DAY
91: La chiacchierata, that's a chat
about
nothing in particular, less is more,
S.I.
Hayakawa, my lousy university president
then
lousy state senator, but a decent scholar
had
a useful linguistic theory -- pre-symbolic language,
meaninglessness,
words that don't stand
for
anything, could just as well be grunts and
cooing,
could be a language no one under-
stands,
therefore we -- especially well-educated
white
men over 50 -- stupidly maintain its
uselessness
-- la chiacchierata doesn't serve
any
communicative purpose, so we will not
participate
-- Oh, but Hayakawa shows that
it
does! The meaning behind meaningless
words
is the most important of all --
community-building,
relationship-building
--
I grunt and coo, I talk about what a shame
and
where you been and did you see the game
--
I mean I like you maybe -- I want us
to
be friends maybe -- even with neighbors
I
don't like, even people I'd never choose ...
I
must engage, in a chiacchierata, talking
from
one balcony to another, from behind
masks
or downstairs by the cars -- Italians
need
this like air, they know that when
100,000
souls die and rise we'll need our
neighbors,
even those with whom
we
only ever talked with
about
nothing at all
just to find the courage
to bear witness.
