The Polyglottal Perception Prism Part I - An Analogy for the Refractive Qualities of Communication

In Bahktin's "Discourse in the Novel", Bahktin offers up heteroglossia as a quality that defines the refractive quality of the information within novels.  Bahktin's heteroglossia does not only apply to novels, however, it can also be applied to any discourse, in which information passes between two differing perceptive systems.  In computers, misinterpretations between systems result in errors and breakdowns in communication, but in humans misinterpretations are an integral part of our system of communication.  This phenomenon is the result of many influences, but we can identify two main causes and draw a hopefully helpful analogy, with which to approach such a quirky quality.

Bahktin's heteroglossia is the coexistence of multiple meanings embedded in texts and other forms of discourse.  Imagine everyone in the world existing within the same room, and that this room is a rough sphere of mirrors encompassing humanity.  For this example, we will limit our exposure to just human communication.  Every individual possesses a light, with which they can communicate to their fellow humans.  Each person's light is adaptive, meaning that as the individual's thoughts change, so does the intensity or color of their light.  Now, imagine the view of the sphere of mirrors and the light dancing across it as people communicate with one another.  From this examination, we can see that everyone's perspective, and thus interpretation of incoming stimuli is different.  This is because a person can only occupy the space of their body within the sphere, and no two individuals can occupy the same space at the same moment.  "For the novelist, there is no world outside his socio-heteroglot perception--and there is no language outside the heteroglot intentions that stratify that world" (Bahktin 330).  From Bahktin and this example, we can see that every individual has a unique perceptive system composed of their location, their language, and their time.  The location of the individual is subject to change within in the sphere as a result of the individual's perception of processed information.  The individual's language is the result of experienced information, which further differentiates perception.  Finally, there is time.  Within the sphere of discourse, we can examine all of humanity, past and present, our aspirations, our hopes and dreams.  The sphere of discourse is really just a limited version of the universe. (To Be Continued...)