Bleg
In this excellent essay Timothy Egan wrote
“Language: A Key Mechanism of Control.”
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Today, if you listen carefully to any Gingrich takedown, you’ll usually hear words from the control memo.
I've noticed this too. But what's with this old fashioned listening business. If I were computer literate, I would write a script which counted the number of times words listed in "Language:A Key Mechanism of Control" appear in transcripts of Gingrich's speech (especially when he isn't reading a prepared speech).
To be fair, the same script could count the frequency in speech by others. I never read the whole memo. I feel totally sure that Gingrich is still relying on it. The proof, one way or the other, is out there.
Has this been done (link please). If not do it (script and link pretty please with strawberries on top)
An older but very interesting book on language used in support of the corporatist takeover is "Plastic Words" By Uwe Poerkson, now out of print and hard to get, but worth it. There's a review here: http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/0-271-01476-8.html
ReplyDeleteI also have a recording of an interview with the author, if anyone is interested -- frankly much more accessible than the book.
Noni