3. LANGUAGE
Words shape our experience of the world.
On a basic level we use them to express ideas, thoughts and
emotions.
However, words and sentences are not static things that have
one meaning.
‘We painted the wall with cement’
They are dynamic and change depending on the person
speaking, the person listening, and the context of the
situation. This often reveals a lot about the values and power
structures in the situation.
4. PIRANDELLO
‘the sad thing is that you will never know (and I can
never tell you) how I interpret what you say to me. You
have not spoken Hebrew, of course not. You and I, we
use the same language, the same words. But is it our
fault, yours and mine, that the words we use are
empty? … Empty. In saying them, you fill them up with
the meaning they have for you; I, in collecting them up,
I fill them with the meaning I give them. We had
believed that we understood one another; we have not
understood one another at all’
(Pirandello 1972:147)
Pirandello, L. Uno, nessuno centomila. Milano:
Mondadori
5. GEORGE MONBIOT
‘To blot people out of existence first you
must blot them from your mind. Then you
can persuade yourself that what you are
doing is moral and necessary. Today this
isn’t difficult. Those who act without
compassion can draw upon a system of
thought and language whose purpose is to
shield them – and blind us – to the
consequences.’
6. GEORGE MONBIOT
‘Those who kill for a living employ similar terms. Israeli
military commanders described the massacre of 2,100
Palestinians, most of whom were civilians (including 500
children), in Gaza this summer as “mowing the lawn”. It’s not
original. Seeking to justify Barack Obama’s drone war in
Pakistan (which has so far killed 2,300 people, only 4% of
whom have since been named as members of al-Qaida),
Obama’s counter-terrorism adviser Bruce Riedel explained
that “you’ve got to mow the lawn all the time. The minute you
stop mowing, the grass is going to grow back.” The director
of the CIA, John Brennan, claimed that with “surgical
precision” his drones “eliminate the cancerous tumour called
an al-Qaida terrorist while limiting damage to the tissue
around it”. Those who operate the drones describe their
victims as bug splats.’
8. BAD LANGUAGE
Diversity in Diction – Equality in Action: A
guide to the appropriate use of language
http://www.srtrc.org/uploaded/language%20
guide%281%29.pdf
9. BAD LANGUAGE - SEX
‘The English language
appears to have evolved on
the assumption that the world
is male…This approach can
make the women and their
contribution to society seem
invisible.’
10. BAD LANGUAGE - ETHNICITY
‘Many words and phrases, whilst
not offensive in themselves, carry
heavy negative connotations. It is
therefore important to avoid
certain terms which use “black”
to portray negativity.’
12. RESEARCH TASK 1
Now, adapt this concept to your question.
1. Find the lyrics to a song, find a review of an album, find
an interview from an artist that relates to your genre.
2. Examine their use of English.
3. What does their choice of words tell us about their
values?
4. Do this on a wider scale and take 10+ sources and cross-
reference your findings. This will be more revealing about
the culture as a whole.
