Topic : Language and Power
Language Of War
Pikey English
Racial Profiling
The great game of Power
The Language of Migration
The power of naming
Understanding Modality
What’s in a name?
ladies and gentlemen , Today i will be talking about Language and Power. In our studies of language in a cultural context, we can explore the culture of war. Just as every industry has its jargon, every region has its accent and every social group has its slang, so too does war have its unique use of language. We are talking about the kind of language that is used to manipulate people and make them believe in a cause that may not even affect them. We are talking about the kind of language that political leaders use in private telephone conversations. We are
…show more content…
The texts are all very different in nature because they target different audiences. Comparing and contrasting the different texts will help us understand how audience and purpose affect the structure and content of texts
There is a story. George Orwell, the famous writer, shot an elephant whilst serving in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. This event forms the basis for Orwell 's essay 'Shooting an Elephant '. Not everyone, however, believes or agrees that, in fact, Orwell really shot an elephant. Amongst the doubters is one of Orwell 's biographers, Bernard Crick. In a meeting in a London restaurant with Orwell 's widow, Sonia Brownell, Crick raised his doubts. In an unequivocal response, strong in profanity, Brownell argued that Orwell had indeed shot the elephant.
Both Crick and Brownell were both interested in truth; that is, what actually happened. Brownell did not doubt her husband. In language, the way we express our views, whether we are very certain, or somewhat less certain, is frequently shown through modality. Modality, and understanding how modality works, is important for Language and Literature students. It is through modality, no least, that writers and speakers express authority, and endeavour to exert power over readers and