Next time I'll just say "explain yourself"

Andy Robertson · 29 Jul 2002, 18:39 · from urth-v0207.mbox · original

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From: "Andy Robertson" <andywrobertson at clara.co.uk>
Subject: Re: (urth) Next time I'll just say "explain yourself"
Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 19:39:16 +0100
Message-ID: <urth-v0207-1488 at digest.urth.net>
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" <ddanehy at siebel.com>
>
> And that is precisely what I am questioning: _where_ is the Orwell
> quota established? The style of Correct Thought is not the style
> of Newspeak; it is (as I hope my samples above have shown) very
> much in the style of Chairman Mao Thought, which I hope leaves
> the littleredbookthing position plusfirmlybuilded.

But it is obvious.

The fact that the Ascians can speak *only* in the phrases known as Correct
Thought matches the fact that Orwell's inhabitants of Oceana will one day
speak **only** in Newspeak.

But there is no real-life correspondence to this: the Koreans may have
chanted Maoist slogans, but they were not **forbidden** to use other words
or phrases.

Only in Orwell's 1984 (and arguably in some SF books written since then)
does this concept of total linguistic replacement arise.

I agree, however, that the style of the quotes is very close to Maoism

    hartshorn

--=20

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