CRITICAL THEORY

Interdisciplinary Approaches to
LANGUAGE, POWER
Language, Discourse and Ideology
AND IDEOLOGY
STUDIES IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Series Editors
Iris M. Zavala
Myriam Dlaz-Diocaretz
edited by
Advisory Editorial Board:
Jonathan Culler (Cornell University, Ithaca)
Teun A. van Dijk (University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam)
RUTHWODAK
University of Vienna
Roger Fowler (University of East Anglia, Norwich)
Wlad Godzich (University of Minnesota/Universite de Montreal)
Claudio Guillen (Harvard University)
Fredric Jameson (Duke University)
Cheris Kramarae (University of Illinois at Urbana)
Teresa de Lauretis (University of California, Santa Cruz)
Fernando Lazaro Carreter (Real Academia Espanola)
Cesare Segre (University of Pavia)
Gayatri Ch. Spivak (University of Pittsburg)

Volume 7

Ruth Wodak (ed.) JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY

AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
LANGUAGE, POWER AND IDEOLOGY
Studies in Political Discourse 1989
 l l.rn:v.
.
I h k
~ ")1Hii e
' 1 I

Table of Contents
&~laleld

0 Notes on contributors vii

Introduction xiii

Part I: Language and totalitarism 1

Structures of consensus-making and intervention: the concept of Nazi

language policy in occupied Holland ("Deutsche Zeitung in den
Niederlanden" 1940 to 1945)
Christoph Sauer 3

Language policy during the fascist period: the case of language educa-
tion
Gabrielle Klein 39
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Language, power, and ideology. The political speech of Futurism and its relationship to Italian Fascism
Rosita Rindler Schjerve 57
(Critical theory, ISSN 0920-3060; v. 7)
Bibliography: p.
1. Languages -- Political aspects. 2. Power (Social sciences). I. Wodak, Ruth, 1950- War with words
11. Series. Herbert E. Brekle 81
P95.8.L36 1988 401'.9 88-7658
ISBN 90 272 2416 1 (Eur.)/1-55619-061-1 (US)(pb., alk. paper)
ISBN 90 272 2413 7 (Eur.)/1-55619-037-9 (US)(hb., alk. paper) Part Il: Language of politics/or politicians 93
c Copyright 1989 - John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or Some remarks on linguistic strategies of persuasion
any other means, without written permission from the publisher. ~&~ ~
 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS

.!
Credibility and political language
Werner Holly 115

1968: The power of political jargon- a "Club-2" discussion Notes on contributors

Ruth Wodak 137

Phonological variation in parliamentary discussions

Sylvia Moosmii.ller 165

Social prejudice as a resource of power: towards the functional

ambivalence of stereotypes
Uta M. Quasthoff HERBERT E. BREKLE, born 1935. 1951-58 compositer, printer, and
181
~~oof-reader. 1958-63 studies in English and Romance Philology and
Philosophy at the University of Tiibingen. Dr.phil. 1963, "Habilitation"
1969. Since 1969 Professor for General Linguistics at the University of
Part m: Institutions, control and discourse in specific settings 197
Regensburg. 1972-78 member of the Town Council of Regensburg, 1978-82
iii~rtioer of the Regional Council of the Upper Palatinate (Bavaria). Since
Mediating racism. The role of the media in the reproduction of racism.
Teun A. van Dijk i978 active in the ecological movement.
199

1':1anipulation strategies in newspapers: a program for critical linguis-

TE.UN A. VAN DUK (1943), took degrees in French and Literary Theory
tics at both universities of Amsterdam, and is currently professor of Discourse
Florian Menz Studies at the University of Amsterdam. His earlier research took place in
227
the fields of literary scholarship, text grammar and discourse pragmatics,
after which he worked for a decade, mainly in collaboration with Walter
!he. case of W. A critical journey to the border between psychiatry and
1ust1ce Kintsch, on the cognitive psychology of text processing. He is now primar-
Ernst Strauhal ity engaged in the social psychology of discourse, with major applications in
251
the study of the structures and processing of news in the press, and the com-
munication of ethnic prejudice and racism in text and talk. This later work
Revising the patriarchal paradigm. Language change and feminist lan-
guage politics explicitly contributes to a "critical" discourse analysis.
Mar/is Hellinger His major book publications in English include Some Aspects of Text
273
Grammar (1972), Text and Context (1977), Macrostructures (1980), Issues
in the Pragmatics of Discourse (1981), Strategies of Discourse Comprehen-
sion (1983, with Walter Kintsch), Prejudice in Discourse (1984), and Com-
municating Racism (1986). His recent books, News as Discourse and News
Analysis are in press. Teun A. van Dijk is editor of the 4 volume Handbook
of Discourse Analysis (1985), and founder and editor of TEXT.
 viii NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
MARUS HELLINGER is professor in linguistics at the English Depart-
ment of the University of Hannover, FRG. She has published in contrastive
linguistics, creole studies and feminist linguistics. Within the latter field her
main interest is in language change under the impact of the women's move-
ment in different languages. She is co-author of the first German guidelines
for nonsexist language use. Two recent publications are Englisch-orientierte
Pidgin- und Kreolensprachen: Entstehung, Geschichte und sprachlicher
Wandel (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft: Darmstadt, 1985) and - as
editor - Sprachwandel und feministische Sprachpolitik: Internationale
Perspektiven (Westdeutscher Verlag: Opladen, 1985).
WERNER HOLLY, born in 1946, Hochschulassistent at the University of
Trier, Germany. Publications: Imagearbeit in Gespriichen (1979), Politische
Fernsehdiskussionen (with Peter Kuhn and Ulrich Piischel, 1986); articles
on conversation analysis, perlocutions, verbal actions, word formation,
political language.
GABRIELLE KLEIN was born in 1949 in Freiburg i.Br., where she began
her studies. Moreover she studied at Paris, Florence, and Aix-en-Provence.
From 1974 to 1984, she worked at the University of Perugia, (from 1976 to
1982 with a fellowship from the Italian National Council of Research, and
from 1982 to 1984 as a "Ricercatore Confermato" (Lecturer)). Since 1984
she has been Lecturer at the University of Naples (Department of Modem
Philology). She has written a number of papers on topics in sociolinguistics
published in Italian and German Journals. She is also the author of La
sociolinguistica. Orientamenti di ricerca nella Repubblica Federate Tedesca,
negli Stati Uniti e in Gran Bretagna (Firenze, 1977) and La politica linguis-
tica del fascismo (Bologna, 1986).
FLORIAN MENZ, born in 1960, M.A. (linguistics); studies of general and
applied linguistics in Vienna (Austria) and Berlin (West).
Main research fields: language and institutions; language, power, and
ideology. Working in projects on legal language, language and politics,
readability research of scientific texts for the general public, doctor-patient-
I interaction. Since 1984 active in postgraduate courses for teacher and civil
servants.
Main publications: Variation in Schii.leraufsiitzen: eine quantitative und
qualitative Pilotstudie im Rahmen einer sozio-psychologischen Theorie der
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS ix
Textplannung. Wien, 1984. Ma. Thesis. Wodak, Ruth, Florian Menz,
Benedikt Lutz & Helmut Gruber. Die Sprache der "Miichtigen" und
"Ohnmiichtigen". Der Fall Hainburg. Wien. 1985.
SYLVIA MOOSMULLER was born in 1954. She attained her Ph.D. in
1984. Title of the dissertation: "Soziale und psychosoziale Sprachvariation.
Eine quantitative und qualitative Untersuchung zum Wiener Deu~sch".
Since 1984 she is working on the project "Gehobenes Deutsch in Oster-
reich. Varietaten und Normen". Since 1986 she is lecturer on
"Frauensprache - Mannersprache" at the University of Vienna.
UTA M. QUASTHOFF received her Ph.D. (1972) and her Habilitation
(1979) from the Freie Universitat Berlin. She is presently a Heisenberg Fel-
low of the German National Science Foundation, teaching at the University
of Bielefeld. She has published books and articles in semantics, psycholin-
guistics, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and developmental linguistics.
Among the topics she has investigated are stereotypes, conversational nar-
ratives, formation of language theories, definite article, discourse markers,
doctor-patient-interaction, tense in spoken German, and reference forms.
She is currently working on the development of narrative skills in children,
the possible contributions of psycholinguistics and discourse analysis to
Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence (especially: discourse genera-
tion) and on a microanalytic approach to intercultural communication.
ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE, born in Villach in 1948; obtained
degree in interpreting and translating from Vienna University; Romance
and English studies at Vienna University; PhD from Vienna University in
1975; studies abroad: Italy and France; from 1977 "University Assistant" at
the Department of Romance Studies, Vienna University; 1986 "Habilita-
tion" on "Language Contact in Sardinia: Sociolinguistic Studies in Lan-
guage Shift in Rural Areas"; research and numerous publications on
sociolinguistic aspects of language contact and language change, as well as
contrastive linguistics.
CHRISTOPH SAUER has a MA in philology from the Technische Univer-
sitat Berlin. He is presently lecturing in pragmatics, discourse analysis, and
language for specific purposes at Utrecht University. After earlier work in
text theory, mass communication research, and foreign language learning,
x NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xi

