Alienable and Inalienable Language

The linguistic theory of alienable versus inalienable language features heavily within Float, despite it being mentioned explicitly only in the chapbook "Possessive Used as Drink (Me)." This theory dictates that à propos pronouns, there are only two types: alienable pronouns, which can easily be severed from a specific subject, and inalienable pronouns, which are tied forever to one specific person, place, or thing. Though "Possessive Used as Drink (Me)" broadly meditates on the distinction between alienable and inalienable language by connecting the linguistic theory to the question of naming — how one classifies kinship relations between men and women, men and animals, persons and their environment — the theme more broadly spans Float due to its relationship to Carson's methodology regarding interpretive multiplicity; after all, Carson is interested in untethering signifiers from their signification, much in the same way that alienable language is interested in severing...