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Beyond Nineteen Eighty-Four: Doublespeak in a Post-Orwellian Age

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Beyond Nineteen Eighty-Four: Doublespeak in a Post-Orwellian Age DOCUMENT RESUME ED 311 451 CS 212 095 AUTHOR Lutz, William, Ed. TITLE Beyond Nineteen Eighty-Four: Doublespeak in a Post-Orwellian Age. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, Ill. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-0285-9 PUB DATE 89 NOTE 222p. AVAILABLE FROMNational Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, IL 61801 (Stock No. 02859-3020; $12.95 member, $15.95 nonmember). PUB TYPE Books (010) -- Collected Works - General (020) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Deception; English; Language Role; *Language Usage; Linguistics; *Persuasive Discourse; *Propaganda IDENTIFIERS *Doublespeak; Jargon; Orwell (George) ABSTRACT This book probes the efforts at manipulation individuals face daily in this information age and the tactics of persuaders from many sectors of society using various forms of Orwellian "doublespeak." The book contains the following essays: (1) "Notes toward a Definition of Doublespeak" (William Lutz); (2) "Truisms Are True: Orwell's View of Language" (Walker Gibson); (3) "Mr. Orwell, Mr. Schlesinger, and the Language" (Hugh Rank); (4) "What Dc We Know?" (Charles Weingartner); (5) "The Dangers of Singlespeak" (Edward M. White); (6) "The Fallacies of Doublespeak" (Dennis Rohatyn); (7) "Doublespeak and Ethics" (George R. Bramer); (8) "Post-Orwellian Refinements of Doublethink: Will the Real Big Brother Please Stand Up?" (Donald Lazere); (9) "Worldthink" (Richard Ohmann); (10) "'Bullets Hurt, Corpses Stink': George Orwell and the Language of Warfare" (Harry Brent); (11) "Political Language: The Art of Saying Nothing" (Dan F. Hahn); (12) "Fiddle-Faddle, Flapdoodle, and Balderdash: Some Thoughts about Jargon" (Frank J. D'Angelo); (13) "How to Read an Ad: Learning to Read between the Lies" (D. G. Kehl); (14) "Subliminal Chainings: Metonymical Doublespeak in Advertising" (Don L. F. Nilsen); (15) "Doublespeak and the Polemics of Technology" (Scott Buechler); (16) "Make Money, Not Sense: Keep Academia Green" (Julia Penelope); (17) "Sensationspeak in America" (Roy F. Fox); and (18) "The Pop Grammarians--Good Intentions, Silly Ideas, and Doublespeak" (Charles Suhor). Three appendixes are attached: "The George Orwell Awards," "The Doublespeak Award," and "The Quarterly Review of Doublespeak." (MS) *********************************************************************** * Reproduct:Lons supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made r: from the original document. ****************************************************************ft****** Beyond Nineteen Eighty-Four 3 Beyond Nineteen Eighty-Four Doublespeak in a Post-Orwellian Age Edited by William Lutz Rutgers University National Council of Teachers of English 1111 Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801 4 NCTE Editorial Board. Donald R. Gallo, Richard Lloyd-Jones, Ray mond Rodrigues, Dorothy S. Strickland, Brooke Workman, Chat les Suhot, ex of- ficio; Michael Spooner, ex officio Staff Editors: Mary Daniels, David A. Hamburg Cover Design: Michael J. Getz Interior Book Design: Tom Kovacs for TGK Design NCTE Stock Number 02859-3020 © 1989 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and °the' publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particu- lar point of vim does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announce- ments of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Beyond nineteen eighty-four. doublespeak in a post-Onvellian age / edited by William D. Lutz. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8141-0285-9 1. English languageErrors of usage.2. English language Jargon.3. English languagePolitical aspects.-1. Comn 'mnication Political aspects.5. CommunicationMoral and ethical aspects. 6. Orwell, George, 1903-1950KnowledgeLanguage and languages. I. Lutz, William.II. National Council of Teachers of English. III. Title: Doublespeak in a post-Orwellian age. PE1460.B481989 428--dc20 89-12707 CIP 5 Ir Contents Ackncwledgmenls vii Resolutions ix Introduction xi 1.Notes toward a Definition of Doublespeak William Lutz 2.Truisms Are True: Orweifs View of Language 11 Walker Gibson 3.Mr. Orwell, Mr. Schlesinger, and the Language 17 Hugh Rank 4.What Do We Know? 29 Charles Weingartner 5. The Dangers of Singlespeak 47 Edward M. White 6. The Fallacies of Doublespeak 55 Dennis Rohatyn 7.Doublespeak and Ethics 65 George R. Bvamer 8.Post-Orwellian Refinements of Doublethink: Will the Real Big Brother Please Stand Up? 75 Donald Lazere 9.Worldthink 87 Richard Ohmann 10."Bullets Hurt, Corpses Stink": George Orwell and the Language of Warfare 99 Harry Brent 11.Political Language: The An of Saying Nothing 111 Dan F. Hahn vi Beyond Nineteen Eighty-Four 12. Fiddle-Riddle, Flapdoodle, and Balderdash: Some Thoughts about Jargon 121 Frank J. D'Angelo 13. How to Read an Ad: Learning to Read between the Lies 133 D. G. Kehl 14. Subliminal Chainings: