It seems to me that there are at least 2 reasons for choosing difficult
language--(1) As Donne does in "The Flea" to use wit to break down
barriers that so-called ordinary language imposes; (2) as Pier della
Vigne does ("quoted" by Dante) in the Inferno to obfuscate so as to
ameliorate one's paltry condition.
Now some theorists (as artists) have the (in my political/religious
opinion) valid motive to communicate a difficult truth (whether they
succeed or not), while others (peering at art through la jalousie) seek to
displace the clarity and terror and wonder of great art with a preciosity
that's self-referential at best. After all, it takes a lot of time to learn
the current vocabulary, so it seems a shame not to use the langue du
jour to impress journal editors and mystify undergraduates.
--Steven Hale
"That's all right by me, don't think that I'm complaining. After all,
it's only leisure time isn't it?" Robert Wyatt, from Moon in June