Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

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Speakeasy
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Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

Postby Speakeasy » Tue May 16, 2017 9:03 pm

Over the past couple of years, I have been rather obsessively building a collection of language-learning materials from the period from about 1930 through to the mid-1980's and, earlier today, I received delivery of a torn and tattered copy of the USAFI (United States Armed Forces Institute) Study Guide B 579.1 "Beginning German I", published in 1957, from which I have extracted the following statement:

Introduction: Purpose and Objectives
"In the shrinking world of the twentieth century, language is more than ever before a powerful force for good or evil among men. Technological advances, bringing new means of communication to millions of people, have given hitherto unheard-of significance to language as a political tool and weapon of war. In this period of uneasy peace, an understanding of the other nations of the world is essential to the defense of America. Never has the study of languages been more vitally important than it is today; never has it been more erroneous to suppose that language study in schools and colleges is an outmoded relic of the past..."

While I recognize that this Study Guide was published for use by members of the US Armed Forces and their families, I do not wish to discuss the geo-political tensions of the era when this course guide was published. I would add that the course texts for this course were "Beginning German", by Otto P. Schinnerer, and the first three booklets of the "Cultural Graded Readers" by C.R. Goedische and W.E. Glaettli, all of which I have in my collection and none of which expresses even the mildest of political views. Apart from the introductory comment above, the Study Guide itself contains nothing more "political" than specific directions for sequencing the course texts.

Nonetheless, I find myself in agreement with the depiction of language as a "political tool and weapon of war"; that is, it is not just potential tool, but an actively-used tool. Furthermore, while I admit that technology can play a role in disseminating "directed information" (propaganda), I believe that language has served such ends since the "beginning of time."

Comments, anyone?
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Tomás
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Re: Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

Postby Tomás » Tue May 16, 2017 10:54 pm

I would guess they're talking about using language for propaganda and re-framing, more than the language itself.
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Re: Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

Postby BalancingAct » Tue May 16, 2017 11:32 pm

'Marx could read all European languages and write in three: German, French and English, to the admiration of language experts. He liked to repeat the saying: “A foreign language is a weapon in the struggle of life.”

He had a great talent for languages which his daughters inherited from him. He took up the study of Russian when he was already 50 years old, and although that language had no close affinity to any of the modern or ancient languages he knew, in six months he knew it well enough to derive pleasure from reading Russian poets and prose writers, his preference going to Pushkin, Gogol and Shchedrin. He studied Russian in order to be able to read the documents of official inquiries which were hushed over by the Russian Government because of the political revelations they made. Devoted friends got the documents for Marx and he was certainly the only political economist in Western Europe who had knowledge of them.'

- Paul Lafargue, Reminiscences of Marx https://www.marxists.org/archive/lafarg ... x/marx.htm
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Re: Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

Postby mcthulhu » Wed May 17, 2017 2:28 am

It's later than your chosen period, but you could look at how Serbo-Croatian became BCS, not to mention Montenegrin. Politics and the Balkan wars had something to do with that.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8520466.stm
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Speakeasy
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Re: Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

Postby Speakeasy » Wed May 17, 2017 3:35 am

mcthulhu wrote:It's later than your chosen period, but ...
The Study Guide from which I drew the reference to language being a "political tool" was published in 1957. While I agree with concept, my own supposition is that "language has served such ends since the 'beginning of time.'" That is, it has always been this way. Thus, your own example falls well within my reference period.

A matter that I did not explore in my original post is that it is perplexing why the authors of the USAFI Study Guide would even bother making such a comment in the introduction. Was it supposed to provide motivation for the students? As these courses were available for self-study on a facultative basis, and given the fact that the vast majority of the students would have been healthy young males living in barracks, surely a photo of Hildegard Knef would have provided greater motivation for learning German ... uh, sorry for the digression.
Last edited by Speakeasy on Wed May 17, 2017 4:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

Postby aokoye » Wed May 17, 2017 3:41 am

So - I agree that language has been used and is currently being used as (among other things) a political tool by governments and weapon of war AND I'm not sure how in the world we can go about really discussing this topic without breaking this forum rule
Religion and politics: Some families have a rule that says, "No political or religious arguments during holiday dinner." This forum has a similar rule year-round, for much the same reasons. We have people here from all over the world, with incredibly diverse political and religious views, and we all get along much better if we avoid these subjects.

