Language has immense capabilities. It can influence large groups of people; it has the power to harm and to heal. We often forget the dangers that can arise from the misuse of language, regardless of how prevalent this misuse has become in recent years. The Trump era in the United States, the rise of social media and the ‘post-truth world’ are just a few examples of the truly immense influence language really has.
Psycholinguistics is the study of language and the effect it has on the brain. Newspeak, from the novel 1984 is the perfect example of the extent to which language can manipulate the mind.
Many authors have used a form of psycholinguistics in their literature, however, few have created a whole language aimed at controlling people’s thoughts. In the novel 1984, Orwell describes a language called Newspeak; a tactic used by the government to control the thoughts of the general population. The basis of Newspeak is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which suggests that humans are not capable of coming up with new ideas if they don’t have the words in which to put those ideas. By cutting down the words people have access to, you are also limiting the ideas that people are capable of having. Hence, because there are so few words available, the different connotations that are attached to disappeared words will become obsolete, effectively removing any emotional attachment to the language being spoken. The result would be a population incapable of deep thought. An engineer of Newspeak in the novel describes it as such: “Don’t you see the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?…In fact there will be no thought, as we understand it now.” (52/53)
As we all know, language does not simply dictate our logic; it contributes to our emotional state. By having complete control over both the logical and emotional side of the citizens in 1984, the government (Big Brother) is able to influence what these people think and feel. Logic is undoubtedly important, however, the emotional response is much more convincing in the decision-making process. By ramping people up for the 2-minute hate and feeding them war stories about ‘the enemy,’ Big Brother is able to keep their citizens’ sympathies with them, and wholeheartedly against all others. You have to admit, it is a pretty brilliant way of keeping people in line.
Living in a state of total fear, as those in the novel 1984 do, has an impact on your brain. This impact is what the field of psycholinguistics seeks to discover. If you lack the basic necessities, it is hard to ponder the overarching issues with your society. All you care about is food, water, shelter, and some semblance of safety. Because the citizens never feel safe, they have little time or headspace to think about why they are living in this way. They accept the change to a new language, because they are desperate and they simply do not care. As Aldous Huxley wrote: “government’s an affair of sitting, not hitting. You rule with the brains and the buttocks, never with the fists.” (Brave New World, 62)
If you can get the people into a state of constant fear, all that is needed to keep them in line is the threat of doing something; you never need to actually carry anything out. This is why psycholinguistics is so powerful. Newspeak is able to influence people to such an extent that they follow orders without a second thought. They will even go against everything their prior knowledge tells them is right, simply because they don’t have the words to revolt. And when words die, their meaning dies with them. The whole concept of ‘freedom’ disappears, leading the people to carry on without any idea that things could be better. The people become so malleable that they are more like sheep than like beings capable of conscious thought.
In conclusion, it is clear that Orwell put a lot of thought into his novel, to the extent that he created an entirely new language. This language, Newspeak, is being used even today, and has become the basis of much heated debate. Newspeak is essentially psycholinguistics in action; its whole purpose is to alter the brain in a way that is beneficial to the party in power.
WORKS CITED
Hossain, Mozaffor. "Language as the Device for Psychological Manipulation in
George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Psycholinguistic Analysis."
European Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, vol. 5,
nos. ISSN 2053-4078, Sept. 2017, www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/
Language-as-the-Device-for-Psychological-Manipulation-in-George-Orwell's-Nineteen
-Eighty-Four-A-Psycholinguistic-Analysis.pdf. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022.
Orwell, George. 1984. 1949. Berkley.
Researched and written by Sarah.
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