14

THE EMOJI DISRUPTION

Sanotsh Desai

Pre-reading
I f you are a user of social media like Facebook, Twitter,
WhatsApp etcetera, you probably have posted and received
likes' in the fom of 'smileys' and 'unlikes' in the fom of crylies'
and hostilities in the form of'growlies.
Yes, the last two coinages have been made up, but being placed
next to 'smileys' these would be quickly understood as pictures
that convey sadness and anger.
Do you know what such a picture is called by the users ofthe
digital social media?
. I s it good or bad for the picture or pictogram to replace the
word?
Will language as we know it wither away and die ifthe image
becomes the dominat mode of expression?
The emoji or emoticon, as the pictogram is called, be it good or
bad, is trending now and has to be reckoned with by all
trcndspotters.
Read this fascinating piece of prose by one such trendspotter
to find out about the disturbance in culture or 'disruption', to
use the word in the essay's title, being created by this new visual
language.
Now read about the author
Sanotsh Desai is a management guru-turned writer and cultural
commentator. He writes the immensely popular column 'City City
Bang Bang' in 7imes ofIndia. The column looks at contemporary
Indian society from an everyday vantage point. The writings published
in this column have been compiled in his book Mother Pious Lady.
Making Sense of Everyday India. He has a style which is lucid,
informal and yet is analytical. This piece was published in Times of
India on 22 November 2015 and can be read online. Students
might want to read two more interesting prose pieces by Desai,
the Newspaper" and "Selfie: the Mirror
namely "Decoding
Reversed." These can be also accessed on the Internet.

About the Essay

This essay responds to the emoji or the emoticon which has
the new
emerged as a result of a further decisive turn in
communication technology that has given us the email, the hypertext,
the social media, texting and instant messaging.An emoji is a picture
states ofmind and emotion. In this sense it is an
iconic
that conveys
number ofemoticons
sign. Although limited in their range,-the total
tablets
available to us on the keyboaords ofthepersonal computers,
and smartphones is 140-emojis are being increasingly preferred
other words, is being carried
by the young over words. Texting, in
on in large part without text.
This has given rise to fears about the
to a world of
end of the langauge, about the relapse of language
existed before humans invented
primtive grunts and gestures that
situation where the rapidly evolving
language. The essay ponders this
communication technologies of the future
will lead to a point where
language or text-dependent, will
communication, being no longer
white.
become cut and dried, very black and
The Widening Arc 133
 The essay debates this and decaresitselffirmly on the side of
the new visual culture. This is how the argument is presented. It
looks first ofallat the evolving forms oflinguistic communication,
noting the process whereby sentence length has steadily reduced
from the 16th century to the 20th. It now stands at an average of
14.3 words to a sentence. This getting rid of unnecessary words
has been a move towards greater clarity and beauty.

The emoji, the essay points out, takes this process ofshortening
to its logical conclusion. Besides, it adds an emotional colouration
to the message in the form of an icon, thus making it even more
expressive. So the message is not black and white after all. The
essay thusjustifies the decision ofthe Oxford University to honour
as its wordof the year (2015), an emoji, a picture of 'a face with
tears ofjoy.'This is a real
gain. Imagine being able to show something
instead of telling about it. As a proverb of the Lakotas, a primitive
native American tribe, has it, understanding results from
showing.
With the emoji has come the time when the dictum
'showing is
better than tellling' can be shown rather than told. The medium will
become the message. The emoji is the closest we can
get to the
thing itself
Why read this essay?
The preeminent reason for
reading this essay is to learn from
the way it responds to new signs
appearing in our cultural life. We
need to know the power a new social code or
technological app
has of doing good. Conversely, we need to know the
power it has
ofdoing harm. This will enable us to have a perspective on the new
cultural force or phenomenon. This essay
maps the cultural
phenomenon of the emoji very efficiently and persuasively and

