Newspeak
End of Newspeak was not only to provide a means of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the followers of Ingsoc, but also to make impossible any other form of thought. It was understood that, once the Newspeak had been finally adopted, and Archelingua, however, forgotten, a heretical thought (a thought that is contrary to the principles of Ingsoc) would have been literally unthinkable, at least in thought depends on the words that are likely to be expressed. Her vocabulary was made up in order to provide accurate and often very subtle expression to every meaning that a Party member could ask for properly understand. But excluded, while all other possible meanings, as well as the possibility of arriving by indirect methods. This was achieved partly by the invention of new words, but above all by the removal of unwanted items and the elimination of those unorthodox meanings that could be stayed and, as far as possible, the meanings in any way secondary. We will give one example. The word free still existed in Newspeak, but could only be used in phrases like "This dog is free from fleas" or "This field is free of weeds." But he could not be used in the ancient meaning of "politically free" or "intellectually free "since political and intellectual freedom no longer existed, even as a concept, and it was therefore necessary, without a word to express it. But apart from the deletion of the words were clearly a heretic, reduction of vocabulary was viewed as an end in itself, and no word of which could be done unless there was further tolerated. Newspeak was designed not to extend but to diminish the possibilities of thought, it was precisely to meet this end, indirectly, minimized with the choice of words.
[...] All ambiguities and shades of meaning had been completely removed.
[...] How We have already seen in the case of the word free, words which once had a heretical meaning were maintained even at times because of convenience, but the meaning was as unfavorable purged. Countless other words such as honor, justice, morality, internationalism, democracy, science and religion had simply ceased to exist altogether. A few words served to cover them, and cover the abolished. All the words that were grouped around the concepts of freedom and inequality, for instance, were contained in the simple word psicoreato, while all the words that were grouped around the concepts of objectivity and rationalism were contained in the only words archepensare.
[...] In Newspeak it was rarely possible to follow a heretical thought beyond the mere perception, precisely because it was heretical: beyond that point, the words that were needed did not exist.
[...] The Newspeak, indeed, was distinct from most other languages \u200b\u200bby the fact that its vocabulary grew daily thinner instead of becoming more often. Any reduction represented a breakthrough because it was the smallest field of choice was more limited and the temptation to let your thoughts wander. It was hoped, eventually, to make articulate speech in the larynx itself, that should not call into question the centers of the brain.
[...] A person raised in Newspeak as his sole language would never know that equal had once also the secondary meaning of "politically equal" and that the word had been free to "intellectually free", just like a person who does not know all the technique of chess can not be a part of the secondary meanings of words or queen tower. Many crimes and errors would have been beyond the capability of being committed only by the fact that they had a name and either were not conceivable. It would also have predicted that, over time, the distinguishing characteristics of Newspeak would be more pronounced, his words would have fallen increasingly, their meanings were becoming more rigid, and the possibility of using them to blunder would have been reduced to a minimum.
Archelingua The day that had been replaced once and for all by Newspeak, he would have broken the last link with the past. [...] This meant, in practice, that no book written before 1960 very nearly could have been translated in full. This project was clearly admitted in the Newspeak word ocolingo, meaning "to speak like a goose" ...
[...] that we will be reaching the end, we will make the crime of thought, or the psicoreato, entirely impossible because there will be no words to express it.
George Orwell, 1984, Mondadori
George Orwell (pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, Motihari, June 25, 1903 - London, 21 January 1950) was a writer, journalist and British glottoteta . Known as a political columnist and cultural ... http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Notes
imagined by Orwell Newspeak was imposed by the party / power by force and the people suited us to keep up with their own language, out of fear. But distort and impoverish the language to distort reality and limit freedom, are forms of control that can be pursued in a less bloody and more subtle than that described in 1984. The media, particularly TV and print, there will continue giving examples. In the case of TV (Italian), just watch a broadcast of the '70s, politics for example, and compare it to today, the difference, as regards the language, is impressive. We are witnessing a drastic and dramatic, sometimes comic, reduction of vocabulary. As for printing, some wonder more if a journalist headlines an article about a car accident: "Asphalt killer"? Is it not a reversal of meaning, and then of reality? The language, not only verbal but also and even more than the body, is routinely mutilated and disfigured in what are the main information channels of the country, where information is not intended for information providers but also for education, including language . This carnage language is plain to all and not arouse any reaction which would give rise to indignation or pyres of books in the streets, the means are more tricky but the purpose is the same and Orwell's warning is therefore, unfortunately, more valid than ever. "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world," wrote Ludwig Wittgenstein and our every day is a bit 'more limited.
The desert of the real by Stefano Berardi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Italy License .
Permissions beyond the scope of this license May be available at http://uomoinmutande.blogspot.com/ .
