Language and politics: meaning, power and cultural conflict
R Nichols
12 points * 2 hours per week * First semester * Clayton
This subject explores language's recent emergence at the centre of the cultural sciences, focusing on its crucial role in political understanding and action. Major themes are (1) modernity and crisis - cultural fragmentation, cultural difference, and the distinctive powers of language; (2) the spectre of relativism - meanings, interpretations, and the ways of life; (3) the spectre of `newspeak' - orthodox and official discourse, legitimation, deception, and manipulation; (4) political `communication' - community and uncertainty of meaning, controversy, and change; (5) political `word magic' - fictions, metaphors and the creation of political words. Members of the subject will be encouraged to link its materials with their other concerns.
Assessment
Written (6000 words) and seminar participation: 50% * Examinations (3 hours): 50%
Recommended texts
Black M (ed.) The importance of language Cornell UP
Gibbons M (ed.) Interpreting politics Blackwell
Habermas J Communication and the evolution of society Beacon
Leach E Culture and communication CUP
Orwell G 1984 Penguin