Phrase: Thick and Muddy Speech

"...Homer's 'thick' and 'muddy' speech invites a critical journey, not into the self, but into the more complex of the self's relationship to a particular kind of linguistic difference that does not yet have a concept assigned to it." (Ngai, 254)

"Thick" and "Muddy" are perfect ways to describe the two pieces we've read for Thursday. Stein's strange language invites one to start thinking about the way language works and almost demands that one read aloud. The syntax and pacing is done in such a way that it really feels like a real string of words. This strange manner of speech continues on into Ngai's analysis of Stein's style. The thick language and near-slippage into Stein-esque style seems to make the paper meta-fictional, inviting one to consider the meaning of language within the paper.