Political Correctness

Question 1

Harvey and Shalom - variations and contexts

Answer 1

• Alternative words for taboo subjects can be used
• Technical - sexual intercourse, procreation
• Euphemistic - go to bed, sleep with
• Dysphemistic - shag, bonk
• The effects of these are strongly linked to use and context e.g. tabloids are more likely to use dysphemisms to create scandal
• Taboo language has a different function in its public and private contexts and this has bled into everyday speech e.g. the normalisation of swearing, which some people may still see as not PC
• HOWEVER context is very important - if a PC term is created in an attempt to cover all categories of these words, it still may be offensive in some contexts or cultures

Question 2

Deborah Cameron - Verbal Hygiene

Answer 2

• Politically correct terms can cause anxiety in many of its speakers due to the subjects they relate to
• Suggests this anxiety is also caused because the language challenges the majority power group’s assumptions and places the main language system under attack
• ‘In the mouths of sexists, language can always be sexist’
• Therefore the same applies for PC terms - if one is aiming to be offensive, these PC terms can pejorate in meaning as a result

Question 3

Linguistic Determinism

Answer 3

• Language shapes thought, therefore if we don’t have a word for the concept we can’t think about it
• Therefore if a word pejorates/ameliorates then this also changes the thoughts about the topic e.g. ‘c***’
• This idea can be seen in Orwell’s 1984 with the creation of Newspeak, offering a cynical view of what PC could do to language

Question 4

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Answer 4

• People from different cultures think differently because of differences in their language
• Examples include words which other languages have which we don’t have in our English lexicon such as ‘kummerspeck’ (German) to denote food we eat after a breakup
• Case studies include the Inuit Tribe, which has multiple different words for types of snow
• HOWEVER hypothesis lacks credibility due to a requirement being needed of human thought, something which is near impossible especially with so many different cultures worldwide

Question 5

Humboldt and Boas - Linguistic Reflectionalism

Answer 5

• Linguistic Reflectionalism - thoughts are reflected through the use of language rather than language controlling thought
• ‘Language reflects the ‘spirit of the nation’’
• HOWEVER this is a very prescriptivist view and has been criticised for dismissing the value of trying to shape and change language

Question 6

Steven Pinker - Euphemism Treadmill

Answer 6

• Words which replace non-PC terns will develop negative connotations
• Suggests that PC terms will pejorate and need replacement
• E.g. negro, coloured, Afro-American, black
• However, it is hard to know what changed first - Pinker does not elaborate further on whether the language change or the attitudes towards the change came first

Question 7

Norman Fairclough

Answer 7

• PC isn’t enough - we need to change society and the way it thinks about minority groups
• E.g. there is no point in arguing whether the word ‘chairman’ is sexist when the main issue is that women are underrepresented in parliament
• HOWEVER is just a theory and therefore no empirical evidence (or further theories to support)

Question 8

Modern attempts at enacting PC language

Answer 8

• Plain English Campaign - organisation which looks to remove ‘unnecessary’ parts of our language e.g. jargon, cliches, euphemisms
• Miller and Swift’s ‘Handbook of non-sexist writing’ - suggested practical ways in improving gender equality such as using ‘them’ when gender is unknown, replacing marked terms and changing job titles to gender neutral replacement