Where do 1 they The Language of Politics stand? Unit 1 Michela - PDF document

21/11/2013 Unit 1 2 Lingua Inglese II Where do 1 they The Language of Politics stand? Unit 1 Michela Giordano Denotation v Connotation Politician 3 4 Statesman "A statesman is a politician 5 who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service" [Georges Pompidou, 1960s] 6 1

21/11/2013 Connotation and Denotation: Politics… Political labels 7 8  root: Classical Greek polis = city, Margaret Thatcher citizen, civic The Iron Lady  concerned with people and the lives they lead in organised communities  Plato : politics is “ nothing but corruption ” DISAPPROVING/OPPOSING APPROVING/FAVOURABLE  George Orwell in Politics and the English • narrow • tough • inflexible • decisive Language (1946): “ All issues are political • intransigent • resolute issues ” and “ politics itself is a mass of lies, Political labels for policies: evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia ” Reaganomics , Thatcherite , Blairite Plato George Orwell 9 10 Matching of definitions Code 11 12 Politics has its own code : a language variety of a specific group VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR AND DISCOURSE: specific features of various political activities Idea of a battleground of party politics : NEGATIVE CONNOTATION, it also creates keywords for POLITICAL ALIGNMENT OF PARTIES 2

21/11/2013 right-wingers  left-wingers The left-right spectrum 13 14 There are many gradations of right, left and centre. Right and Left cannot be Match the definitions. described neutrally , without connotations. a) EXTREME 1) one who is not extreme in his opinions or views, conservative, temperate person, without strong convictions or beliefs during the French Revolution (1789 – b) MODERATE 2) of the greatest possible degree or extent or 1799) intensity, excessive LEFT  those who opposed the c) RADICAL 3) having extreme political views King‟s policies RIGHT  those who supported left-of-centre, right-of-centre, radical centre , radical the King‟s policies middle , radical centrism, radically moderate, far left (aka CENTRE  somewhere in the extreme left ) , centre left, radical left (synonym for the between “farthest left” ) , radical right, far right (or extreme right), centre right Wet and Dry Tory 15 16 The word “ Tory ” was As political groupings emerge, new words are originally used by English used to describe them. settlers in Ireland to refer to  “Wet” and “Dry” : Metaphor of liquid the Irish who were attacking them; then it was used as a In the 1980s the Conservative party ruled Britain. term of abuse when applied Those in the party who did not support Thatcher‟s to a group of British policies: “ wets ” (term of abuse, in public schools, politicians in the 18 th century; those who lack courage). Mrs Thatcher‟s supporters: started to call themselves eventually it became the “ dries ” . official name of the Then the term “wets” became established and lost its Conservative party. negativity. “Hard Left” and “Soft left” Where do you stand? 17 18 Metaphor of solidity Where you stand-  In the Labour party, radical the label which you attach to yourself, members belonged to the or the label that is attached to you- “hard left” ; the less radical were called “soft left” . is very significant in politics  In 1997 the new leaders of the Labour party coined the term “New Labour” to describe the new policies.  New Labour v Old Labour 3

21/11/2013 Nouns to describe forms of government a) a military or political group that rules a Match the country after taking power by force definitions b) a small dissenting group, fighting for its 19 own ideas and opposing those of a larger government group Try to find definitions 1) government c) a form of government in which the people for these words regime have a voice in the exercise of power, 2) regime typically through elected representatives d) the system by which a state or community junta 3) junta is governed; the action or manner of / ˈ d ʒʊ nt ə / / ˈ d ʒʌ nt ə / governing a state, organization, or people democracy 4) democracy e) type of government controlled by one 5) dictatorship person, rather than by several people dictatorship f) government by a dictator; very strict and 6) faction faction harsh government 7) one-man rule g) despotism, unlimited rule; totalitarianism one-man rule 20 Nouns to describe opponents to those in power Matching of definitions 21 22 revolutionary 1) revolutionary a) a person who opposes official policy or a fundamentalist government, especially when it is Try to find undemocratic, a person who dissents from dissident definitions some established policy for these zealot words 2) fundamentalist b) a fanatical follower of a religion or policy; critic one with very extreme views and actions partisan 3) dissident c) promoting, or relating to political militant revolution, one who attempts to overthrow a separatist government or authority, one who takes part in a revolution paramilitary 4) zealot ('zel ə t) d) one who strictly follows a system of beliefs protester (especially religious) liberator Matching of definitions Matching of definitions 23 24 5) partisan e) a person who expresses an unfavourable opinion 9) paramilitary i) someone who sets people free from a of something system, situation, or set of ideas that restricts them in some way 6) militant f) one who supports separation, one who supports secession or segregation of a group of people from a 10) protester j) organized on similar lines to a military larger body on the basis of ethnicity, religion, or force gender 7) separatist g) a strong supporter of a party, cause, or person; a 11) liberator k) people who protest publicly about an member of an armed group fighting secretly against issue; a person who dissents from some an occupying force established policy 8) critic h) political activist; aggressive or vigorous, esp in the support of a cause 4

21/11/2013 a) advocating complete political Nouns to describe attitudes towards a political issue Match or social reform; politically the definitions extreme 25 1) hawk hawk b) not radical or excessively right- Try to find definitions or left-wing 2) dove for these dove words c) an advocate of an aggressive 3) extremist policy on foreign relations extremist 4) radical d) someone who prefers radical negotiations to armed conflict in the conduct of foreign relations 5) moderate moderate f) a person who holds extreme political or religious views 26 Satire Satire and parody 27 28 Humour : just evokes laughter Politicians are often seen in a negative light. Politics and politicians are often presented through the 1) individual politicians SATIRE  RIDICULE OF  2) political parties/institutions/nations means of satire. 3) the whole human race  uses laughter as a weapon  points out folly  suggests and implies that a certain political behaviour should change  makes reference to specific people and events  human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are ridiculed by means of derision and irony  its purpose is not primarily humour in itself, but an attack on something of which the author/speaker strongly disapproves Gulliver‟s Travels Parody 29 30  PARODY  humorous, satiric or ironic imitation of the  Jonathan Swift‟s “Gulliver‟s Travels” language used by a particular writer or within a certain  published in 1726; at the time, genre travel writing was a popular genre,  readers must recognize certain linguistic and structural through which travellers described features of the genre being parodied their adventures in exotic and  they must also “translate” the ideas from the parody to a undiscovered locations. Swift used different and more significant meaning. parody to write this book: he uses Gulliver as the narrator.  Swift attacks political factions and religious strife, and this remains relevant today, so the satire remains as powerful as the vices it attacks. 5