his current work focuses on ideological aspects of discourse and communi- Gruppe (1981, translated as Language Behavior in Therapy Groups, Univ.
cation, nazi language policy, and institutional interactions in the court- of California Press 1986); Hilflose Niihe - Mutter und Tochter erziihlen
room. His Ph.D. dissertation, expected to be completed in 1988, will deal (1984); The Language of Love and Guilt (1986; together with Muriel
with nazi discourse and propaganda in the occupied Netherlands. Schulz); Recht auf Sprache (1987, together with Ernst Strouhal and Oskar
Pfeiffer); lnformationfii.r Informierte (1987, together with Benedikt Lutz);
KARL SORNIG, born March 1st, 1928 at Knittelfeld, Austria studied Eng- Die Sprache der "Miichtigen" und "Ohnmiichtigen" (1985, together with
lish and German literature and linguistics, took his degree (Dr. phil.) in Florian Menz, Benedikt Lutz, Helmut Gruber); Sprache und Macht (1986,
1951. Taught highschool and college in Austria and Turkey. University lec- together with Rudolf DeCillia, Karl Bliiml, Elisabeth Andraschko).
turer (Dozent) at the Institute of Linguistics of Graz University since 1973.
Special interests: pragmalinguistics, semantics, discourse analysis, sociolin-
guistics, language teaching.
Publications: Articles for various series; books: Lexical Innovation,
Benjamins 1981; Soziosemantik auf der Wortebene, Niemeyer 1981; Holop-
hrastisch-expressive AufJerungsmuster (1986 forthcoming); Aspekte und
Motive der Sprachmagie (forthcoming).

ERNST STROUHAL was born in 1957, in Vienna, studies in German

philology, linguistics, philology in Vienna (1975-1982). He received his
Ph.D. with a dissertation on "Hermeneutik und Avantgarde. Zur Theorie
poetischer Praxis", 1982. He is presently lector at the Linguistic Depart-
ment of the University of Vienna; and employee of the Amt der Niederos-
terreichischen Landesregierung. His special interests are: aesthetics, semio~
tics, pragmatics. He lives, works and writes in Vienna.
Main publications: Burgernahe Gesetzestexte in Niederosterreich (ed.),
Wien 1983. Winds of change? - Konservative Sozialstaatskritik in Oster-
reichs Medien (together with H. Schmidl), Wien 1986. Recht auf Sprache.
Verstehen und Verstiindlichkeit von Gesetzen (together with O.E.Pfeiffer;
R. Wodak), Wien 1987.

RUTH WODAK received her Ph.D. 1974 and her "Habilitation" 1980 in
Vienna. She is Full Professor at the University of Vienna and Head of the
department of Applied Linguistics since 1983. Her main fields of research
are socio- and psycholinguistics as well as discourse-analysis (class- and
sexspecific language behaviour, language minorities, mass communication,
therapeutic discourse, legal discourse, doctor-patient-discourse, language
and ideology, antisemitism etc.).
She has published 9 books and over 100 articles in these fields: Das
Sprachverhalten von Angeklagten bei Gericht (1975); Das Wort in der
 Introduction

Ruth Wodak
University of Vienna

Questions asked of a sentence

1. What is the use of the sentence?
2. To whom does it pretend to be useful?
3. What is its challenge?
4. What is its practical purpose?
5. Which sentence follows which sentence?
What sentences support it?
6. In which situation is it spoken?
By whom?
(Bertold Brecht, Darstellung von Siitzen in
einer neuen Enzyklopiidie, Werke 20: 174)