The Widening Arc 134

 road for the future. It shows us how to present an
provides a map
case on both
the backbone of the essay, by arguing a
argument,
sides in order to reach a logical synthesis.
The Text
of the year, not a word
Oxford University has chosen as its word
For those not in the know,
but an emoji of face with tears ofjoy'.
an
an emoji is a pictogram that expresses,
among other things,
into the keyboards
emotion, object or action. Since its incorporation
of choice among
of smartphones, it has become a visual language
recognizes a cultural
the decision ofthe Oxford University
many, and
phenomenon ofthe times.
elicits divided reactions.
This is the kind ofthing that usually
into
about what they see as the drying up language
of
Some worry
Columnist Ben Smithurst
different versions ofprimordial grunts.
reacts to emojis thus- 'basically, after 5000 years oftechnological

progress, we are returning

to ekingg out meaning from pictograms'.
but about shrinking the
The fear is not merely about language,
ourselves the bandwidth that
complexity of the world by denying
us with. In effect, the danger thinking
of
language currently provides
more rudimentary thoughts
because ofour insistence on using more
The world, when shrunk into 140
rudimentary forms oflanguage.
in which we can
characters can look like a very simple place,
one

and stand by them without worrying about being

take clear positions
waylaid by nuance.
than a minor
Also, it is possible if this can be anything
more

and lacks the structure

fad? The visual code used is extremely basic
The Widening Arc 135
 that is the backbone ofany linguistic system. As the range ofoptions
expand, the process of selecting an appropriate emoji would become
a vastly complex enterprise. The combination of a finite and indeed

limited alphabet that generates an infinite number of options is what

gives text its potency, and a universal visual language that has the
same flexibility seems to be a distant prospect. Given that, can a

phenomenon like this ever be a threat to text as we know it, or as

Namita Bhandare argues persuasively in Hindustan Times, ever come
close to being a language?
There is also a generational element to this anxiety, with a sense
that the young of today, closeted inside their
techno-bubble, are
displaying a taciturn indifference to what lies outside of their
immediate concerns. This anxiety also incorporates elements
of the
fear of technology itself, which is seen to be
promoting
amove away
into a more detached and dehumanized form
of social existence-an
auto-erotic feasting upon the self, a glazed
sucking of the cyber-
thumb.

The counterpoint argues that

emojis make language more, rather
than less expressive. They allow us to add
texture to language, to
add a kind ofgestural complexity that it otherwise
lacks in text. This
is particularly true when it comes to
using
the more modern modes
oftechnology-a text message for instance has an emotional flatness
about it that often cannot make the
distinctions between approval
and doubtor praise and sarcasm. This is something that emojis do
rather well by addinga layer of emotion on
top of the otherwise
bare text. Just like a language uses devices that allow for the injection
The Widening Arc . 136
of tonality and intlection that lend a certain oral quality to written
text-the exclamation mark, the use of italics or the act of
underlining
words or phrases, emojis multiply meaning and even act as standalone
signifiers of the kind of emotion that spoken languages and gestures
allow for.

A certain kind of expressiveness, which text otherwise frowns

upon, particularly when it comes to English, becomes possible with
the help of this visual mode of communication. Different
communication forms enable different levels of expressiveness; a
good example is the Hindi film song which allows for the expression
ofemotions in a manner that prose does not. Ina song, it is possible
to say things that would sound impossibly overwrought otherwise.
Emojis like the one that won the award, 'face with tears of joy'
allow for the articulation of a levelofemotional response that text
would have deemed unfit.

Language and its usage evolves all the time. For the longest

time for instance, the length of the average sentence in English has
been reducing. According to one study, it came down from
an

the 19th.
average of 63 words in the 16th century to 22 words by
is 14.3 words, a
One current estimate for sentence length today
the direction that
number will no doubt go down even further, given
to Elliot and Caroll,
technology is taking language According
to.

the Democratic nomination

when William Jennings Bryan accepted
sentence in his speech
for president in 1896, the average length of a
politician speaks in sentences that
was 104 words, whereas today's
are less than 20 words long.

