Today  Conclude discussion on Language and power Doublespeak Propaganda  Course evaluations

Language and power  Language can also be used as a tool by those in power (e.g., politicians, media, advertising) to achieve various ends Doublespeak Propaganda

Doublespeak  Language deliberately constructed to disguise or distort actual meaning  4 kinds: Euphemism Jargon Gobbledygook Inflated language

Doublespeak  Euphemism Words used/designed to avoid unpleasantness  Substitutes for taboo words  “dearly departed” (dead) Euphemism only becomes ‘doublespeak’ when used to downplay, distract, or deceive

Euphemism  Politicians ‘economically disadvantaged’ (poor) ‘physical persuasion’ (torture) ‘preemptive counterattack’ (first strike) ‘eliminate w/ extreme prejudice’ (assassinate)  Advertising ‘preowned’ (used) ‘genuine imitation leather’ (fake)

Doublespeak  Jargon Specialized language of a profession or group Becomes doublespeak when it is used to confuse, to make complex, or to impress

Jargon  Politics: Airline lawyers’ use of legal term “involuntary conversion” to refer to fatal crash  Advertising: “Hypo-allergenic, noncomedogenic exfoliating microbeads replenish your skin’s natural peptides and amino acids…”

Doublespeak  Gobbledygook (or ‘bureaucratese’) Overwhelm the audience with words

 Politics “The message is that there are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say there things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don’t know. And each year we discover a few more of those unknown unknowns.” -- Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

Doublespeak  Inflated language Designed to make the ordinary extraordinary  ‘hexiform rotatable surface compression units’ (steel nuts)  Automotive internists (mechanics), administrative assistants (secretaries)

 Watch ‘The Persuaders: Give us what we want’

Propaganda  A means of persuasion, often designed to influence rather than inform  Often presented in a way to evoke a strong emotion

Common techniques of propaganda Argumentum ad nauseam: use of repetition to assert fact/truth “See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.” -- George W. Bush, N.Y., 5/24/ e.g., talking points

Transfer: guilt/glory by association e.g., Bill O’Reilly, associates Paul Krugman (NYTimes columnist) w/ Fidel Castro, compares Media Matters (liberal website) to Ku Klux Klan Bandwagon: “everyone else is doing it” Advertising: “Duracell: Trusted everywhere”; “Sony. Ask anyone.”

False analogy: use of faulty logic to make unfair comparison “Being lectured by the president on fiscal responsibility is a little bit like Tony Soprano talking to me about law and order in this country.” – John Kerry, 10/13/2004 False dilemma: either/or, black/white “Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” – G.W. Bush, 9/20/2001

Beg the question: assuming the point you’re trying to prove “No one is going to question my commitment to the defense of our nation.” -- John Kerry FOX news: “Fair and balanced” Name-calling: negative labeling “The most crooked, lying group I've ever seen.‘” -- John F. Kerry on Republicans Republicans on Kerry: ‘flip-flopper’

Glittering generalities: ‘virtue words’ e.g., Freedom, justice, democracy, honor “You can't put democracy and freedom back into a box.” – G. W. Bush “The world today has a strong democratic core shaped by American ingenuity, sacrifice, and spirit.” – John Kerry Plain Folks appeal: ‘I’m just like you’ “This president has created an economy that feeds the special interests, the powerful and the corporate power, and he has not helped the average American worker advance their cause. I will.” – John Kerry

 Language is a powerful tool that can be used … …to communicate or confuse …to inform or deceive …to highlight or downplay …to include or alienate …to persuade or deter