1. Language and powert

These questions posed by Bert Brecht almost seem to present the

frame of a "critical socio- and text-linguistic paradigm": What is the
speaker's intention, what happens afterwards, which other sentences or
utterances support the meaning and constitute the illocutionary force? And
of specific interest for critical linguists is the question: What are the social
and "political practices" involved in or triggered by the sentence? Today, of
course, we speak of "discourse" or of "text" (written and oral); we do not
accept the sentence as largest unit any longer. But even though Brecht
xiv RUTHWODAK
mentions only sentences, he almost intuitively touches on the concepts of
"speech act". "context", "illocutionary and perlocutionary force", and
especially of power: Who takes the floor, who controls, who chooses, who
defines what is good or bad (language) behaviour?
All the papers in this volume deal with issues which are investigated in
a critical manner similar to the one described above. All authors are con-
cerned with the social practice of language behaviour, with the dialectics
between society (including its subsystems), power, values, ideologies, opin-
ions expressed and constituted in and about language.
A critical analysis should not remain descriptive and neutral: the
interests guiding such an analysis (see Habermas 1971) are aimed at uncov-
ering injustice, inequality, taking sides with the powerless and suppressed.
This does not mean, however, that the research is necessarily one-sided,
not "scientific" as such. But we all know - at least since the important dis-
cussion on subjectivity and objectivity in the social sciences (see Adorno
1969) - that no research is completely objective, i.e. the interests, values
and decisions of the researcher always guide the analysis. It is important,
therefore, to state these values explicitly, to analyze all aspects, to take into
account multiple data and methods before drawing any conclusions or
before starting to interpret or explain. A certain distance from the subject
under investigation is necessary. These very brief and thus incomplete argu-
ments can be summarized in one sentence as the "leitmotif' for this vol-
ume: "diagnosis" first, interpretation and "therapy" to follow! (See Wodak
et al. 1985, 1986a,b; Wodak and Quasthoff (eds.) 1985; Menz, this vol-
ume).
What are the aims of critical linguistics? Generally speaking, we want
to uncover and de-mystify certain social processes in this and other
societies, to make mechanisms of manipulation, discrimination, demagogy,
and propaganda explicit and transparent. (This would be the diagnosis.) As
the second step, as many indicators, data and knowledge as possible con-
cerning the whole context of these processes have to be examined, to ena-
ble us to interpret and understand how and why reality is structured in a
certain way (this would, of course, be an interdisciplinary task). Lastly, if
possible, practical and political steps should be taken by teams of prac-
titioners, researchers in other fields and the people who are most involved:
The only permanent advance in the condition of life in any field occurs
when people take their own affairs into their hands. I believe that this is
true of the study of Black English as it is true everywhere (Labov 1982:
195-196).
INTRODUCTION xv
Strategies of defence have to be developed; naturally the hope prevails that
changes can be brought about. Language changes always manifest social
changes - but language changes (or changes in language behaviour) can
also trigger social changes (see Wodak and Schulz 1986; Hellinger, this vol-
ume, Pfeiffer, Strouhal and Wodak 1987).
Thus language only gains power in the hands of the powerful; language
is not powerful "per se". Often enough, a specific language even symbolizes
the group or person in power (see the papers in part I of this volume), and
fights about the status or discrimination of one or the other language sym-
bolize power struggles (see Wodak et al. 1986; van Dijk and Quasthoff-
Hartmann, this volume).
Naturally, many issues mentioned here have also been dealt with in
other scientific fields (sociology, communication studies, political sciences,
sociopsychology etc.). But often enough, the function and status of lan-
guage have been neglected. And although the study of the relationship
between "language and power" or "language and politics" began a long
time ago (rhetoric, stylistics), the detailed and subtle approach from a criti-
cal point of view ("critical linguistics", or "critical discourse analysis") is
certainly new (see Chilton 1985; Kress 1985; Seidel 1985).
This volume has a place in the new tradition: it draws together diverse
theoretical and methodological concepts in analyzing issues of social rele-
vance. The aims and goals can be summarized as follows:
Beyond description or superficial application, critical science in each
domain asks further questions, such as those of responsibility, interests,
and ideology. Instead of focussing on purely academic or theoretical prob-
lems, it starts from prevailing social problems, and thereby chooses the
perspective of those who suffer most and critically analyzes those in power,
those who are responsible, and those who have the means and the oppor-
tunity to solve such problems. As simple as that (van Dijk 1986: 4).
2. Critical linguistics
The most important characteristics of critical research are2 :
a. Research interest: Uncovering inequality and injustice.
b. Object under investigation: Language behaviour in natural speech
situations of social relevance (institutions, media, minority prob-
lems, racism etc.) is to be investigated. All situations which are
threatening or involve a power play between individuals are of
interest.
xvi RUTHWODAK
c. Interdisciplinary research: Social phenomena are too complex to be
dealt with adequately in only one field.
d. Empirical research: Data from natural speech situations are to be
analyzed. Nevertheless, theory and methodology, values and aims
are to be discussed explicitly.
e. Inclusion of the historical perspective: Social processes are dynamic,
not static. This has to be reflected in the theory and in the
methodology.
f. "Leitmotif' of critical research: "Diagnosis" first, interpretation and
"therapy" to follow!
g. Researchers are forced to take sides: Especially in empirical
research, the "subjects under investigation" cannot be treated as
objects any longer. Research includes the "researched" and, even-
tually, ought to help them (if possible).
h. Social and political practice is aimed at: Results of research not only
imply success in the academic field, but they should also include
proposals for practical implementation.
i. Necessity for new notions and extensions of traditional concepts of
"language behaviour" and "meaning": Social phenomena are very
complex, irrational and rational. Many different and ambivalent,
conscious and subconscious motives are relevant. Thus multiple
methods, manifest and latent meanings, cognitive and affective
aspects are important. Finally, the historical and social context
should not be neglected.
3. Language, power and ideology
The papers collected in this volume try to cover aspects of critical lin-
guistics, as mentioned above. Each author defines his/her notions,
interests, tools, and concepts. Some papers include large samples and mul-
tiple analysis; other articles present qualitative case studies. The volume is
