3 ms·
I think it's interesting - Proust talks about this, an intonation to show detachment. As he spoke I noticed, what had often struck me before in his conversatio
by charlus 13y ago
I think it's interesting - Proust talks about this, an intonation to show detachment.
As he spoke I noticed, what had often struck me before in his conversations with my grandmother’s sisters, that whenever he spoke of serious matters, whenever he used an expression which seemed to imply a definite opinion upon some important subject, he would take care to isolate, to sterilise it by using a special intonation, mechanical and ironic, as though he had put the phrase or word between inverted commas, and was anxious to disclaim any personal responsibility for it; as who should say “the ’hierarchy,’ don’t you know, as silly people call it.
- triplesec 13y agoV interesting. I found the reference (please add next time, it's useful) here, and fortunately it was that easy to find: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8g8rAEkl5-UC&lpg=PA92&ots=tqWf0A44jq&dq=As%20he%20spoke%20I%20noticed%2C%20what%20had%20often%20struck%20me%20before%20in%20his%20conversations%20with%20my%20grandmother%E2%80%99s%20sisters%2C%20that%20whenever%20he%20spoke%20of%20serious%20matters%2C%20whenever%20he%20used%20an%20expression%20which%20seemed%20to%20imply%20a%20definite%20opinion%20upon%20some%20important%20subject%2C%20he%20would%20take%20care%20to%20isolate%2C%20to%20sterilise%20it%20by%20using%20a%20special%20intonation%2C%20mechanical%20and%20ironic%2C%20as%20though%20he%20had%20put%20the%20phrase%20or%20word%20between%20inverted%20commas%2C%20and%20was%20anxious%20to%20disclaim%20any%20personal%20responsibility%20for%20it%3B%20as%20who%20should%20say%20%E2%80%9Cthe%20%E2%80%99hierarchy%2C%E2%80%99%20don%E2%80%99t%20you%20know%2C%20as%20silly%20people%20call%20it.&pg=PA92#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8g8rAEkl5-UC&lpg=PA92&ots...