The Language of Politics, Framing the Issues

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AOFrozenCity

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On Friday, May 21, Dr. George Lakoff, Linguistics Professor at UC Berkeley, addressed a packed house at a church in Berkeley on "The Language of Politics". The event was sponsored by Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, East Bay for Kerry and others. (It was awesome to see a deaf audience in attendance and the Simultaneous Closed Captioning Service in place.)

The highlight of the speech stressed how the "framing" of language can impact the subconscious mind.
The Republican party has used language, in a subtle way, to stress their beliefs, such as, being "rich" means that you work hard; and being "poor" means you are lazy and expect a hand-out. The "strict father" image is a "good person" - he gives commands and is authoritative - this image is used by the Bush administration; on the other hand, a father who listens to his children is considered a "liberal" and a "bad person".

At the closing, Dr. Lakoff received an enthusiastic standing ovation.

Footnote - we need to use the "tools of language" to effectively frame issues that the party stands for; and to be aware of the language used by Republicans.

To learn more about Dr. George Lakoff and his published works, visit the Rockridge Institute website at: www.rockridgeinstitute.com (The Rockridge Institute is a "think tank" in Oakland, CA.)

Deaf USA for Kerry
 
AOFrozenCity said:
The highlight of the speech stressed how the "framing" of language can impact the subconscious mind.
Click to expand...


Much of english language has some 'cultural' or 'underground' meaning. This totally affects how we understand issues - how they are framed by language. It also makes us vulnerable to how issues are phrased by "world leaders", etc.. Because english words themselves are laden with other meanings.

Take 'black' or 'white' or 'illegitimate', for instance. We use them more for their figurative meanings not by the dictionary definitions. I think ASL functions differently (I am curious what other people think on that - maybe that's a whole other topic thread!) Words on a page, in comparison, have varying meanings.

Thanks for info. AOFrozenCity; I think it sounds pretty cool.
 
The power of language

True..the effective framing of language is what sells.

Cultures and personal beliefs are most often tapped into and artfully packaged by politicians -- to hook voters..reel them in..gain votes.."mission accomplished".
 
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