divided into three parts: I. Language and totalitarism; II. Language of
politicians and of politics and III. Institutions and control. Papers with simi-
lar topics are collected in one part; thus, the reader can compare different
approaches and procedures of analysis.
Let us start with Part I, Language and totalitarism. Christoph Sauer is
concerned with "Nazi language policy" in the occupied Netherlands. His
concept of "multidimensionality" of meanings makes transparent in what
INTRODUCTION xvii
way ideology was transmitted via newspapers. He analyzes the whole
"textworld, textuality" of the print-media; he succeeds finally in showing
how reality was constructed and manipulated, a reality in contradiction to
the experience of the population under occupation.
Gabrielle Klein and Rosita Rindler Schjerve both analyze the language
under the Mussolini-regime. These papers are of particular interest because
of the severe neglect this historical period has suffered from up to now.
Klein is concerned with language politics on the macrolevel (e.g. in
schools), Rindler Schjerve, on the other hand, with the microanalysis of
speeches and programmatic statements. Thus, these first three papers allow
for a comparision of methodologies, but, above all, they supply a deeper
insight into the power mechanisms of the fascist period.
Herbert Brekle traces the meaning of "important words" throughout
the newspapers (e.g. "Krieg"), right through World War I up to now. This
is important because the roots of fascist propaganda and ideology become
manifest.
The second part of the volume is concerned with the "Language of
politics and or politicians". Karl Sornig differentiates the complex phenom-
enon of "persuasion". He succeeds in deriving a new and interesting
taxonomy.
The paper by Werner Holly is also of a more general nature. He looks
at persuasion mechanisms, at strategies used by politicians when they
attempt to appear and sound "credible". He is able to point to a few very
important contradictions between "what is said" and "what is meant".
My own paper deals with the political jargon used by the student
movement of 1968. How do group languages grow, how does jargon create
reality, what is the relationship between political jargon and specific
ideologies? A talk show on TV with two well-known student leaders is
analyzed and their jargon compared with the language of the "green move-
ment" of the 1980s.
Sylvia Moosmiiller analyzes the language of politicians. She combines
socio-phonological methods with discourse analysis. Speeches in parlia-
ment, from male and female politicians, were tape-recorded, transcribed
and coded. Moosmiiller also succeeds in pointing out very important and
significant sex-specific differences. Thus, her analysis included two levels:
political language and strategies; sex-specific behaviour and difficulties of
women in a "male profession".
The paper by Uta Quasthoff-Hartmann includes a general analysis.
xviii RUTHWODAK
She is concerned with "the nature of stereotypes and prejudices". She goes
into great detail in both analyzing and defining their functions on several
levels. She poses the important questions: why and how do stereotypes sud-
denly become dangerous and menacing? What really happens in the society
investigated? These questions naturally imply interdisciplinary research;
otherwise, each individual answer would be too simplistic.
The third part of this volume deals with Institutions, control and dis-
course in specific settings.
Teun van Dijk presents a thorough and impressive analysis of the way
racism is transmitted through the media in the Netherlands. It is not only
important how much is said about foreigners (classical content-analysis),
but even more so what and how it is put, and this is precisely the very pro-
ductive type of contribution critical linguistics can make.
Florian Menz presents an analysis of the Austrian newspaper with the
largest circulation, called Kronenzeitung. This newspaper frequently creates
opinions and manipulates the "masses" to a great extent. He presents sev-
eral recent examples.
The paper by Ernst Strouhal is very innovative: he compares three
texts and three textual worlds with each other. All texts are concerned with
the same topic: a woman is declared insane by psychiatric institutions and
the court, and her child is taken away from her. Strouhal interviewed the
woman, the psychiatrist and also obtained the written statement presented
at court. How do the stories and accounts differ? Is the woman really
insane? What are the criteria used? This paper is extremely important for
political and socio-practical purposes. It is both fascinating and appalling to
follow the way the woman was discriminated against. Here, too, as soon as
we know about these latent mechanisms, we shall be able to build strategies
and defences against such blatant injustice.
Martis Hellinger points to yet another source of discrimination: she
compares sexist language behaviour in several languages and analyzes the
arguments which are often used to fight against attempted changes. It is all
a question of "strategies". She succeeds in showing very clearly that the lan-
guage systems themselves allow for many changes; the norms and values of
patriarchal societies, on the other hand, prevent progress.
Let me thank Iris Zavala and Myriam Diaz-Diocaretz for making the
publication of this volume in their series possible. The friendship and help
of these two extraordinary women have impressed me very much. I would
also like to thank Ms. Barbara Seidlhofer for her comments on the English
INTRODUCTION xix
translation and Ms. Elisabeth Andraschko for her help in the editing pro-
cess and with the correspondence.
Last, but not least, I want to thank my friends and my son, Jacob
Engel, for their patience with me in difficult stages of the publishing and
editing process. Without their warmth and support, academic work would
become senseless and aimless.
NOTES
1. Many thoughts expressed in this short introduction took shape at a conference on "Lan-
guage and Ideology" in Utrecht, June 1986. It is also there that I met Iris and Myriam, as
well as Teun for the first time. What a wonderful experience and what a stimulating dis-
cussion!
2. N.B.: We are naturally aware that many criteria have been formulated before and also in
di~e~ent contexts. We are not seeking to redefine a paradigm or to do so contrary to
ex1stmg research. All research aiming in this direction - wherever it comes from -
should be termed critical (as opposed to purely descriptive, static or pseudo-objective).
REFERENCES
Adorno, T.W. 1969. Der Positivismusstreit in der deutschen Soziologie.
Berlin-Neuwied: Luchterhand.
Chilton, P. (ed.). 1985. Language and the Nuclear Arms Debate: Nukes-
peak Today. London & Dover, N.H.: Frances Printer.
van Dijk, T. 1986. A Programm for Critical Discourse Analysis. Unpubl.
Manuscript.
Habermas, J. 1971. Erkenntnis und Interesse. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Kress, G. 1985. "Ideological structures in discourse". In: Handbook of Dis-
course Analysis. London, Vol. IV: 27-42.
Labov, W. 1982. "Objectivity and commitment in linguistic science: The
case of the Ann Arbor trial". Language in Society 1982: 165-201.
Lutz, B. and R. Wodak. 1987. Information ftir Informierte. Wien: Akade-
mie der Wissenschaften.
Pfeiffer, 0.E., E. Strouhal and R. Wodak. 1987. Recht auf Sprache. Wien:
Orac.
Seidel, G. 1985. "Political discourse analysis". Handbook of Discourse
Analysis, Vol. IV: 43-60.
 xx RUTHWODAK

