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MASARYK UNIVERSITY Doublespeak in Televised Political MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN STUDIES Mgr. Pavel Reich Doublespeak in Televised Political Debates Ph.D. dissertation Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Naděžda Kudrnáčová, CSc. 2013 I hereby declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor doc. PhDr. Naděžda Kudrnáčová, CSc. for her guidance, encouragement, motivation during my dissertation writing, valuable advice, and helpful suggestions that she gave me. I am also grateful to prof. PhDr. Ludmila Urbanová, CSc. for her interest in my work and kind advice. Furthermore, I am indebted to Cathy Niestroj, M.A. for her invaluable help, comments, and for proofreading this work. Finally, I would like to express my special thanks to my family and friends for their help, support, and patience. Contents List of Graphs .................................................................................................................. 1 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 2 1.1 Definitions of Doublespeak .................................................................................... 3 1.2 Historical Overview ................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Aims of the Analysis ............................................................................................... 5 1.4 Object of the Analysis ............................................................................................. 7 2 LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT .......................................................................... 12 2.1 George Orwell ....................................................................................................... 14 2.1.1 Politics and the English Language .................................................................. 14 2.1.2 Nineteen Eighty-Four ..................................................................................... 16 2.1.3 Orwellian Linguistics ...................................................................................... 19 3 LANGUAGE AS A MEANS OF THOUGHT CONTROL .............................. 23 3.1 Doublespeak .......................................................................................................... 23 3.1.1 Basic Division by Lutz ................................................................................... 23 3.1.2 Manipulation of Communication According to Rank and Hahn .................... 24 3.1.3 Political Jargon ............................................................................................... 27 3.2 Loaded Language and Control through Language ........................................... 29 3.2.1 Loaded Vocabulary ......................................................................................... 30 3.2.2 Loaded Syntax ................................................................................................ 31 3.2.3 Code Switching ............................................................................................... 32 3.3 Division of Doublespeak ....................................................................................... 33 4 LEXICAL DOUBLESPEAK ............................................................................... 36 4.1 Kinds of Lexical Meaning .................................................................................... 36 4.2 Expressivity, Evaluation, and Evaluativeness .................................................... 39 4.3 Types of Meaning in Relation to Doublespeak ................................................... 41 4.4 Hidden Bias ........................................................................................................... 44 4.4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 44 4.4.2 Hidden Bias in the Debates ............................................................................. 46 4.4.2.1 Success in Iraq ........................................................................................ 48 4.4.2.2 Staying or Withdrawing from Iraq .......................................................... 55 4.4.2.3 Enemies ................................................................................................... 66 4.4.2.4 Foreign Policy ......................................................................................... 70 4.4.2.5 Direction of Politics ................................................................................ 76 4.4.2.6 Patriotism ................................................................................................ 85 4.4.2.7 Co-workers and Candidates‘ Background .............................................. 88 4.4.2.8 Security ................................................................................................... 95 4.4.2.9 Social, Health and Education Policy ....................................................... 99 4.4.2.10 American Economy .............................................................................. 105 4.4.2.11 Resistance to Interest Groups ............................................................... 107 4.4.2.12 Environment .......................................................................................... 109 4.4.2.13 Abortion and Other Controversial Issues .............................................. 112 4.4.3 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 115 4.5 Purr and Snarl Words ........................................................................................ 117 4.5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 117 4.5.2 Purr and Snarl Words as Extreme Cases of Hidden Bias ............................. 119 4.5.3 Purr and Snarl Words in the Debates ............................................................ 121 4.5.3.1 Primary Purr Words .............................................................................. 121 4.5.3.2 Secondary Purr Words .......................................................................... 131 4.5.3.3 Family Relations Words ....................................................................... 146 4.5.3.4 Snarl Words .......................................................................................... 155 4.5.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 160 4.6 Euphemism .......................................................................................................... 163 4.6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 163 4.6.2 Euphemism as a Form of Doublespeak ........................................................ 166 4.6.3 Hidden Bias and Purr Words as Basic Components of Euphemism ............ 168 4.6.4 Euphemisms in the Presidential Debates ...................................................... 169 4.6.4.1 Euphemisms Used in More than One Period ........................................ 171 4.6.4.2 Euphemisms Used Only in 2000 .......................................................... 190 4.6.4.3 Euphemisms Used Only in 2004 .......................................................... 194 4.6.4.4 Euphemisms Used Only in 2008 .......................................................... 198 4.6.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 203 5 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................. 206 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 218 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 220 List of Graphs Graph 1: Hidden Bias ..................................................................................................... 47 Graph 2: Hidden Bias Related to Other Topics than Iraq ............................................. 116 Graph 3: Hidden Bias Related to Iraq ........................................................................... 116 Graph 4: Primary Purr Words ....................................................................................... 122 Graph 5: Secondary Purr Words ................................................................................... 133 Graph 6: Family Relations Words ................................................................................ 148 Graph 7: Snarl Words ................................................................................................... 156 Graph 8: Euphemisms ................................................................................................... 171 Graph 9: Methods of Creating Euphemisms Used by Republicans .............................. 204 Graph 10: Methods of Creating Euphemisms Used by Democrats .............................. 204 Graph 11: Lexical Doublespeak ................................................................................... 213 1 1 Introduction The fact that there is some relation between language and political thought and that the language politicians use can up to a certain degree influence people‘s political
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