Theory before ‘Theory’: W.D. Terry and the semantics of Alfred Korzybski

Abstract

Theoretical work undertaken by W.D. Terry in 1950, well before the ‘theory wave’ of the 70s and 80s reached South Africa, sets out to scrutinize the semantic presuppositions of Alfred Korzybski’s General Semantics, comparing them with those of I.A. Richards. Terry’s conclusion is that neither of these attempts to remodel linguistic communication to meet the scientific revolution of the early twentieth century could conceivably meet with success. Terry’s work shows how these efforts become nugatory attempts to escape the thrall of ‘within-the-skin’ human experience, whereas the unique struggles of poets preserve and share that experience in language, a medium they are continuously refreshing and renovating. Terry’s study is robustly grounded in mid-twentieth century thought, while nonetheless demonstrating that Korzybski and Richards were participating in a conversation going back to Socrates, Clement and Origen. The article recuperates a fleeting episode, sparked by JYT Greig at Wits, when the General Semantics of Alfred Korzybski had some traction in South African English Departments through a textbook, Language in Thought and Action, by S.I. Hayakawa, one of Korzybski’s students; a moment which quickly vanished, leaving little trace other than Terry’s study.