Language as a Political Instrument - Essay Example

Language as a Political Instrument While the use of language has been in existence since time immemorial, people normally convey various messages using selective language, with some qualifying for political language. Certainly, language can play a pivotal role in relaying political messages especially in situations and environments where the impending messages may spark strong reactions (Orwell 6). More often than not, euphemism has been at the center stage of driving political messages whereby one uses a language that appears to be more controversial or less serious to disguise the reality of the situation. In this regard, it is important to note that language the manner in which people use language determines the positivity or negativity of the language especially when it comes to political statements (Orwell 8). Similarly, in James Baldwin’s essay, “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” Baldwin claims that Black English result from political alienation. He frequently compares and contrasts Black English from the ‘right’ English (Baldwin 652).This paper explores the various styles and views of political language by two authors, clearly giving similarities and differences in arguments about the use of language as a political instrument. While some political acts appear so gruesome to be put in plain language, most people who make political statements tend to employ euphemism in their speeches in order to negate the veracity or intensity of the situation they are trying to explain. In this regard, James Baldwin claims that Black English result from political alienation essay in the essay If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is? (Baldwin 652). Although language has been the means of communication for humanity since time immemorial, it is important to note that the same has been widely misused in the issuance of political statements, some of which have sparked controversies among different groups of people (Baldwin 652). In this regard, the use of language as a political instrument has heavily employed euphemism mostly to cover up political injustices or just in the deliverance of conflicting or contentious political speeches. Owing to the fact that in most cases, the language a person uses defines who they are, people have the tendency of evolving the language they use in order to evade being submerged in situations that they are not in a position to articulate (Baldwin 653). This is especially so because different people speaking the same language can have different connotations for the same language based on their background and geographical location. Although everyone uses language in order to control and articulate various realities in life, it is worthy to note that language can sometimes transform into a political tool owing to its ability to bring out the identities of various persons and communities. This is especially true when it comes to the French and Britons who have heavy accents and various political undertones attached to their language and therefore identifying a foreigner in such countries is quite an easy task (Baldwin 654). According to Orwell, most people who use political speech do so in defense of various ugly scenarios, although this often backfires in the end (5). In order for a political language to be effective in its context, euphemism and vagueness need to be injected through various language articulations. A classic example of cases where political languages have used euphemism are the ‘continuance of British rule in India’ and the ‘the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan’. These statements appear less critical in their current context though the situation on the ground at the time of the two major events was quite astonishing, at least according to history books. In essence, the language used by the political class in describing past or present events normally portray a major understatement for example a country that has experienced senseless killings and massive deportations under colonial powers is simply brainwashed by a political phrase such as the ‘the consequences of the political rule’ (Orwell 7). In real sense, it is possible to verify that the so-called colonial power violated human rights on a massive scale at the time of colonialism despite the fact that the same powers are the contemporary champions of human rights (Orwell 6). In the spirit of embracing diversity in America, Baldwin notes with great concern that the black people created a language that sometimes may sound offensive to various groups of individuals, depending on which side one looks at it (652). On the other side, it is worth stating that the emergence of the black language had much more benefits than its shortcomings in the sense that it expanded the language of political expression among the Americans. Indeed, most of the blacks came to America in chains as slaves and the necessity to communicate led to the formation of the black language owing to their distinct tribal affiliations (Baldwin 653). More often than not, the black Americans were perceives as aliens by the whites and this instead led to the wide spread of the Black English, which eventually the whites also adopted. On the other hand, Orwell explains that when it comes to political undertones, major states especially those powers that try to cover up the heinous crimes committed by their past regimes use a blurring language that minimizes the intensity of the actions. This is especially so as far as racial and regional discriminations are concerned (8). Apparently, the usage of dying metaphors, pretentious dictions, and meaningless words, the political class has been able to cover their way around the truth especially in explaining difficult circumstances (Orwell 5). For instance, a political speech may contain a dying metaphor such as ‘fishing in troubled waters’ to connote a situation whereby parties are treading dangerous grounds. While some of these phrases may imply some truths, it is obvious that most of them do not make real sense of the situation on the ground but instead they fulfill their political intentions (Orwell 6). Furthermore, such pretentious diction as historic, elimination, phenomenon, and age-old can serve the purpose of streamlining international politics although in reality they tend to hide a number of misdemeanors. Lastly but more importantly, a political speech may contain such words as values, sentimental, vitality, and natural in order to conceal an apparently irritating political conduct. By including such meaningless words in political statements, the message normally comes out as distorted to many audiences depending on the level of their emotiveness (Orwell 8). While the two authors draw a number of similarities in their perspectives and approach to the politics of language, it is understood that there are notable differences in their claims. While one focuses on language as an instrument of perpetuating racism, the other concentrates on the use of language in other wide aspects that are global for example in covering the intensity of misdemeanors in certain political situations like wars (Baldwin 653). Principally, they both allude to the fact that political language is so rife because it tends to conceal certain misdemeanors especially on the part of authorities and statutory bodies. In this case, language can be used as a tool for driving political agenda and conveying controversial political issues. Nevertheless, while George Orwell gives a general suggestion of the use of language as a political instrument, James Baldwin on the other hand focuses on the Black English that resulted from political alienation to become famous even to those who initially loathed it. Works Cited Baldwin, James. ‘If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” Fields of Reading: Motives for Writing. Ed. Nancy, R. Comley, David Hamilton, Carl, H. Klaus, Robert Scholars, Nancy Sommers, and Jason Tougaw. Ninth Edition. Boston.: Bedford/ST. Martin. 2012. 109-113. Print. Orwell, George. Politics and the English Language. 2005–2006 Stanford MLA Application Critical Writing Piece. 1-9. Print. Read More