LANGUAGE AS A TOOL OF POLITICAL CONTROL IN THE NOVEL 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL

Abstract

This paper discusses language as a means of political control in 1984 by George Orwell and how the linguistic controls of Newspeak, double talk, historical revisionism and propaganda slogans help to impose political control through ideological domination. The idea of relying on the theories of power and discourse provided by Michel Foucault and on the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study shows that the language in the dystopia that Orwell wrote about is not descriptive, but constitutive of social control and shaping of cognition, perception, and shared memory. The textual analysis of the work shows that Newspeak is a tool that limits the use of words and ideas, thinking, doublespeak is used to normalize the cognitive contradiction, historical revisionism is used to control memory and reality, and slogans are used to make people obedient and ideologically loyal to the Party. The study fills the gaps in the existing literature by considering the systematic interplay of these mechanisms and the cognitive, psychological and social consequences of them and also indicates the modernity of the Orwellian tactics in contemporary media and political communication. This paper highlights the timeless importance of language as a tool of power, providing both theoretical and practical knowledge on the study of literature, sociolinguistics and discourse.