engleski

The language of politics: How it affects social perception

In this B.A. thesis, I concentrate on the topic of linguistic relativity and its importance in the world of politics. If it can be proven that linguistic relativity (which states that language can influence the way we think) is a sound theory, than enough space is provided for the politician, whose primary agenda in the status quo is to acquire power, to bend social perception via language in order to accomplish some end. The modification of social view may prove harmful to the society as it struggles to detect threats to itself through the dampening field of political linguistic modifications. In the opening sections, I attempt to defend the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis from criticism and to provide a list of examples that support it by highlighting conceptual overlappings in language which seem to be bound to our culture. These are followed by an analysis of the language of politics and some of the devices, including euphemisms, political correctness and metaphors, used in attempt to achieve political purposes. Finally, I look into Orwell's fictional language Newspeak, which is used by its markers to achieve complete political consent.

linguistic relativity; language of politics

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