User:LBird BASc/sandbox/ATK/Seminar6/Power/Power in Language

Language is an aspect of humanity that has existed in human cultures for millenia. It is also an aspect of culture that perhaps holds the most power, considering how it is our means of communication and alters the way we think. Consequently, if a single entity has the power to manipulate a common language, it would hence have the power to control the minds of those who speak the language. This can be seen in cases where a single entity holds totalitarian authority over a large group of people, which is demonstrated both in literature and history.

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, for example, the entity known as 'Big Brother', holding absolute authority in the fictional realm of 'Oceania', creates a new language called 'Newspeak', which, having limited vocabulary and grammar, is imposed to limit the freedom of thought within the population of Oceania. It also creates concepts such as 'thoughtcrime' to terrorise the population and prevent a potential uprising against the status quo. This diminishes the people's ability to communicate effectively and honestly, which solidifies the power of the status quo. It is therefore an established theory that the power in language is significant enough to alter thoughts in a group of people.

An example in the real world can be seen in cases where the colonisation of a country by another resulted in the restriction/elimination of the indigenous language, in attempts to gain control of the subject population. An example of this can be seen in Japan's expansion and dominance across South East Asia in the early 20th century. Once the Japanses gained political control over countries, such as in Korea, the use of the native language was greatly restricted and in some casese made illegal, instead being replaced by Japanese. This was done in order to establish the dominance of Japanese power, getting rid of a significant cultural element in language. This was successful to a large extent, as the native people would lose the ability to communicate in a manner that invoked a sense of nationalism and unity. This goes to show that language is a powerful tool that, if controlled and manipulated, could be a significant tool to establish power over a large group of people.