Generating meaning

One of the most controversial claims of some postmodern thinkers is that language creates rather than simply reflects meaning. Whatever the truth of that as a global statement about language’s generation of meaning, it is fairly obvious that language generates meaning at a lower level.

In his first encounter with the shrew Katharina, Petruchio parries all her insults and jibes into comments on marriage. “Come sit on my lap,” he says, and she responds with “Asses were made to bear, and so are you.” Petruchio is quick to retort: “Women were made to bear, and so are you.” Petruchio and Kate are not describing things out there in the world; their language is part of an erotic combat, a rough wooing. And the wooing proceeds as each statement provokes a response that generates new meanings and takes this unconventional courtship in new directions.