The Power of Language

What interested me most about some of the ideas at IATEFL conferences was the strong reaction they arouse in many of the readers. Why should people feel so strongly about what is, after all, a perfectly natural process? Why do people get so upset at the fact that prepositions, for example, are not as predictable as some course-books and reference sources would lay us to believe? I suspect that part of the answer lies in most people’s strong reluctance to change. But part of the answer also lies in the close link between the control of language and the wielding of power. When people start to lose control over language, they begin to feel that they are in some way losing the power. This may seem a fanciful notion. But let us examine the idea more closely.

Malcolm X. at the inception of the Black Power movement said “Let us seize power. We are not Negroes. We are blacks. Let us seize power” Why? Why is the idea of changing one’s name from “negroes” to “blacks” in some way associated with seizing power? Because by getting rid of the name that he establishment had over them, and by themselves choosing what they should be called, they imbued themselves with a new power. On one level the change is symbolic; but the genesis of power is real.

As the author wrote this (autumn 1990), the Gulf conflict was well into its second month. So far, there seemed to be a battle. A battle to decide whose account of proceedings would prevail. Were the Westerners inside Kuwait and Iraq “hostages” or “guests”? Did Iraq “invade” Kuvait, or its presence there was “in support of he popular uprising”?

These battles of terminology are commonplace. In the early stages of US involvement in Vietnam, the anti-government forces were referred as Viet Minh. This term, however, had been used to describe the resistance during the war of independence against the French and therefore had a strong positive, freedom-fighting connotation. So, the Americans invented the term Viet Cong, short for Vietnamese Communist, as a more negative, terrorist-oriented epithet.

“Communism” is a word fraught with danger. In many countries Communist parties are politically respectable. In other countries the term Communist is used to denote anyone who steps out of the line with the government of the day. Any vaguely liberal-minded person would doubtless find themselves branded a communist in such a place. In the United States during the McCarthy years as supposedly democratic society allowed a witch hunt to take place resulting in social and political ostracism for those considered “communist.” A recent news item in the British press reports that “The Communist Party of Great Britain believes its name causes such loathing that it plans to reform under a new one.” Nina Temple, the party secretary, is quoted as saying “The public perception of communism is not of something entirely abhorrent.”

Further evidence of the power inherent in the name of a political party comes from the Liberal Democratic Party in Britain. Formed from an alliance of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party, they seemed to take an inordinate length of time agreeing on a suitable joint title. The public became bored with the whole exercise, jokes on the possible names abounded and the party lost some support during this period. But the people responsible, the politicians, were doubtless aware of how important the name could be.

The problem of naming does not stop with political parties. There are companies now whose sole function is to help their clients select names for new products. In part their function is to weed out names which, while acceptable in English, are totally unsuitable in another language. British Telecom apparently marketed an early portable telephone under the name “tonto”. Tonto is the name of the trusty Indian companion in the children’s cowboy series”The Long Ranger.” It is also Spanish for “stupid”. Sales in Spain were presumably not good.

These firms are also responsible for discovering or creating new product names and researching the image that these names project. Calibri, the name of Vauxhall car, is the creation of a company employed to develop a name for the new car and the result of extensive research.

Politics and marketing are not the only areas where language is used as an instrument of power.Almost all specialized groups of people have their own language identity. Lawyers, doctors, language teachers even, when talking shop, will often be almost incomprehensible to the lay person. With some groups it will be in their interest to maintain this mystique. It preserves their role in society. If we all knew what lawyers were talking about, we would probably pay them less, and might even dispense with them altogether. And this idea of language identity does not just apply to specialized groups. Gangs of children or criminals will develop their own slang to set them apart from their rivals. Pupils at British public schools often have a large “alternative” slang vocabulary to learn in order to reinforce their identity as part of the group. The language we use therefore will in many respects reflect the group we belong to.