Wodak, R. 1985. "Herrschaft durch Sprache? Sprachwandel als Symbol

und Ausdruck des gesellschaftlichen Wandels". In: Wien 1945 davor/
danach, Liesbeth Waechter-Bohm (ed.), 75-90. Wien: Brandstatter.
Wodak, R., F. Menz, B. Lutz and H. Gruber. 1985. Die Sprache der Miich- Part I
tigen und Ohnmiichtigen. Der Fall Hainburg. Wien.
Wodak, R., F. Menz, B. Lutz and H. Gruber. 1986a. "Power ~truggles in Language and totalitarism
the media". Folia Linguistica (in press).
Wodak, R., R. De Cillia, K. Bliiml and E. Andraschko. 1986b. Sprache
und Macht. Wien: Deuticke (in press).
Wodak, R. and U. Quasthoff-Hartmann. (eds). 1985. "Kommunikation in
Institutionen". Aufrisse 4/1985.
Wodak, R. and M. Schulz. 1986. The Language of Love and Guilt. Amster-
dam: Benjamins.

I
i

I
II
 Structures of consensus-making and intervention:
the concept of Nazi language policy in occupied Holland
("Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlanden" 1940-1945)

Christoph Sauer
University of Utrecht

1. Introduction

1.1 On my approach

All too often assertions are still made about the connection between
language and ideology without ever being theoretically discussed. Thus one
may find disquisitions on the presence of certain words (or tendencies) in
texts which are then traced back to an ideology in which these words figure
as central concepts. This procedure cannot get at the heart of the problem
it addresses, since it fails to account for the way in which certain words may
render a text ideological in the first place. For if one were to remain
entrenched in this view, one would forfeit any chance of arguing against the
practice of deleting Nazi words and phrases from books published in the
Third Reich in order to republish these books again after the War (cf. some
examples in Romer 1985ff., mainly concerning the removal of terms such as
"race" or of anti-Semitic formulations). But what conclusion can we draw
from the fact that this practice has been exploited on several occasions?
Evidently, we must assume that the authors of texts can - and do - have
recourse to an instrumental concept of ideology that, by a mere process of
addition, changes "neutral" texts into "ideological" ones, which may in turn
be rendered "neutral" again by a process of deletion. Similarly, there are
presumably apologists of National-Socialist (NS)-texts who, after the
twelve years of Nazi rule, pointed out that texts had merely received a few
colourful touches of NS-ideology in order that they might be published at
all.1
4 CHRISTOPH SAUER
In my contribution I should like to propose an approach which does
not, in viewing it as external and merely instrumental, treat the ideological
as harmless. On the contrary, I will trace linguistic forms to the conditions
of their in- and reception, and, in so doing, treat ideological relations as
inscriptions of a specific social practice.2 The practice of National Socialism,
I would argue, was contradictory; for this reason, I feel that great scepti-
cism is called for in the reading of monolithic accounts in which the Nazi-
period is presented exclusively as a force of nature, and in which the issue
of the involvement of the individual is glossed over by appealing to the
argument of terror. On the contrary, the point is to take the cultural range
of fascist articulations seriously, and to render problematic the propagan-
distic goal of the ideological effort, namely the voluntary self-subordination
to the regime. In this regard, it is important to realize that the transfer of
power to the Nazis did not take place in a vacuum free of all ideolog.y, wait-
ing to be filled. Rather, their success was based on a transformation and
rearticulation of ideological forms already in existence (see Faye 1972). A
text may only be fascist in reference to other texts, and its ideological func-
tion is realized in a restructuring of other ideologies. The realm of the
ideological as such is defended by those fascists who view it as a sphere of
action which is utilized by individuals to articulate their social experience
(cf. Haug 1980). The specific form in which such experience is assimilated
is the goal of ideological endeavors. The way in which one formulates
something, and the way in which the choice of a particular formulation
excludes other formulations and experiences lies at the heart of the exertion
of ideological influence. Propaganda, and especially as sophisticated a sys-
tem of propaganda as the Nazis operated, is geared towards the desired
ubiquity and pervasion of this kind of reorganization of experience.
First, I shall develop a theory of language policy that allows me to
relate the meanings of linguistic forms to the concept of experience. In
order to do so, a communicative concept of the text is required which pro-
jects the act of reception as an active reconstruction of the meanings pro-
duced by the text. Therefore I shall employ a theory of linguistic action
which makes a closer determination of the nature of textual actions possi-
ble. In order to encompass the specific performance of Nazi newspaper
texts and to expose the ideological in them, I shall especially concentrate on
the term allusion: NS-texts allude to further NS-texts and initiate in the pro-
cess of reading a movement whereby the reader becomes aware of connec-
tions, recognitions, actualizations, evocations of what he already knows,
etc. My conception ultimately aims that the development of a multiple
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 5
mode of reading which exposes in various dimensions the manner of the
mise-en-scene of the ideological in each case. In so doing, I shall be concen-
trating on the state of occupation, which entails certain modifications for
NS-journalists. Two central questions to be considered throughout the
actual analysis are firstly: to what extent does the subjectivity (of the
author) become operative in respect to the form and function of the text,
and secondly what effect does this subjectivity have within the framework
of the general regulation by propaganda?
1.2 Language policy
Texts in NS-newspapers - which I shall be mainly concentrating on
here - must fulfill a variety of conditions in order to achieve their goal.
This goal I would generally characterize as a contribution to fascist ideol-
ogy. For before ideological influence can be exerted, the reader must first
be made to read the text concerned. Various factors play a part in this: the
general newspaper culture (on this term cf. Rehbein 1983) with its textual
conventions and stylistic traditions; the outward appearance of the news-
paper; the observance of the regulations of the propaganda institutions
(subsumed under the heading of "language regulation"); the internal
arrangement of the newspaper; and the "inventiveness" of the author. It is
then possible to characterize as the linguistic mise-en-scene of (fascist) poli-
tics the multitude of conscious and semi-conscious decisions that, in the
end, constitute the text.
The ephemerality which generally characterizes the daily newspapers
imposes specific procedures (cf. sections 1.3 and 1.4) upon the author as
well as upon the reader. As part of a newspaper edition, a text assumes a
specific position in a "syntagma". This "syntagma" has both predecessors,
i.e. the previous editions of the same paper, and successors, i.e. the future
editions. At the same time, however, the actual newspaper article also
functions as a "paradigma", since it equally represents a specific position in
the concert of all similar articles to be found in comparable newspapers of
the same date. The exact position depends of course on the strategy of the
propaganda institution, the line followed by the newspapers, and the indi-
vidual capabilities of the author. But in every position articulated "syntag-
matically" and "paradigmatically", there is also operative a consideration of
general, more or less representative texts which one might justifiably term
the fascist "discourse" (following Foucault 1971). In writing, the author is
also reacting to these general texts, and in reading, the reader reconstructs
6 CHRISTOPH SAUER
this reaction of the author and at the same time produces, in respect of the
general texts, a position of his own.
As far as the texts themselves are concerned, it may be asserted that
the linguistic means of which they consist converge to form a total-meaning
- even if the latter may in fact remain contradictory. The way in which
meaning is formed, and the way in which it is communicated, is based upon
processes that transgress the confines of the individual text. The latter
realizes, against a general background, a number of actual operations of
meaning to be reconstructed by the reader. The linguistic forms, as bearers
of meaning, are socio-historically determined; therefore, each text func-
tions as a reconstruction or variation of the socio-historical determinants. In
order to be able to focus more closely on the problematic nature of mean-
ing, I propose to introduce the concept of language policy. In so doing, I am
not referring to fields or activities that are described as "language planning"
and the like. On the contrary, my point of departure is constituted by actual
linguistic relations, and - in refutation of a universalist concept of lan-
guage - by socio-historical problems in the discussion of linguistic forms. 3
Central to this is the concept of experience.
Living through/experiencing is based upon a behaviour towards one's own
behaviour that can be comprehended as consciousness - whereby con-
scious is not to be equated with being at the centre of attention [... ] That
behaviour in this sense should be conscious still leaves open the question of
the form in which it is conscious. (Januschek and Maas 1981: 78).
The familiar maxim "Germany awake!" can, for instance, enter my con-
sciousness as "vulgar saying" and/or as "summons to enter the party"; or I
may become aware that it derives originally from an epigrammatic poem by
an early Nazi, and thus be conscious of it as a "quotation" etc. Experience,
then, is assimilated in various ways. Analytically, it is possible to make a
distinction between the assimilation of experiences undergone, their poten-
tial for transfer, and their production, their genesis:
The different modes of assimilating experience produced are precisely
those of language. They are socially predetermined. They embody prior
social experience, meaning that in assimilating a specific experience in a
specific way, I am relating to specific prior experiences to the exclusion of
others. And this is the salient point: language policy invariably involves an
interference in the assimilation of experience. In prescribing which linguis-
