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Esperanto probably inspired Orwell on this, at least to an extent. He knew several Esperantists. Most of the "A vocabulary" rules are similar, like valuing regu
by dalbasal 5y ago
Esperanto probably inspired Orwell on this, at least to an extent. He knew several Esperantists. Most of the "A vocabulary" rules are similar, like valuing regularities. I wonder if he hated esperanto, or just conveniently borrowed the feel of an artificial language from it.
To me, the euphemisation aspects of newspeak are the most "orwellian." IE, they're most likely to trigger that reference. Orwell himself complained about politicians and they're euphemisms. I think that's the part, above all that was drawn from current reality, and applies most readily in other times.
Somewhat related/noteworthy. Contrary to what I assume was common in his leftist circles at the time, Orwell was not enamoured with either Trotskyism or Irish Republicanism. I suspect the use of euphemism was one of the things that triggered him.
- pwdisswordfish8 5y agoWhich politicians are euphemisms?
- dalbasal 5y agoI know this is a grammar troll and I'm breaking a rule, but this made me giggle, and then try to find examples.
- JasonFruit 5y agoAnthony Weiner
- UncleSlacky 5y agoSantorum: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Santorum https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Santorum
- pwdisswordfish8 5y agoThat’s a dysphemism
- woopwoop 5y agoWhen did he speak out against Trotskyism? He fought with a Trotskyist militia in Spain.
- slickrick216 5y agoAlso animal farm is sympathetic to the Trotskyist position.
- dalbasal 5y agoIDK if he quite "spoke out" but he mentions them unfavourably in a few essays, sometimes indirectly. The one that comes to mind is "notes on nationalism" which IIRCC has it listed along with republicanism, zionism & pacifism as examples of obsessive nationalism existing in the contemporary British left of his day. Hi did fight with a Trotskyist militia which included many republican volunteers from that era. That's why I mentioned them... and also the esperantists. They were his circle, I believe.
- int_19h 5y agoHe spoke out against all forms of authoritarian socialism in general.
- woopwoop 5y agoIn "The Lion and the Unicorn," he advocates for a militaristic socialism with nationalization of all major industries and severe wage and price controls.
- Animats 5y agoEsperanto probably inspired Orwell on this Nope. Simple English did. During WWII, Orwell had a job with the British Ministry of Information. Part of his job was translating news broadcasts into Basic English, an 850-word vocabulary, for broadcast to the British colonies. (India, Hong Kong, etc.) He discovered that translating speeches into Basic English was a political act. All the ambiguity had to be hammered out. Basic English cannot express much ambiguity. That's the genesis of Newspeak.[1] Orwell himself wrote "Politics and the English Language."[2] He gives rules for writing. They are brutal. - (i) Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. - (ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do. - (iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. - (iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active. - (v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. - (vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous. Orwell's entire essay is worth reading, both as a style guide, and to help recognize when political writing is pulling your chain. Minor parts of 1984 are autobiographical, based on that period. "Minitrue" is obviously the Ministry of Information. "Big Brother" is modeled after some manager known there as "BB". The rather depressing canteen scene is reportedly from the Ministry of Information's employee cafeteria. (From "Orwell, the Lost Writings", which can be obtained from Amazon.) [1] https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/engl-246-fall2011/2011/11/21/orwell-language https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/engl-246-fall2011/2011/... [2] https://www.public-library.uk/ebooks/72/30.pdf https://www.public-library.uk/ebooks/72/30.pdf