Doublespeak is likely to thrive in the future

The system of public communication is characterized by several distinguishing features with doublespeak as the main of them. Nowadays the debate on doubletalk defined as a language that deliberately disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words is in full flow and still unresolved due to its influence over political and social affairs philologists are mainly concerned with the question whether doubletalk is likely to thrive or not. The majority of linguists foresee that “the language of spin doctors” will obtain the leading position in many spheres of social existence.

Firstly, doubletalk is certain to strengthen its dominance at least in such a sphere as politics on account of the fact that modern political process is characterized by two major tendencies. Political problems are likely to increase in its quantity and quality[1] with a spread of democratic institutions and liberal values all around the world. Therefore, it results in the fact that politicians have no right to hide the truth completely as they are publicly accountable. At the same time statesmen and civil servants are not at liberty to provide the public with precise information on current political issues since in some cases such information is regarded as a state secret. In this context the usage of doubletalk seems rational due to the fact that it helps both to implement the principles of “the rule of the people” and to prevent political emergencies.

Secondly, doubletalk as a linguistic phenomenon tends to become the most commonly used way of speaking in the field of mass media which are sensible to view not only as a vital source of relevant information, but also as a tool used by the ruling class which consists of high-ranking officials, senior politicians and prominent businessmen to manipulate public opinion and form citizens’ point of view that is advantageous to the elite. Thus, considering the media in this dimension doublespeak serves the purpose of controlling collective consciousness since it was originally constructed in order to mislead, change completely the meaning of words and make people regard the falsehood as the truth.

Thirdly, doublespeak will certainly reach the position of the official and socially acceptable language of public communication because playing with the real meaning of words and not calling a spade a spade it keeps problems unsolved, which is beneficial to politicians whose job, in fact, is not to stimulate development of the country, but simply to be reelected. For instance, nowadays people on low incomes are called “the economically disadvantaged”. This euphemism has a less pejorative and negative connotation compared with the old-fashioned term “the poor” so the government will not face strong public protest in case of decrease of state expenditures on reducing the poverty. This simple example illustrates how doubletalk and inflated euphemisms help authorities to deny responsibilities for making socially important decisions without exciting public resentment.

To sum up, doubletalk is viewed to obtain the leading positions in all the domains of public discourse on account of the fact that to professional politicians the usage of doublespeak is the only way to balance the ideas of “government by the people” and the necessity to conceal some information from citizens in the interests of National Security. Moreover, euphemisms tend to become an integral part of the media whose main goal, in fact, is to affect people’s mind and make them adopt a certain attitude. Finally, a prospective dispersion of doublespeak is seen in the fact that it helps participants of the political decision-taking process not to perform their duties without fear of social dissatisfaction.

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[1] http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/quantity

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 841