Metonymical Doublespeak in Advertising 147 Don L. F. Nilsen 15. Doublespeak and the Polemics of Technology 153 Scott Buechler 16. Make Money, Not Sense: Keep Academia Green 165 Julia Penelope 17. Sensationspeak in America 179 Roy F. Fox 18.The Pop GrammariansGood Intentions, Silly Ideas, and Doublespeak 189 Charles Suhor Appendix A: The George Orwell Awards 197 Appendix B: The Doublespeak Awards 199 Appendix C: The Quarterly Review of Doublespeak 207 Bibliography 209 Editor 215 Contributors 217 Acknowledgments I gratefully acknowledge the support of the Rutgers University Re- search Council for grants which helped in the preparation of this book. I would also like to thank Barbara Murphy and Jennifer Elmer for assisting in the preparation of the manuscript. Their ef- forts often went beyond the call of duty in tracking down informa- tion and figuring out my cryptic notes and instructions. Special thanks is also due Mary Daniels for her extraordinary work in edit- ing this manuscript. , vii Resolutions Passed by the National Council of Teachers of English at the Sixty-First Annual Meeting, 1971 On Dishonest and Inhumane Uses of Language Background: As teachers of English we stress the need for clarity, directness, and honesty in the use of language. We also try to trans- mit and evolve a tradition of humane culture, of which literature forms a part. Meanwhile, there is another system of education in language and literaturethe media and the commercial interests that control them. In this system, too, language is not always used lucidly and honestly, but it is used with great power. The Council on Economic Priorities recently showed, for instance, that many large col pora- tions are trying to capitalize on public concern about the ens iron- ment by advertising campaigns that are at best misleading, at worst dangerously false. Similarly, a lyric poem (a literary form) is being used with musical accompaniment to suggest that the problem of air pollution had best be left to the corporations. And in other areas of advertising, language and literature have many uses nut within our traditional definition of the humanities. It would be proper for our organization to take an active hue' est in these matters. Be it therefore RESOLVED, That the National Council of Teachers of English find means to study dishonest and inhumane uses of language and liter- ature by advertisers, to bm Mg offenses to public attention, and to propose classroom techniques for preparing children to cope with commercial propaganda. On the Relation of Language and Public Policy Background: Most English teachers accept Orwell's point, in "Pol- itics and the English Language," that language is often used as an in- strument of social control. At best it is not a "neutral" medium, but reflects and implements the interests of its users. Fom this reason, the ix 9 x Beyond Nineteen Eighty-Four way language is used by those with political poet is a induct of con- cern to all of us. During the past ten years we have seen public officials in our country use words like "pacification," "free-fire zones," "protective reaction," "incursion," "free elections," "aggression," "defense," and "systems" to mediate and sell a war to the American public. Al- though teachers of English do not make national policy, we should do what we can to free public language and thought from manipula- tion by the powerful. Be it therefore RESOLVED, That the National Council of Teachers of English find means to study the relation of language to public policy, to keep track of, publicize, and combat semantic distortion by public officials, candidates for office, political commentators, and all those who transmit through the mass media. 1.0 Introduction In 1971, members attending the 61st annual meeting of the Na- tional Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) passed two resolu- tions dealing with language, the rust dealing with the dishonest and inhumane uses of language and the second with the relation of lan- guage to public policy. The members of NCTE passed these resolu- tions because of mounting concept mei the manipulation of lan- guage by the government and the military in reporting and discussing the Vietnam war. The Watergate conspiracy had not yet occurred, but its disco% cry would late' rev cal even gr eater language manipulation by government officials, and indirectly confirm tha the concern for the misuse of public language expi essed in these two resolutions was certainly justified. In 1972, NCTE established the Committee on Public Doublespeak and charged the committee with the rather awesome task of combat- ing the advertisers, the politicians, and the major manipu:ators of public language in our society. In announcing the formation of the committee, Robert Hogan, NCTE's Executive Secretary at that time, said that It isn't that the interests of NCTE in the mechanics and the structure of language, as well as its history, are diminishing at all. Behind the appointment of the committee is a resurgent in- terest in the content of language.
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