In last week's readings we learned about the use of language to construe Arabs as enemies in Bush's speech. While much of the class felt that the arguments the author made didn't hold water, the basic idea is important to address. I've learned about this concept first hand because I both write op-eds and work in the intelligence department for two different non-profits.
Both of my endeavors have heavily involved how to use language to attempt to both prove and reinforce certain points. I've realized that a single word can dramatically change how one's ideas are viewed. For a basic example, liberty and freedom generally mean the same thing, but have entirely different connotations. Experience has shown that "freedom" is a far more polarizing term when used in political discussion. It tends to group someone with conservatism more than any other group. It also has a less positive connotation.
On the other hand, the word "liberty" has a more positive connotation. It tends be less polarizing with audiences. Also, liberals and libertarians are more associated with the term as opposed to conservatives.
One can see this association by looking at websites associated with libertarianism and conservatism. There is a reason that the primary moderate-conservative group is entitled Young Americans for Freedom and the primary libertarian groups are Young Americans for Liberty and Students for Liberty. These examples are a great case in point of how certain groups specifically use language to help portray their political messages.
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Comment by Tallia Deljou:
ReplyDeleteNick, I definitely agree with you that a single word can, in fact, dramatically change how one's ideas are viewed. Whenever I have to confront someone about a problem, for example, I play the conversation in my head multiple times before I talk to the person, changing one or two words here or there to make the argument more aggressive, or more light-hearted, depending on the situation. You have to make sure that when you are trying to convey a certain message, moreover, that you choose the right words for your specific audience. It is obvious that you must keep many things in mind if you want to mean what you say and say what you mean.
I thought the idea that liberty and freedom have two completely different connotations was really interesting since I see the words as being basically interchangeable. I looked them up and I thought it was funny that freedom was defined as "the state of being free or at liberty". Freedom uses liberty to define itself, which seems to suggest that they have the same meaning, but people interpret the words differently. This points out that language may mean very similar things, but it is really important which words you choose to use.
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