POLITICAL LINGUISTICS LESSON
how conservatives use language to dominate politics

From part one of an interview with UC Berkely linguistics professor George Lakoff:

How does language influence the terms of political debate?

Language always comes with what is called "framing." Every word is defined relative to a conceptual framework. If you have something like "revolt," that implies a population that is being ruled unfairly, or assumes it is being ruled unfairly, and that they are throwing off their rulers, which would be considered a good thing. That's a frame.

If you then add the word "voter" in front of "revolt," you get a metaphorical meaning saying that the voters are the oppressed people, the governor is the oppressive ruler, that they have ousted him and this is a good thing and all things are good now. All of that comes up when you see a headline like "voter revolt" — something that most people read and never notice. But these things can be affected by reporters and very often, by the campaign people themselves.

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From part two:

What about the phrase "free market"? Is that an example of framing?

Yes, but one that's so deeply embedded that it's difficult at first to see how. You have to start with the metaphor that the market is a force of nature, which comes from [the economist] Adam Smith, who says that if everybody pursues their own profit, then the profit of all will be maximized by the "invisible hand" — by which he means nature. There is also a metaphor that well-being is wealth. If I do you a favor, therefore making things better for you, then you say, "How can I ever repay you? I'm in your debt." It's as if I'd given you money. We understand our well-being as wealth.

Combine them, and you get the conservatives' version that says if everybody pursues their own well-being, the well-being of all will be maximized by nature. They have the metaphorical notion of a free market even in their child-rearing system. It's not just an economic theory; it's a moral theory. When you discipline your children, they get internal discipline to become self-reliant, which means they can pursue their self-interest and get along in a difficult world. Conservatives even have a word for people who are not pursuing their self interest. They're called "do-gooders," and they get in the way of people who are pursuing their self-interest.

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I remember a professor I had at UT when I was studying RTF lecturing about the concept of "cultural hegemony." That is, rule through the concept of "the way things are is because that's the way things are." So much of our political, cultural, and artistic landscape goes completely unquestioned by the vast majority of American citizens that when someone does dare to question the conventional wisdom, he's generally seen as stupid or crazy. Six months ago, people who opposed the invasion of Iraq were called America-haters. Now things are a bit different, but rank and file citizens who were so sure that the US was doing the right thing do not yet seem to have realized how absolutely wrong they were then. "Cultural hegemony" is strong medicine, indeed. Until liberals and progressives start emulating their conservative counterparts by both subtly and bluntly manipulating the conventional wisdom, we will live in a backward-ass right-wing USA.

Good luck, left wing.

Thanks to Eschaton for the links.

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