tic forms of expression are to be used in which social situations, it regulates
the form in which something enters my consciousness. Thus it is not even
inconceivable that language policy should be able to bring about the
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 7
extreme case of production and assimilation of experience contradicting
one another. (Januschek and Maas 1981: 78; translated by Andreas
Michael)
This concept of language policy does not mean that a "code" or "jar-
gon" which was first incomprehensible now becomes clearly understood,
but rather that previously incomprehensible utterances are understood by
assimilating the way in which they encompass social experience.
We may choose as our example a simple adjective, a typically ideological
expression which in the context of the "National Movement" has acquired
a quite specific positional sense which is at several removes from its original
or etymological sense; an expression which was completely politicized
between 1900 and 1945, and which subsequently disappeared almost com-
pletely form German usage. This is the expression vOlkisch. What does
volkisch mean? It derives from the word "a people" (Volk) and thus ought
to mean: "popular" (volkstiimlich). In fact, however, volkisch has, within
a "national socialist" (or, more generally, "national-revolutionary" or
"conservative-revolutionary") constellation come to occupy a quite differ-
ent semantic position. It means something analogous to what in French
one would term "racist" (raciste). At the same time, this word represents
its own origin, its etymology; it contains, as it were, an allusion to its orig-
inal meaning, since the word "people" (Volk) from which it derives is
immediately recognizable [ ... ] Thus volkisch no longer means "popular"
but "racist"; it is just that behind this last meaning one may still discern the
first; indeed, there is almost a certain play between these levels. This play
has been very effective in the political language of the German right and
called forth an excess of emotional participation. This play has rendered
possible a series of political conjuring tricks for Hitlerism played with, and
o~, tha~ certain leftist content of the word "people" (Volk) that is con-
tamed m the etymological meaning and simultaneously actuated the
extreme nationalist content of the racism. (Faye 1980: 94-96; translated by
Andreas Michael)
In this sense, language policy is able to explain the uncertainty facing
one upon being unexpectedly confronted with a typical NS-text. In its vag-
ueness, it seems simply incomprehensible, and only in calling upon our his-
torical knowledge does the threat which it may have articulated for its con-
temporaries gradually become apparent. The charge of having taken NS-
language policy too little into account is, on the other hand, to be levelled
against those who would retrospectively characterize fascist texts exclu-
sively as "empty", "hollow", "bombastic" etc. As long as the socio-histori-
cal dimension of the interference in the assimilation of experience is not
made evident, such descriptions only scratch the surface of the matter in
question.
8 CHRISTOPH SAUER
1.3 Erosion of linguistic forms and ideological usefulness
A basic problem confronting NS-propaganda is the rapid erosion of
certain linguistic forms. If time and again the reader is to be made to per-
ceive a particular utterance as the expression of his "new" experience and
to assimilate it as such, it is necessary for him to encounter this expression
often enough so that the ideological effect of language policy does not
prove to be as ephemeral as a puff of smoke. Precisely because only a small
number of criteria are to be called upon for propagandistic success (thus
Hitler, for instance, speaks mainly of simplicity and repetition in Mein
Kampf), the professionals feel compelled to combat the monotony that
looms large. A series of measures were developed to prevent such exhaus-
tion: the diversification of the carrier-media (newspapers, journals, broad-
casting, pamphlets, whispering campaigns and others); the addressing of
target groups (creation and consideration of particular addressees); the
internal polymorphism, exploiting historically predetermined forms of
newspaper publishing (information, commentary, entertainment, literary
supplement, advertising etc.); stylistic variation (on the basis of a popular
concept of style which entails that the same thing may be said in a variety of
ways again and again); and the inclusion of subjectivity (journalists as for-
mulators and supplementors). If, however, the ideological dimension is to
retain its effectiveness, all these modifications must not descend too con-
fusedly upon the recipient concerned.
In order to describe this matter, a new formulation of the concept of
the ideological is required. This must also take into account which linguistic
forms are available, and how these forms are actually used. This much
ought to be clear now: we cannot simply view all constituents of an NS-text
as being ideological. After all, it was not, however much some simplifiers
may.have concentrated on this aspect (cf. Steiner 1954/1984), the German
language that rendered fascism possible; on the contrary, it is the speaker
and the socio-historical situation that are of prime importance.
The ideological is not so much an expression of the polarity of "true"
and "false", or a static opposition of a "factual" and an "ideological"
description of social reality. Rather the ideological is the sphere in which
the formal determination of social practices and their transformation are
discussed and/or deliberated, and it operates through a conjunction and
recombination of existing ideologemes. ldeologemes such as "people",
"state", "power", "nation", "culture" and others are part of the basic
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 9
equipment for the development of political volition. They constitute the
"raw material" of ideological operations, and the mere fact of their pre-
sence in texts does not indicate the ideological orientation of such texts.
Anti-Semitic ideologemes are not, in this sense, in themselves genuinely
fascist. It is only the specific combination of the anti-Semitic with the anti-
national, and the projection of the referents of this combination as a
"counter-people" vis a vis the "German people" that may be concluded to
be an instance of fascist operations of transformation (cf. Haug 1980). From
this vantage point, it is also possible to view more clearly the frequent
appeal made by Hitler in his speecres to "fate". By subordinating himself,
and thus, by proxy, his listeners, to a "divine power", Hitler is able to
articulate the subordination to himself as the Fuhrer - the surrender of all
personal identity in the name of the "community".
It is, then, a basic concern of NS-propaganda to make sure that,
throughout all variations of the texts and their individual forms of presenta-
tion, the manner of ideological combination links up with a formulation
that is already familiar. Thus NS-texts must be transparent in a special way.
The recipient is meant to read the current, topical formulation together
with an articulation of social practice with which he is already familiar. It
would be a misjudgement of fascism and of its undeniable success to attri-
bute this specific reading-performance, this reconstruction of the dual struc-
ture, solely to violence. The spectrum of the ideological ranges from threat
to seduction, and it ought not to be overlooked that recipients are drawn
into a vortex of certainty and uncertainty in which it seems very desirable
indeed to manage to recognize at least some "key terms" or paraphrases
(cf. section 1.5). Recipients are meant to be "concerned'', and it is the
reconstruction of the meaning of the text - necessarily accompanying the
act of reading - that produces this "concern".
In this respect I feel that one of the most effective scenes of Orwell's
novel Nineteen Eighty-Four fails to penetrate to the core of the matter:
Just now I held up the finger of my hand to you. You saw five fingers. Do
you remember that?
Yes.
O'Brien held up the fingers of his left hand, with the thumb concealed.
There are five fingers there. Do you see five fingers?
Yes.
And he did see them, for a fleeting instant, before the scenery of his mind
changed. He saw five fingers, and there was no deformity. (Orwell 1949/
1984: 220)
10 CHRISTOPH SAUER
This scene, in its literary exaggeration, is hardly suited to demonstrate
the operation of the ideological as conceived of in the present study. The
"scenery of mind" is indeed decisive; but the decision whether a deformity
exists or not is precisely what is not so. Neither "yes" or "no" is central: it
is the displacement of both possibilities into a new term, a new experience.
The ideological is not operative in simple descriptions of observations, that
is, when there is sensory certainty within the space of observation shared by
those participating in an interaction. The ideological operates only within
the genuinely textual nature of complex communicative forms, i.e. in texts.
The decision whether an utterance is ideological or not is coupled with
the specific linguistic form in which this utterance is manifest. Not every
utterance, not even one of a Nazi-Fuhrer, can be designated ideological.
However, once the choice for the ideological has been made, the recon-
struction of meaning in the process of understanding on the part of the reci-
pient reveals further layers of meaning. In the main, these concern the inte-
gration of this specific statement into a larger framework. This also sheds
some light on the fact, which has often been noted, that NS-texts are
extremely vague and offer very few points of attack. In order to be certain
of reminding the recipient of the larger text, it was simply sufficient to
weave certain catchwords or key terms into one's text.
1.4 The text and linguistic action
The deliberations we have thus far embarked upon demand a concep-
tion of the text whicl:i takes into account the communicative relations we
have already mentioned above. The historical dimension is of special
importance, that is, the transition from orality to writing and the compara-
tive emancipation of formal linguistic means in written texts. Viewed
categorically, oral communication is the starting point for a definition of the
concept of the text. The simultaneity of linguistic production and linguistic
reception as an interaction characterized by a constant interchange of roles
between speaker and listener results in, through the emergence of writing,
a retardation (cf. Ehlich 1982, 1983) (see Figure 1).
:-------M-------:
~~~~=;==~~=re~~~
speech action situation 1
