The Politics of the English Language

[Vronaqueen]

I love George Orwell, but until recently I had only read his fiction. I stumbled across this essay he wrote condemning atrocities we so often commit with our choice of words. For all of us word junkies, and anyone who's had to suffer through ready academic journals, it's a great read.

[verybaddmom]

sounds really interesting. is it online somewhere? what exactly is it called?
i have an interesting article that outlines exactly how racist our language is. (i thought of that when i read the thread title with Politics in it....) i will try and find and post that one day.

[simon]

Didn't George Orwell advocate that it was language that imprisons people. Meaning that words can be used to steer people off certain topics, like collateral damage. Orwell thought that like in 1984 the words Big Brother would help the citizens avoide thinking of hima s a dictator, or a imperialist force, it allowed them to ignore it. In

In all of his essays leading up to 1984 you can see he explores elements of his ideas about the control language has over the human race. Take for instance Downand Out in Paris and London, there he spends chapter looking at how slang changes and how hte use of words keeps the tramps in a certain position.

[amuse]

oh yes. aren't they saying now that Pat Tillman may have died from friendly fire? how kind.

i need to reread 1984.

[simon]

Who is Pat Tillman?

[verybaddmom]

correct me if im wrong here folks, but i believe he was a famous American althlete (football maybe?) who joined the army and was shot by his own people in Afghanistan.
I really hate thinking about stuff like this; my bf is going to Afghanistan on his next tour (Feb) and i am doing the ostrich head in the sand thing right now and ignoring the reality of it. but you asked. and you shall receive.

[amuse]

*bites foot hard and is sorry to have stuck it in mouth.

[verybaddmom]

no worries darlin, reality bites enough. no need to help it along by taking your foot off. and there is no reason for you to self censor. goodness. please dont ever.

[Chris Marie]

George Orwell is okay but I prefer Aldous Huxley. Huxley's writing is more formal-more like "proper" English. Although I am an American, and don't really know the "Queen"s"
English. Orwell is more "yin" and sort of dark- Huxley is definitely more optomistic. This is just a personal opinion, though, not an "educated" one.

[A Siege]

Orwell's essays are great. This one made me think about the importance of taking notions from the back of one's mind and bringing them into the front of the mind (in order to examine them more closely) by putting them into words. I recommend The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters of George Orwell.

[PoeknowsProse]

I loved this essay. I was actually working on some writing of my own last night when I almost committed one of the very dangers Orwell warns of. I was about to use the phrase, "He had (whatever) under his belt," when I realized I don't even know what that means. It was a great moment of clarity, and just one of many ways Orwell has helped me become a more concise writer and thinker.

[The Atheist]

Yay!

Still getting it right after being dead for half a century.

That's class.