Another aspect of the language is the uncomfortable and prevalent idea that the correct use of language can in some way be equated with education. As we have pointed out earlier there are problems with the argument which goes: this is what “educated” people say, therefore it is “correct”. The problem is one of defining what exactly “educated” means. If we are to turn the argument on its head and suggest that “educated people are those who speak correctly” we not only face the problem of what is “correct” English, but also the fact that given the data collected in this book there cannot be many “educated” people around. The argument becomes circular –which came first-the correct English or the education? Nonetheless, the idea of education is an important influence on people’s possibilities not accounted for by “the authorities”, it will be disturbing. People who feel they speak “correct”,”educated” English will feel threatened. They will no longer be able to regard themselves as elite.

So why do people become agitated when their accepted ideas about language are threatened? Is it just that they resent any change? This is a very common human trait. Or is it partly because they feel that a threat to “their” language is a threat to them, their identity and their view of the world? As observers of language we must be aware of the influence that language has, the power it has over human behavior and the effect that any changes will have on the people who use it.

Task3:

1. How, according to the author, is control over language related to power?

2. Why, according to the author, is the idea of changing a name is associated with seizing power?

3. Why did the Americans invent the term Viet Cong to refer to Vietnam?

4. What is Nina Temple quoted as saying?

5. How do you understand the concept of “language identity”?

6. Why do people become agitated when their accepted ideas about language are threatened?

Task4:

Ask 6 more questions based on the text

.

Task 5:

Give Russian equivalents for the following vocabulary from the text:

Arouse reaction invade

Reluctance to change resistance

A fanciful notion social and political ostracism

Seize power abhorrent

Imbue oneself with power language identity

Prevail a valid idea

Hostage threaten

Task 6:

Find in the text all collocations with the word “power” and copy them out.

Task 7:

Learn more about the word “power”-definition, synonyms, derivatives, collocations.

Power- 1) the ability to influence or control what people do or think; 2) political control of a country or government; 3)the country that is able to influence other countries because of its economic or military strength.

Derivatives: powerful, powerless

Synonyms: authority; warrant; prerogative; control; domination; influence; government.

Collocations:

Absolute power assume power

Ultimate power seize power

Considerable power take power

Limited power hold power

Legal power share power

Economic power give up power

Political power fall fro power

Secular power in power

Major power abuse of power

Allied power the balance of power

Enemy power a bid for power

Come to power a transfer of power

Rise to power

Task 8:

Translate the text “Власть языка”

Если говорить о проблеме взаимоотношения «Язык и власть», то надо сказать, что язык-это и есть власть. У нас несколько неправильное представление о власти, связанное с особенностями нашего языка. Вообще-то говоря, в современных языках, которые обслуживают демократические страны, слово «власть» отсутствует. И наши переводчики всегда попадают в неприятное положение, когда пытаются переводить, например, с английского. Нет там слова «власть»! Есть слово authority-«авторитетность», «авторитет», есть power-«сила», есть government-«управление». А «власть»-слово устаревшее, это - sovereign. Оно практически не употребляется. Точно так и во французском, точно так же и в испанском. А у нас, действительно, понятие «власть», то есть владение, переносится на каких-то людей, которых я, например, не могу признать своими владельцами. Я вообще-то никому не принадлежу.

Но вот кто в действительности настоящий властитель-это язык. Ролан Барт сказал, что язык-это «настоящий фашист»! Который диктует нам наши мысли, наше поведение, наши ценности. Однако, хотя я, конечно, не могу себя назвать квасным патриотом, всё же не без злорадства, должен сказать, что первым об этом сказал всё-таки Роман Якобсон! Он говорил, что язык интересен не тем, что он позволяет нам излагать какие-то мысли, а тем, что заставляет нас думать, так или иначе. Всё новое, происходящее с человеком, рождается в языке. Любая инновация сначала появляется именно в языке и только потом в других областях жизни.

Евгений Сабуров

Task9:

Look at the quotation:

“Language exerts hidden power, like the moon and the tides.”

Rita Brown

Write an essay based on this.