Mythbusting

This article notes the difficulties in providing definitions of myth and, especially, definitions of how to ‘bust’ myths. It suggests a set of eight requirements for ‘mythbusting’ derived from an observation of Roy Harris’s concerted assault on the ‘language myth’. The requirements include a convincing history of the myth; an analysis which addresses the myth’s most fundamental premiss; provision of an alternative to the myth; an understanding of the myth as more than merely ‘structural’; an account of how pervasive the myth is; presentation of how the myth is sustained by a society; analysis of the role of education in sustaining the myth; and suggestions for how the myth can be busted without a violent assault on administrators and bureaucrats.

► History of language myth. ► Analysis of it. ► Provision of an alternative. ► How pervasive the myth is. ► How the myth is sustained.