times, others are misspelled. At one point, an ‘error code’ message appears in the text in place of an illustration. Punctuation is used inconsistently; the writer alternates between putting a colon before quotes and leaving it out altogether, for example.
I enjoyed very much the author’s discussion of contemporary quoting. I also enjoyed reading quotes that I had not encountered before. I did not find so much to enjoy in the history of quotation signs in ancient texts, nor did I like the physical appearance of this book. For these reasons, I would give it three out of four stars. Those with an interest in quotes may find it worth reading. Such readers should be aware, however, that the author does not edit or censor original quotations, so there are a handful of profanities to be found in the text.
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Why Do We Quote?
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3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Ruth Finnegan is a distinguished academic with a background in classical languages and literature, though much of her work over the years has been in the field of social anthropology. Professor Finnegan notes in the preface her fascination with why we quote, about why we feel the need ‘to echo the voice of others’ in our own speech and writing. It is her opinion that, while previous academic studies have shown much scholarly interest in quotations, the essence of why we quote has been ignored. Why Do We Quote? is her attempt to mix a ‘down-to-earth account of people’s contemporary quoting’ with what lies behind it.
The author’s research for this book is based partly on her personal experience, but also on the opinions of two hundred others, members of what the writer calls her ‘Mass Observation' panel of writers. Assisted by this group, she focuses on selected aspects of quoting. She starts by looking at contemporary tastes, at what she terms the ‘here and now of quoting’. She teases out the fact that people use quotes more than they know. Citing Shakespeare, the Bible or some other high-culture source may be most people’s idea of quoting, but Professor Finnegan demonstrates that most of us quote without even realizing we are doing it. Whether that takes the form of recycling old, familiar sayings (‘many hands make light work’), or phrases borrowed from family members (‘as my mother used to say…’), or lines from popular songs or television shows, most of us pepper our speech with quotations on a regular basis.
In later chapters, the author moves out from the present to look further afield. She takes us through the history of how quotes were marked out on the page from earliest times, including the diple arrowhead marks found in the books of the ancient Greeks. She looks at the way in which quotes have been gathered and stored, giving us a long history of quotation anthologies as an example.
The writer has obviously spent much time researching and writing this book. Yet if her scholarship is to be lauded, the presentation of her work is perhaps not to the same high standard. This is, literally and figuratively, a difficult book to read. Perhaps the difficulties were exacerbated by the fact that I was reading an electronic version of the book, but the choice of fonts and the small text sizes made reading it very difficult at times. The writer’s use of supporting illustrations and photographs also adds to the impression of impenetrability. She gives us photographs of original, handwritten contributions from her Mass Observation panel, together with photographs of seventh-century scribal citation marks and passages from an eighth-century manuscript of Bede’s Commentary on Proverbs. There are many other similar examples. Not only are these difficult to decipher, but they also do little to add to the reader’s understanding or enjoyment of the book.
I also picked up more typographical mistakes than one would expect from a leading academic. Words are missed out at times, others are misspelled. At one point, an ‘error code’ message appears in the text in place of an illustration. Punctuation is used inconsistently; the writer alternates between putting a colon before quotes and leaving it out altogether, for example.
I enjoyed very much the author’s discussion of contemporary quoting. I also enjoyed reading quotes that I had not encountered before. I did not find so much to enjoy in the history of quotation signs in ancient texts, nor did I like the physical appearance of this book. For these reasons, I would give it three out of four stars. Those with an interest in quotes may find it worth reading. Such readers should be aware, however, that the author does not edit or censor original quotations, so there are a handful of profanities to be found in the text.
******
Why Do We Quote?
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Brendan Donaghy's review? Post a comment saying so!
