My only encounter with the works of the late George Orwell is his classic 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (see my review here).

In his little essay, which you can read online, on language and politics or how the English language (at the time, but also today, so when it was written doesn't really matter any more; it was in 1946) was used by politicians, he offers a more than critical view on this situation, in particular, as I understood it, the negligence with which politicians use(d) the English language and its various expressions and loanwords to express their views and opinions, often not caring about proper use or even understanding what they truly said. Big words, no clarity.

In short: a highly recommended read!

This reminds me of various other documents, videos and books:

* George Carlin at the National Press Club on 13th May, 1999 (video)
* George Carlin on soft language (video)
* Extract from a French TV-programme: C’est Pas Sérieux | TF1 | 15/05/1977 (video)
* Philippe Breton - La Parole manipulée (my review)
* Philippe Breton - L'utopie De La Communication: Le Mythe Du "Village Planétaire"
* Steven Pinker - The Stuff of Thought (my review)
* Maria Candea / Laélia Véron - Le français est à nous ! (my review)
* Pierre Bourdieu - Sur la télévision, suivi de L'emprise du journalisme (my review)

On my TBR-pile:
* Philippe Breton - Éloge de la parole
* Pierre Bourdieu - Langage et pouvoir symbolique ( )

I feel personally attacked by this relatable content. ( )

Full review at Little Book Jockey. This is a reread for me. I can't remember what I thought of it when I first read it in 2013, but I'm sure some of my opinions have changed since then. I'd forgotten how good of a writer Orwell was. His ability really shines in some passages. ( )

This short essay is often recommended and referred to in the context of providing advice to writers. A number of Orwell's six rules—don't use hackneyed phrases, prefer simple words, etc—are indeed good advice. Others, perhaps, seem slightly alarmist, idealistic or impractical: that we should eschew words of foreign origin, for instance. However, in such discussions, the main point of this sharp and insightful essay is often missed.

Orwell's main target is not just sloppy or vague writing, but the relationship between such language and political immorality. There is a moving passage where he gives examples of how the most dreadful atrocities can be masked by high-flown and euphemistic phrases—the use of 'pacification' to describe the systematic bombing of unarmed civilians, for instance. We might point to 'rendition' as an example of the persistence of this tendency into current times. For Orwell, the clarity of language is linked to political awareness. Sloppy expression makes us sloppy thinkers, which in turn leaves us more vulnerable to the vague insincerities of politicians.

The Kindle edition on which this review is based also includes Orwell's review of Mein Kampf, and his opinion on Hitler, which is a wonderful and honest example of concise political commentary at its best.

Gareth Southwell is a philosopher, writer and illustrator.

I wish I had read this before I wrote my dissertation. ( )