speech action situation 2
L------------------J
Figure 1: Communicative positioning of the 'text'
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 11
The roles of author and reader are now fixed and connected with one
another only through the text. The original transitoriness of linguistic action
in oral communication now finds, in the text, a means of transferral which
is able to transgress the confines of the original shared perception. In a text,
the loss of immediate access offers new possibilities of action. Thus it can-
not be our sole concern to view in a text the analogy to the speech-situation
of communication; rather, the text must be defined as a liberation and mul-
tiplication of linguistic means which nevertheless, by way of specific proces-
ses of production and reproduction, are connected to the communicative
background (cf. also Ricreur 1971, who develops this as a "suspension of
ostensive referents").
The author's activity, his production of the text, remains fragmentary
until the text is animated by the reader in the process of reading, that is,
until the reader treats the text in a way that no longer has anything to do
with the Romantic projection of the search for the intention of the actual
author-person. The reader is an agency that realizes the communicative
connection and transforms it into a mixture of something that is his own and
something that is alien to him. Texts confront the reader-agency with an
ensemble of linguistic forms whose arrangement is the result of the author's
activity, and which the reader, within certain limits, reproduces and reac-
tuates. The author himself, too - and here I go beyond Ricreur (1971) -
is viewed as an agency. He is not primarily important as a person. Rather,
he is subject to a force-field of other texts and discourses; many participate
in his writing. This is clearly evident in the institutional conditions of the
mass-media, and more particularly in the special conditions of NS-prop-
aganda, whose influence on the actual history of a text ranges from its occa-
sion, via its formulation, to its retrospective approval or censure (cf. Bram-
sted 1965; Hale 1964; Sauer 1983; Hirschfeld 1983). The immediate
methodological consequence of this fanning-out of the author-agency and
reader-agency is an expectation of multi-dimensional textual actions, which
may be read as multiple illocution and multiple address (Sauer 1985a,
1985b). When applied to the ideological, this notion means that the formu-
lation of specific ideologemes in NS-texts is to be traced to an interconnec-
tion with specific groups of addressees. If one assumes the readership to be
structured pyramidically - with the NS-Fuhrers at the top, followed by the
party members, then sympathizers, and finally the masses-then one may,
as Hagendoorn (1982) has suggested, venture to differentiate various con-
tent-areas in such texts, and to successively treat these areas as "hints" for
the reconstruction of meaning by the various groups. The vagueness of a
particular utterance would then be explained by the fact that its "target"-
12 CHRISTOPH SAUER
group already knew enough to know what to do. with it. Now, although this
approach to the multidimensionality of NS-texts is sensible in principle, I
feel it is too mechanistic; it is too reminiscent of a secrecy of communica-
tion, and thus, in the end, implies a conspiracy theory of fascism. As I have
made clear in connection with the term of language policy, the aim of NS-
texts - and something which, I might now add, they pursue multidimen-
sionally - is the interference in the assimilation of experience.
Like Thompson {1984: Ch. 5ff.), I attach little importance to the dif-
ference between speech and writing as far as a characterization of the
ideological per se is concerned. For both linguistic modes it is true that:
The mobilization of meaning in order to sustain relations of doriiination
commonly involves[ ... ] a splitting of the referential domain. The terms of
a discourse may carry out their ideological role by explicitly referring to
one thing and implicitly referring to another, by entangling these multiple
referents in a way which serves to sustain domination. (Thompson 1984:
200)
I should like to emphasize, that the unfolding of the complex of mean-
ing in ideological writings or speeches/dialogues must always be based upon
ideologemes already existent so that the reader's or listeners' assignation to
specific (and not arbitrary) formations of the ideological can be initiated.
The consideration of this fact brings me to the additional aspect that, vie-
wed historically, a written form of the ideological is presupposed. Current
discourses operate through this historical text whose written form (a book,
a party programme, election poster, etc.) exerts a decisive influence on the
shaping of currently chosen formulations and linguistic strategies - even if
only as an aid to memory.
I shall now turn again to the NS-texts and add a further observation. It
concerns the author-agency. An emphatically personalized concept of the
author, as the epitome of individual creatorhood, is a fairly recent matter,
since it is only after the adoption of bourgeois copyright that distinctions
such as "plagiarism", "theft of intellectual property", "quotation", "ghost
writer", "report", "parody" etc. have become habitual and legal. All of
them are terms that promote a cult of the author (cf. also Svensson 1984).
The journalistic technique of reporting other people's utterances while con-
cealing one's sources ("informed circles have disclosed") is equally based
upon the differentiation - which is part and parcel of the cult of the author
- of "original" and "normal flowing speech". In this respect, however, one
may already observe a blurring of the stringency of this distinction
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 13
suggested by the copyright which one recognizes historically as the principle
of reporting in earlier newspapers ("aviso"). But any newspaper article
which is adorned with a name or initials still participates in the cult of the
author. Here too, however, the use of pseudonyms has made for a blurring
of borderlines. In respect of the press of the 20th century it seems fair to say
that on the one hand, it supports the cult of the author, and on the other, it
blurs the borderlines between the "own" and the "alien". And under the
conditions of the NS-propaganda this development continues and is in fact
even escalated. In part, the author disappears into the army of duplicators
and copiers and functions wholly as an agency. In part, orality is, in the
orality of the fascist Fuhrers, re-institutionalized with a priority over writ-
ing, and thus makes of them, as authors, a de-agency, a "flexancy". A
devaluation of writing ensues, while at the same time the population is sub-
jected to a flood (which abates only under the exigencies of war) of media
of mass-communication of every sort. The influence of this development on
the newspapers is not easily specified, but it was, in all probability, of little
importance. It amounted to little more than Hitler's speeches, and some-
times those of other, local NS-Fuhrers printed in their entirety, quotations
from Hitler in the form of banner-headlines and vignettes, and, from time
to time, a pithy staccato in a commentary in order to imitate the flow of liv-
ing speech. Of greater importance was the way in which the speeches of the
respective Fuhrers were exploited on every possible occasion as suppliers of
quotations leading to new textual procedures (often coerced by the regula-
tions issued by the propaganda institutions). These articles are to ornamen-
talize the Hitler-quotations and make a "super-author" of the Fuhrer. In
this way, many texts are endowed with a dual structure: on the one hand,
the journalists are freed of the necessity of producing new and inventive
"ideas" all the time; on the other hand they must- as producers of an "en-
vironment" for Hitler-quotations - develop a style that is not too different
from the quotations. This balancing is an example of the liberation of lin-
guistic possibilities of action addressed in the concept of the text, namely of
possibilities of action subjected to the conditions of NS-propaganda.
1.5 Allusion and multiple modes of reading in the ideological
The category of the ideological contains, as a rule, more than just a
single, unique act of the production of a meaning (by the author) and the
reproduction (by readers). Such uniqueness, on the contrary, is reserved -
14 CHRISTOPH SAUER
at least in the memoirs, for instance Speer (1969) - for the moment of
illumination or awakening. This was mostly during an event in which Hitler
took part, or even during a personal meeting with him; a moment from
which time onwards the whole structure of existing ideological premises is
reversed: suddenly, the scales have fallen from the eyes of the captivated
listener and he now dares to know what hitherto he had, at most, merely
suspect~d. This graphic image, infused with biblical imagery, captures the
effect of the ideological: the upheaval of previous views and opinions that
now appear with greater rigidity than before. All future contact with NS-
ideology will now be trarisparent in a specific way. It encompasses
immediate articulations of the ideological and, at the same time, the evoca-
tion of the experience of the awakening. This transparency is what I am
concerned with here. Its presence also explains why any reader - including
those who did not experience the awakening - is able to recognize any NS-
text for what it is. For the reader does not only, in the act of reading, recon-
struct the meaning of the text, but he also relates this meaning to texts he
already knows. The current text thus functions as an organizer of meaning
and as a link to fascist discourse. Nevertheless, it is the reader who must
realize this connection. If he does not, he can always fall back upon the
topical, current meaning of the text, although this entails that certain suspi-
cions he might entertain will then remain "unfulfilled". The expectation of
a possible transparency in a discourse he already knows is not one held
arbitrarily by the reader. It is urged upon him as soon as he recognizes cer-
tain outward signals, for instance the author, the newspaper, the occasion
of writing, the presentation etc., or upon perceiving certain "indications" in
the text itself. These indications may be quotations, or the author's explicit
declarations of allegiance; they may be familiar key terms, or combinations
of ideologemes previously received. These indications, however, may also
be more elusive, unrecognizable to the reader at first sight, and emerge