The Widening Arc 137

 with it new ways of
communication brings
Every new form of agiven, and people
ourselves. Thinking
of language as
expressing whereas thinking ofit
variable produces a sense ofloss
using it a s a system, one that
makes language a living
the other way around, the
Thoughtfulness and
the needs ofits
user.
necessarily reflects
beyond the immediate are
instinct for artistic expression that goes
whatever means
that become available.
needs that work through
means it uses. Also

Art is not located in text or

image; these are
else, which may not seenmas
whenever something is lost,
something
unlocked
Newer forms of intelligence get
valuable today, is gained.

when language forms evolve.

developing a more visually
We are in the early stages of
itselfmight not be significant but the
expressive culture; the emoji by
what we want to through
ideait represents is. The prospect ofsaying
exciting new capability
pictures and other visual forms potentially
is an

more non-linear representations

involving an
that could produce
Instead oflocating the new within
altogethernew kind ofreasoning.
it
the framework oftheold and finding wanting,
perhaps it is time to
rework older frameworks. There will
be some loss for sure, but
at the 104 word sentence.
nobody is looking back with nostalgia

Aids to understanding the text

drying up of
language into
different versions
evolved
ofprimordial grunts:The idea here is that before language
primitive men had a crude body language as
the medium of communication. Language

The Widening Arc 138

 delivered humans from this very narrow sign
system. The fear then is that if language falls
into disuse as a result of the picture, the
primitive sounds will eturm with a vengence.

waylaid by muance: To be waylaid is to be accosted or met on the

way. Nuance means shades of meaning.
Nuance is a property of language. The idea is
that picturesor emojis will show things in black
and white and will not be able to communicate
richer layers of meaning

fad :passingfashion
The combination
of a finite and
indeed limited
alphabet that
generales an
infinite number
of options is
what gives text
its potencyy It has been observed of language that its
resources are finite, though the effects that can
be achieved by manipulating these resources
are potentially infinite. It is this which is the

defining quality of language.

taciturn sparing of words or speech, reticent

an auto-erotic
feasting upon the
self, a glazed
sucking of the
cyber-thumb an intense form ofself-love, self-admiration
with a sexual overtone. Thumb sucking is an
example of this self-involvement. The
The Wldening Arc 139
 expression 'a glazed sucking of the cyber-
thumb' conveys a morbid and obsessive self.
love that the digital social media has the power
to produce.

counterpoint the contrary or the opposite viewpoint

standalone standing alone and by itself, sufficient unto
itself
overwrought :too exaggerated, intricate and sculptured
nostalgia looking back at the past with yearning or
longing. There is the allied idea ofa turning
away from the present
Language Exercise
AA. Vocabulary: Give the noun, adjective and verb forms, as the
case may be, of the following words used in the text and use
them in sentences ofyour own.
Incorporation, Decision, Combination, Shrink, Nostalgic
B. Grammar: Read the three sentences from the text given below.
Both use an extra verb (allow' in all three cases) because a
buried verb in the noun that follows it has been overlooked.
Can you find the buried verb in this noun, which is called a
deadwood noun', and rewrite the sentences, using this as the
main verb.
1. Emojis like the one that won the award, 'face with tears ofjoy'
allow for the articulation of a level of emotional response that
text would have deemed unfit.
2. A language uses devices that allow for the injection of tonality
and inflection to written text.
3. A good example is the Hindi film song which allows for the
expression of emotions in a manner that prose does not.
C. Usage: Mark the striking journalistic use ofthe verb 'to eke
out'in the sentence 'Basically, after 5000 years oftechnological

The Widening Arc 140

 progress, we are returning to eking out meaning from
pictograms.' Usually we say 'eking out a living' by which we
mean that the person is barely able to make a
living. Using the
verb 'to eke out' in the context of
meaning underlines the difficulty
of finding meaning. Can you suggest another striking usage of
the verb 'to eke' in relation to food or money?
Text Comprehension Questions
1. Why do you think the Oxford University has chosen a non-
word as its word of the year?
2. Howis an emoji defined by the essayist?
3. Why do people fear that the recognition ofa non-word as
word would be harmful to the word as we know it?
4. What reasons do the critics give to show that the new visual
culture cannot match with language?
5. Can you recount the view ofthe columnist Ben Smithurst
against the emoji?
6. Another critics ofthe emoji, Namita Bhandare, says that it
can never come close to the text. What special attributes or
features do you think she sees in a text that are lacking in the
pictogram?
7. What is the generational element in our love ofor aversion for
the new communication technology?
8. Why do the old timers see this attraction to the digital media
on the part of the young as an addiction?
9. What is the established trend in the evolution of language and
usage?
10. From fewer and fewer words to the picture as word -what
does it tell us about our preferences for style and usage?

Composition Questions
1. Isthe emoji disruptive? Give your views afterreplaying the
pros and cons ofit.

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