George Orwell and the politics of language

Below is a brief look into the politics of language:

The main thing I took away from the HCJ lecture on language was thus: if you can control language, you can manipulate reality. Language is the way in which we express and determine facts, and so if you can control it you control what people believe is true - ultimately the way in which they live.

George Orwell writes about the idea of 'thought crime' in his celebrated novel '1984'. This is the idea that the state can even control your mind and the way you think. Orwell has been championed by many as the best journalist in the English language. He was politically left-minded but anti-Communist.

He created the phrase "Doublethink" - believing that two contradictory statements are true and therefore controlling thought. His most famous phrase was “Newspeak” and referred to the way in which thought was controlled through the use of language.

Orwell took this concept from Totalitarianism and was horrified at the use of propaganda – controlling language through censorship and complete media control.

The use of euphemisms in language became incredibly important with linguistic reform and the introduction of politically correct language and metaphorical speech. Orwell heavily influenced this reformed language and examples of this include “War is Peace” and referring to nuclear weapons as “the Deterrent”.

In modern day almost all advertising is Orwellian – we constantly speak in metaphors, similes and euphemisms.

From the lecture I learnt that in a journalist’s world there are four things you must never do with language:

1. never use a cliché

2. never use a long word when a short one is adequate

3. never use the passive form when you can use the active