72｜The Expression of the After-Linguistic
Chapter XXIX | Language Beyond Language: The Expression of the After-Linguistic
29.1 | Introduction
In the preceding discourses, we have explored how the manifestation of Presence may be conveyed through Art, Nature, Emotion, and Faith—noting that Art stands as the paramount and most essential vessel for Presence. Art is itself a language; yet, simultaneously, Language remains our most vital—perhaps our singular—instrument for the universal establishment of consensus and the transmission of systemic knowledge.
Consequently, an inescapable problem emerges: If we must employ Language to describe a cognitive structure that exists "after language"; if we must use words to present the experiences of Presence and attempt to propagate such experiences as formal knowledge; then what form must such a language assume?
To put it another way: Since Art possesses the capacity to touch Presence, and Language is itself a form of Art, then within the art of language, which specific forms, modes of expression, and structural traits are most proximal to—and best suited to sustain—the Mode of Presence?
We have previously asserted that Art is the most significant instrument for the cognition of Presence. Therefore, the mandate of this chapter is to resolve the following:
- If it is necessary to describe Presence through Language, what structure, rhythm, and mode of expression should that language possess?
- Within the vast spectrum of linguistics, which modes of speech most closely mirror the experiential structure of Presence itself?
- In the cognitive landscape "after language," how should Language perform its labor?
This chapter will unfold its demonstration from two dimensions: Language as Art and Language as the Transgression of its own Boundaries. Our goal is to establish a linguistic mode capable of expressing Presence—one that:
- Avoids the conceptual shackles of ordinary speech;
- Eschews the vagueness of emotive or mystical expression;
- Retains linguistic clarity and structure, while permitting experience, intuition, and the "In-itself" of Presence to enter the expression.
In short: this chapter discusses not how language describes the world, but how language describes the "World Beyond Language."
