Automoderated users, edit
156
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 2:
Line 2: + + + +
Quote
Its purpose is to suppress thought by severely curtailing both the conceptual vocabulary and permissible grammatical structures of Oldspeak. As Orwell describes in the Appendix: "....a thought diverging from the principles of Ingsoc should be literally unthinkable, at least insofar as thought is dependent on words." <ref>p. 312, 1984 - George Orwell, Penguin, 1984</ref>
Its purpose is to suppress thought by severely curtailing both the conceptual vocabulary and permissible grammatical structures of Oldspeak. As Orwell describes in the Appendix: "....a thought diverging from the principles of Ingsoc should be literally unthinkable, at least insofar as thought is dependent on words." <ref>p. 312, 1984 - George Orwell, Penguin, 1984</ref>
Douglas Kellner writes:
:In 1984, "Newspeak" is the new [[totalitarian]] language which replaces "Oldspeak" (English as we know it). The aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought so that an individual could not even think critical or [[subversion|subversive]] thoughts. Potentially critical terms like "freedom" are formally defined into their conceptual opposites ("[[freedom]] is [[slavery]]"), or are simply eliminated from the [[dictionary]] and everyday [[language]]. In this manner, critical language would wither away as the number of words which allow differentiation and critique was increasingly reduced. <ref>http://www.uta.edu/huma/illuminations/kell13a.htm</ref>
It is a terrifying notion, not least for its plausibility and the games we see played with words and meanings by those in power today.
It is a terrifying notion, not least for its plausibility and the games we see played with words and meanings by those in power today.