Calling All Grammarians . . .

[ellenkushner]

. . . and copyeditors and people generally better at research than your humble svt.

I am revising a press release [for a Boston-area performance of my "Esther: the Feast of Masks" on April 3rd - details to come] and am unclear as to whether to let them use "juxtaposed against" or change it to "juxtaposed with."

Here's the full 'graph, if you're curious:

"The musical drama, written and performed by Ellen Kushner, host of WGBH Radio’s Sound & Spirit, tells the traditional Biblical story of Esther, the Jewish beauty in ancient Persia who hid her identity to become Queen and save her people from slaughter, juxtaposed against the lives of four modern-day characters dealing with their own issues of identity: Rita, a 1950’s housewife, must choose whether to defy her husband; Ida, a schoolteacher, struggles with issues of “passing”; Natalie, an American diplomat in Rwanda, views a mounting tragedy and must make a difficult choice; and Nate, a high school student, must stand up to his homophobic friend."

Comments

[qe2.livejournal.com]

As a once and future (and, come to that, current) copyeditor, I understand the correct usage here to be "juxtaposed with", rather than "juxtaposed against".

Aside from that, I wish I still lived in Boston - I'd come see your production in a hot minute.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Wow - you guys are fast!!

I wish you could come, too . . . sometimes we tour the show, so maybe next year?

Meanwhile, it will air on Sound & Spirit nationally the week of March 20th - or you can listen online at will (via RealPlayer) at

http://www.wgbh.org/pages/pri/spirit/2005index.html#026

[enegim.livejournal.com]

I'd definitely change to "with"; "juxtaposed against" makes no sense at all.

(And I'm in the Boston area, so will look forward to the further details...)

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

Hm. I'm not sure what the proper grammarian response is, but my inclination is that it should be juxtaposed with.

[redbird]

Make that four votes for "juxtaposed with."

There are no rules for what preposition goes with what verb, only idiom. The idiom on this one is "juxtaposed with".

[houseguest-tm.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking "juxtaposed with" too. "Against" just sounds wrong -- or at least, it did until I thought about it a nanosecond too long and "juxtaposed" suddenly lost all its meaning in my brain.

Bet you can tell I'm only joining the chorus so I can show you my new icon, can't you?

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the same thing happened to me. Thank god for LJ! I tried Bartleby.com, but 'twas a hollow sham.

I love your new icon beyond measure. But then, you knew I would.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

I'd go with "juxtaposed with", myself.

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Google gives 300,000 hits for "juxtaposed with" and 200,000 hits for "juxtaposed against." Thus, if usage is queen, both are acceptable, but "with" is preferable.

Many hugs!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Aha! Yes, I checked Google on each, but only to see whether Smart- or Dumb-looking websites used one or the other . . . . nothing so clever (and methodical) as taking a tally. You genius! (And thanks for the hugs, much needed.)

[casacorona.livejournal.com]

I join the majority -- juxtaposed with.

[pnh.livejournal.com]

With, with, with. Those 200,000 people indexed on Google are simply benighted and wroooooooooooong.

[mildmannered.livejournal.com]

I think either is acceptable, "with" is more common, but for the love of all that's holy, please split that paragraph up into two or more sentences. I get winded just looking at it.

With us...or against...

[(Anonymous)]

It seems to me that the use of "with" or "against" with "juxtapose" might be determined by the connotation of the positioning of the parts... Are they "with" or "against" each other?

As "to juxtapose" means "to situate side by side; place together" with the connotation being that of being brought together for some positive, synergistic significance, it seems that "with" is more appropriate -- if you mean "against" then you might choose a different verb such as "arrayed against" or "counterpoised against" or "counterbalanced" or "contrasted by"... in order to convey a sense of antagonism between the parts of your piece.

Interestingly, "grammar" in the traditional, narrow sense, probably allows for both usages; but it is lexicology and semantics that answers your question.

Re: With us...or against...

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

I think you are quite right, and that "with" is definitely what I mean in this context!