Room 101

The Language Revolution

A language revolution. That's precisely what the citizens of Oceania are going through, with the gradual riddance of Oldspeak (Standard English as we know it) and the introduction of Newspeak.

When reading the Appendix - 'The Principles of Newspeak', I was awe-struck. First by the amazing consequences of something like that ever happening to us, and then by how clever Orwell was at coming up with such a thing. Alrighty, one at a time.

1) Can you imagine.. if someday, WE had to convert to Newspeak? All the words we know now.. the very same words i'm using to express what i'm feeling abt newspeak will cease to exist and it'll be put forth in a totally different way. This entire entry could probably be re-written in Newspeak in maybe 5 sentences.

See, here's the Party at work with control again. By decreasing the number of words in the human vocabulary, they also narrow the range of thought. But really. Language is the basis of all communication.. and to attempt to edit that is terribly ambitious and daring. One mistake, and the world could be changed. Just like that. At like, a snap of the fingers. Language in Newspeak becomes so technical, structured and rigid. Gone are the days of literature.. out the window will fly Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Byron and EVERYTHING.

I really enjoy the beauty of language.. well, English, that is. Because there SO many words, some almost similar yet so different in essence, it is somewhat "easier" to choose the right words to convey how I feel. But the Party intends to stamp that out.. and make it so difficult to express one's thought such that you are FORCED to think the way they want you to. Scary.

And I also think this is a perfect example of how 1984 reflects what our world is not. Our dictionaries keep getting thicker and thicker, as more and more words are added to make language more complete. In 1984, they keep deleting words. It's the exact opposite intention.. you know?

2) Orwell is fantastic. I dont know how anyone could be able to think up such a detailed and meticulous plan as to how language could be revolutionized. How the number of words in our vocabulary can be reduced, by adding prefixes and suffixes.

Was really quite amazed as I read through it. And thinking about it.. I suppose it works. Newspeak I mean. Goodthink, doubleplusgood, fullwise, mans, speedful. Goodness. It all makes sense, yet doesn't.

posted by ly*anna @ 2:21 PM