Glossary

From 'gloss'.

A 'gloss' is a shine. Think of paint.  To paint something ‘gloss’ is to put a shine on it.  And, in certain lights 'glossy' paint is all reflection and no substance. Sometimes, all you see is your own reflection.  Let this be a warning for the ‘gloss’ of words, for in English the term does not just describe a type of surface, but an ‘explanation’ of a word. 

Hence: ‘Glossary’ = ‘glossy’(a shiny surface) on 'art (as) research' - 'ar'.   Or ‘R’ for ‘Research’ – following Ian Gregory’s distinction between ‘research’ and ‘Research’.*  In which case, we have 'GlossaRy'.

So: beware explanation - which etymologically, is to make something 'flat' - into a (shiny) surface.

* Gregory makes a distinction between 'research' with a small 'r' and Research with a big 'R' to designate everyday finding out and enquiry conducted in 'a more serious and self-reflective manner' respectively.

See: Ian Gregory Ethics in Research (Continuum, 2003).

Here is a working definition of 'glossary'.

back to glossary of terms

PhD thesis:
The artist as a multifarious agent: an artist's theory of the origin of meaning

journal papers, book articles, edited books, editorial roles, and conference papers

see also 'What is an artist's writing? (In research)'