Passages on Language and Etymology

[Russell Nash]

There is a very good book by Jack Vance, "The Languages of Pao". I read it years ago, but it is a good example of manipulating language to influence people.

[This novel centers on an fictional experiment in modeling a civilization by tweaking its language. As the masterbrain behind this experiment, Lord Palafor, says in chapter 9: "We must alter the mental framework of the Paonese people, which is most easily achieved by altering the language." His son, Finisterle, says in chapter 11 to a class of linguists in training: "every language impresses a certain world-view upon the mind."] (from Wikipedia)

[Odalisque]

Quote Originally Posted by Russell Nash

There is a very good book by Jack Vance, "The Languages of Pao". I read it years ago, but it is a good example of manipulating language to influence people. [This novel centers on an fictional experiment in modeling a civilization by tweaking its language. As the masterbrain behind this experiment, Lord Palafor, says in chapter 9: "We must alter the mental framework of the Paonese people, which is most easily achieved by altering the language." His son, Finisterle, says in chapter 11 to a class of linguists in training: "every language impresses a certain world-view upon the mind."] (from Wikipedia)

This has something in common with Newspeak in George Orwell's 1984, a novel depicting a doubleplusungood future.

[Russell Nash]

And, I forgot to mention, Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, by Borges.

[...a massive conspiracy of intellectuals to imagine (and thereby create) a world.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlön,_Uqbar,_Orbis_Tertius

[bendk]

Years ago, I read an interesting book on how language was tranformed under the tyranny in Argentina. The book is: A Lexicon of Terror by Marguerite Feitlowitz. "The Gentleman of the Coup" were more interesting than your usual political thugs. They were highly educated. Massera had a degree in philology, I believe. The implied threats in some of his speeches are chilling. He would say that the new regime would not tolerate "the enemies of life." What the hell does that mean?

The aim of the Process is the profound transformation of consciousness.
--General Jorge Rafael Videla, 1976

We know that in order to repair so much damage we must recover the meanings of many embezzled words....
--Admiral Emilio Massera, 1976

Unfaithful to their meanings, words perturb our powers of reason.
-- Admiral Emilio Massera

http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/f...tz-terror.html

[Russell Nash]

Discurso de Jorge R. Videla - 25 de Mayo de 1976.

This a speech by Videla, in Spanish, dated May, 25, 1976, and I cannot find any "embellished" words on it. The only passage I could bring into attention is: "...it didn't do anyhting but to face each other in sterile antinomies and confuse ourselves deeply, to the point that today we don't know where is the good and where is the evil." The rest is simply rubbish.

You forgot to mention, Galtieri, who one day was rejected by hundreds of thousands of people, and two days after cheered but hundreds of thousands of people . By his speeches, he let us believe that Argentina could have a chance defeating England (mainly with 18 year old kids). Just imagine.... defeat England. Anybody in his right mind can believe that?

Many Nazis, protected by Perón, escaped to Argentina. And I read that Hitler wrote his speeches emulating male ejaculation. Therefore, it is not strange that Eva Perón, and Perón himself, used the same technique, on their speeches. And subsequently all those neo-Nazis like Videla and Massera. I had the sad opportunity to listen to Massera, 10-12 years ago, and it wasn't the talk of someone normal, but of a madman. The man could not even have a decent conversation.

The Process, 1976-1983, coined three new words.
1. "Desaparecido" (disappeared). People that are neither dead nor alive, but non existent. People abducted by the militia and the police, sent to torture centres and never seen after.
2. "Subversivo" (subversive). Everyone who disagrees with Videla, Massera, and the rest of them. Subversive people were also enemies of the country. Hector Alterio, the famous actor, Mercedes Sosa, famous singer, and Esquivel, human rights defender, left Argentina overnight by being under this second category.
3. "Las locas de Plaza de Mayo" (an expresion, the madwomen of Plaza de Mayo). The mothers and grandmothers of all those people that fall under the first category.

One more thing, even Nietzsche was banned under these bunch of neo-Nazis. By banning Nietzsche, I could affirm without a doubt that there was nothing intellectual behind the speeches of this madmen.

[Russell Nash]

You also can find the same kind of embellished speeches with Hugo Chavez (Venezuela) and Fidel Castro (Cuba). And with George W. Bush. It is widely known that the United States to prevent another Cuba in South and Central America supported with taxpayer money these dictators. The same country that 25 years later defends democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq. Strange, isn't it?

[bendk]

Interesting Alberto, thanks. I don't doubt for a second that Massera was mad. Ideology, especially in an echo chamber of like-minded people, warps minds. We have the same problem in the USA with Evangelical Christians and Right Wing wackos. And, in all fairness, the Left has its share of people with strange ideas.

I didn't know that the regime banned Nietzsche. The Nazi's did it another way- they just twisted everything he had to say out of context. It took years to rehabilitate his work after they got through with it. By the 1970s, it was probably too late make him a fascist again.

Oratory, unfortunately, plays a bigger role in politics than it should. Hitler and Mussolini knew this very well. I remember reading in Mein Kampf that Hitler admired the "artificial twilight" of the Catholic Church, because that environment makes one tired and more susceptible to suggestion. Hitler always preferred to give his speeches in the evening when people were worn out.

The USA is guilty of numerous crimes in Central America. Of course, most US citizens are unaware of it. Our government wants elections as long as people don't vote for communists. Capital has invested an untold amount of money demonizing the word "communist". They have wised up and now the new catch all word is "terrorist". I also like the word they use for people who defend their country from invasion - "Insurgents". George Orwell, Noam Chomsky, and Gore Vidal should be taught in high school.

[Russell Nash]

Pasolini's films were also banned. The little Prince, by Exupery. El eternaura, sci-fi comic, by Oesterheld, who is fact is one of 30,000 "desparecidos".

El Eternauta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

El_Eternauta

(English)


Another disappeared writer was Rodolfo Walsh, who wrote the day before to being abducted: "Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta".
There is a long list here, but not all,

Memoria y Dictadura - Libros prohibidos

You can see Erich Fromm among them.

But wasn't Kubrick's film also somehow banned in England?