Don't get me wrong, I am intensely interested in this topic, I just can't imagine discussing it without breaking the rules.
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Speakeasy
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Re: Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

Postby Speakeasy » Wed May 17, 2017 3:51 am

aokoye wrote: ... Don't get me wrong, I am intensely interested in this topic, I just can't imagine discussing it without breaking the rules.
As I am aware of the Forum Rules governing the discussion of politics, I hesitated before creating this discussion thread. I had hoped that, by suggesting that I was not interested in discussing the geo-political tensions of the period when the USAFI included this (curious) comment in the introduction to a rather banal Study Guide, the contents of which are nothing more than instructions to read pages 6-10, et cetera, and by expressing my own supposition that language has always served such ends, the members would find a "non political" means of airing their views on "language as a political tool" thereby "squaring the circle", as it were.
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Re: Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

Postby aokoye » Wed May 17, 2017 3:55 am

Speakeasy wrote:
aokoye wrote: ... Don't get me wrong, I am intensely interested in this topic, I just can't imagine discussing it without breaking the rules.
As I am aware of the Forum Rules governing the discussion of politics, I hesitated before creating this discussion thread. I had hoped that, by suggesting that I was not interested in discussing the geo-political tensions of the period when the USAFI included this (curious) comment in the introduction to a rather banal Study Guide, the contents of which are nothing more than instructions to read pages 6-10, et cetera, and by expressing my own supposition that language has always served such ends, the members would find a "non political" means of airing their views on "language as a political tool" thereby "squaring the circle", as it were.

Can you give an example of what you were thinking of? I mean I can give plenty of examples of language being used as a weapon of war or or political tool that isn't within the time period you referred to, but that doesn't make it any more or less political. I think even answering the question, "why was this included in the language textbook?" is rife for political discussion.
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Re: Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

Postby Prohairesis » Wed May 17, 2017 4:29 am

Speakeasy wrote:The Study Guide from which I drew the reference to language being a "political tool" was published in 1957. While I agree with concept, my own supposition is that "language has served such ends since the 'beginning of time.'" That is, it has always been this way. Thus, your own example falls well within my reference period.


To bring the discussion into context, I would say that language has been a political tool insofar as politics, in the modern and conventional sense of the term, has existed. The Ancient Greeks believed that the deployment of language is always in relation to the aesthetic (the science of art and beauty) and political (the science of the affairs of the state) function of language, and that there is a dialectical tension between the two. This means that language, a mode of artistic expression, may be used to service political agenda. A classic example would be the chorus chants in Greek tragedies, which forebode imminent tragic events to occur at the cost of the tragic hero's life.

Now of course, back in the Ancient days only a handful of people of the upper-crust of society were literate, so political use of language was limited to the classical/academic use of the word. The Roman Empire completed the equation, in a manner of speaking. The Roman Empire imported much of its literature and philosophical principles from the Greeks. However, the Ancient Romans were great civil engineers and their countless conquests and expansion campaigns meant they had to sustain their ever-burgeoning Empire. This meant they also needed to be competent politicians and statesmen. The Roman Empire was, to my knowledge, the first case where language truly served as a political tool.

I would say that in today's world, political discourse has become a fully-integrated function of language, and you pretty much see it deployed everywhere. From Greenpeace campaigns to newspaper articles (a domain that is supposed to be biais-free), political discourse is everywhere. I would even argue that with Internet and social media, language has evolved to become even more political. Think of all the political leaders who publish their own statements through Twitter and Instagram pages without going through the media...

For those interested in reading more about the politics of language, I highly recommend a book called La septième fonction du langage by Laurent Binet. I believe it has been translated into several languages.
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Speakeasy
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Re: Language as a Political Tool and Weapon of War?

Postby Speakeasy » Wed May 17, 2017 4:41 am

aokoye wrote: ... the time period you referred to ...
Please refer to my response to mcthulhu's. My supposition is that language has always been used as a political tool. So, there is no particular reference period.

aokoye wrote: ... I think even answering the question, "why was this included in the language textbook?" is rife for political discussion.
Rife? Hopefully, the forum members will find a means of discussing this topic without sliding down this decidedly slippery slope ... and it is a slope, not a precipice ... while I do not wish to appear overly critical, I find your own comments unnecessarily alarming, if not provocative. If you choose to see evil, then you will see evil!

aokoye wrote: ... Can you give an example of what you were thinking of?...
I am not trying to be evasive here, but the answer is "no, not really." Members are free to comment as to whether they think the USAFI was correct in their assertion, as to why they think the USAFI might have included such a (curious) statement in a Study Guide, particularly given that "standard" (and doubtlessly ineffective) motivational techniques were available to them, as to whether they believe that language as a political tool is a timeless aspect of communication and, given the direction of many of the discussion threads in this particular sub-forum, they are free to digress at their leisure.

I am not looking for a dispute. I assume that the forum members are curious, intelligent adults some of whom might wish to discuss this matter in a "non political" matter (Prohairesis' post is exemplary), whereas many others will find no interest in particpating.

EDITED: To include a reference to Prohairesis' post.
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