Dana Riesenfeld and Nana Ariel

Which is to be master? The Problem of Clichés

Clichés are perceived as stale expressions that replicate set patterns. Those who use clichés are seen as blindly conforming to imposed linguistic laws. Despite being regarded as a powerless expression, since the word “cliché” appeared in the 19th century in an industrial context, normative critics have attributed serious political dangers to the use of clichés. This article presents an alternative to the exclusivity of this derogatory perception of the cliché, through a renewed understanding of its temporality. Viewing a cliché as a pragmatic event that involves its activation at a specific moment in time reveals that the use of a cliché is never associated with absolute repetition but rather with a new intentionality, timing, or kairos. Instead of seeing a cliché as an exact duplication of expressions that have been repeated in the past, we suggest it involves an imagined history, where a certain expression is accepted as though it has been heard before. In other words, a cliché is what sounds like a cliché. Similar to déjà vu, the moment of acceptance of a cliché creates a reconstructed history that projects onto the past and creates a feeling of repetition. Hence, a cliché might be original and new at the moment of its occurrence, yet still be perceived as a cliché. The article traces those kairotic factors that encourage the reception of an expression as a cliché and shows that a cliché is not necessarily associated with blind obedience to patterns, nor does it necessarily appear as a linguistic formula. Following this, the article questions the traditional opposition between a cliché and neologism. Blurring the boundary between these two terms allows us to re-examine the relationship of language users to the linguistic rule, and to see it rather than an a stagnant, priori system of rules that dictates its obedient or rebellious subjects, as a dynamic and contingent construct created between language participants. The discussion allows us to revisit the age-old question posed by Humpty Dumpty on the laws of language – who is to be master

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Dana Riesenfeld (Ph.D., Tel Aviv University), teaches philosophy of language and logic at the philosophy department in Tel Aviv University. She is head of the philosophy studies program in Ironi Aleph School of Arts. She is interested in linguistic rules, conventions, normativity, and the philosophy of Donald Davidson. Her current research focuses on language as it is used on social media platforms. Her upcoming book on the concept of the cliché, “Here We Go Again: Clichés from Modernity to AI,” co-written with Nana Ariel, is to be published by Oxford University Press.

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Dr. Nana Ariel is a senior faculty member in the Faculty of Humanities at Tel Aviv University. Previously, she was a visiting researcher and lecturer at Harvard University and Sciences Po, Paris. She is a rhetoric and literary scholar, who also teaches the learning sciences. Her articles and short essays have appeared in various journals and magazines. Her book Manifestos: Restless Writings on the Brink of the Twenty-First Century (in Hebrew) was published in 2018 by Bar-Ilan University Press. Her upcoming book on the concept of the cliché Here We Go Again: Clichés from Modernity to AI, co-written with Dana Riesenfeld, is to be published by Oxford University Press.