only in the course of his activity of reconstruction. These more elusive indi-
cators for an ideological classification of a text I propose to term allusioris.
Allusions are of importance not only for the case we have just assumed -
i.e. that of a coincidental confrontation with an unknown text, a case which
certainly does not occur very often - they also ensure that whatever the
text is it signals its identity with the ideological to the initiated, though not
mentioning it explicitly. Allusions constitute a kind of repetition on a more
abstract level of the ideological, without having recourse to literal meaning.
I wish to treat allusions especially as literary allusions (Svensson 1978,
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 15
1984), as allusions to utterances in earlier texts and not to events. They then
constitute a kind of shortened quotation that presents the current text as
part of a larger discourse. This relegation of the literality of a quotation
might be traced to a strategy of avoiding repetitions. However, this stylistic
approach, which concentrates on varying aspects, is too superficial (cf.
Sauer 1986). It neglects the demagogic effect of the literary allusion, which
suggests an identity even where current and historical meanings are sepa-
rated by a large gap. The creation of a "brace" between the two in the act
of the producti.;:in and reconstructive reception of the text influences the
stock of social experiences and can result in new experiences being assimi-
lated only as continuations of those already known, or in old experiences
being excised from the social possibilities of the moment (creation of "root-
lessness"). Thus the effect of an allusion in the text of any NS-journalist to
speeches of Seyss-Inquart (the vice-Hitler in the occupied Netherlands)
consists of inscribing into current events an element of threat (from the
means of repression of the occupier) and of thereby preventing an alterna-
tive reception of current events by the Dutch, such as, for instance, a weak-
ness of the Germans.
In general, literary allusions to NS-programmes widen the range of the
ideological by also ascribing to new events the possibility of being ideologi-
cally depicted. This fact is a result of the "ideologization" and "politiciza-
tion" of all aspects of life in fascism. The point is not that allusions of this
kind can function in this way because this is a fact; the point of an underly-
ing theory of language policy is that allusions are communicative-textual
strategies which exist in order to articulate this ideologization. It is the indi-
vidual whose self-subordination to the fascist system consists in the assimi-
lation of experience. Whoever recognizes allusions and actuates their
potential has already taken the first step on the way towards being ens-
nared.
If it has now become clear that the generally extremely complex NS-
texts harbour an explosive mixture of abbreviations and redundancies, and
that the multidimensionality of these texts is more than a mere "duality", it
should also be plausible to base one's analysis on the method of multiple
modes of reading (following Maas 1984). The self-declared meaning of a
text, its "message" I shall relate to the recognizable mise-en-scene of its
content, i.e. to the actual linguistic means of its "surface". Next, I shall
engage in an analysis of the purpose of its mise-en-scene - the fact that the
text was written in this particular way and not other - by considering the
 CHRISTOPH SAUER
16
socio-historical context, which in this context means the situation of occu-
pation. In general it will become obvious that the ~orm of a mise-e~-s~ne
and its purpose are not congruent but charactenzed by contrad1ct1ons.
These contradictions then necessitate a simultaneity of different modes of
reading, which I propose to examine with a view to the issue of ideological
management.
2. The situation of occupation
2.1 Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlanden
On 10th May 1940 the German Wehrmacht attacked the hitherto neu-
tral Netherlands, and, with the bombing of Rotterdam, forced the Dutch to
capitulate after only five days. While the German troops concentrated on
the subjugation of Belgium and France; an argument arose between the
occupied Netherlands and the Reich over the future structure of the
occupying regime, an argument ended only by Hitler's appointment of the
Austrian Seyss-Inquart, previously "the Reich Minister without Portfolio",
to the post of "Reichskommissar for the Occupied Netherlands". The
replacement of the military administration by a civil one was a manifesta-
tion of a special German and National Socialist "attention" to the Nether-
lands which, as the ideological prescription for the countries in Northern
and Northwestern Europe decreed, was to go beyond a merely administra-
tive integration of the country into the "New Europe". The founding of the
Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlanden ( = DZN) - whose first edition was
published on 5th June 1940, and which finally fell silent with the publishing
of a hectographed page on 5th May 1945 - is part of this scenario.
The DZN is one of 27 (!) German-language occupation newspapers in
the various occupied countries: in Belgium, for example, there;! was the
Brii.sseler Zeitung, in France the Pariser Zeitung, in Norway the Deutsche
Zeitung in Norwegen.4 The DZN mainly addresses Germans in the Nether-
lands - amongst whom there were, of course, many soldiers - and the
Dutch; in addition, it was also read in the Reich and elsewhere. One of the
important functions of the DZN was to demonstrate "the way on~ had to
write" to the Dutch press, which had difficulties in accepting the
Gleichschaltung that the occupier had immediately imposed. The DZN was
only able to occupy so exemplary a position because it was subjected to the
control of not one but several NS-propaganda institutions: the Presseab-
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 17
teilung in The Hague, Goebbels' Ministerium far Volksaufkliirung und
Propaganda in Berlin; and the Pressepolitisches Amt der NSDAP under
Dietrich. Furthermore, as a publication of the NS-Europa Presse, the DZN
was part of the Party press under Amann (cf. Bramsted 1965). Small won-
der, then, that in The Hague this multiplicity, to which must be added the
attempts of Dutch Nazis to influence the Dutch press, produced a chaos
which was difficult to control. Accordingly, the DZN occupied an inter-
mediary position which might be summarized as follows:
a. daily paper for the Germans in the Netherlands;
b. soldiers' paper;
c. organ of the Reichskommissariat;
d. daily paper for the Dutch;
e. bellicose anti-English ideological pamphlet (cf. Sauer 1983).
All this appeared in the guise of a serious newspaper which, in appear-
ance and in the variety of its subjects, modelled itself after the highest of
standards, such as the Frankfurter Zeitung and Das Reich. The DZN,
accordingly, was quite voluminous: two pages of politics; one "Page of the
Day"; one "Page from the Netherlands" ; one or two pages of economic
news, sports, culture, advertisements and many photographs on the last
page. It was printed and edited in Amsterdam. As it was part of a chain of
papers, it also contained many articles which were presumably also to be
found in the other papers in the group (for the time being detailed examina-
tions of this are not yet possible). These, then, were articles not written
especially for the Netherlands, but included reports from correspondents,
columnists, among whom were many "celebrities", serialized novels, adop-
tions from other newspapers and magazines and articles of "PK-people"
(Propagandakompanien of the Wehrmacht) etc.
2.2 NS-ideology for the Netherlands
While some of the rulers of the "Third Reich" added to their personal
riches by buying paintings at "favourable" prices or engaging in dealings on
the black market, the course officially adopted was a meandering between
naked power-politics and Germanic back-slapping. Seyss-Inquart's most
important instructions from Hitler were to integrate the economic power of
the Netherlands into the German war economy, to emphasize the shared
"Germanic" descent and gradually, under the aegis of a "New Europe", to
18 CHRISTOPH SAUER STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 19

weed the Dutch away from their sense of independence and annex them in would not have split off from it. The undermining of the self-confidence of
some way to the Reich. the Dutch, and the bringing-about of all the political repercussions that
As a small country of great economic potential, and as a colonial would ensue, of a desire for greater dependence on the German Father-
land, ought not to be at all that difficult - if is it undertaken surreptiti-
power (at least initially, until the Japanese occupied the colonies in the East o~sly and soon. (Georg Schmidt-Rohr on lrd July 1942, quoted after
Indies), the Netherlands not only provoked blatant envy in the Germans, Simon 1979: 193; translated by Andreas Michael).
they were also forced into the ambivalent role of being Germany's junior
It cannot be wholly denied that such thoughts, at least from time to
partner. As such they were offered various allurements which were, how-
time, flowed from the pen of this or that DZN-journalist. In various articles
ever, always attached to far-reaching conditions. These included anti-Semi-
one may find, over the years, more or less obvious pointers to such fan-
tic administrative measures and assistance in the deportation of Dutch
tasies, often coupled with expressions of irritation at the "obstinacy" and
Jews; provisions of volunteers to serve on the Eastern front in particular;
"stubbornness" of the Dutch, and especially at the "immobility" of the
forced labour in the Netherlands and in the Reich (Arbeitseinsatz); political
Dutch press, which had been "forced into line" (gleichgeschaltet).
reorganization under a NS-puppet (the Leider (Fuhrer) of the Nationaal-
Socialistische Beweging NSB) and an increase in the influence of the SS on
3. Illustrative analysis
occupation policy (danger of annexation). On the whole, the policies of the
Germans amounted to a "voluntary" Germanization and, when this did not
3.1 On the selection of the texts
turn out to be particularly successful, to an increasingly blatant realization
of German interests. Apart from making ideological appeals manifold in a
In a general press-landscape these texts (A and B) constitute special
variety of fields, the occupier concentrated upon articulating, as a form of
cases. They derive from the intention of the editors of the DZN to place
co-operation and collaboration, the will to survive demonstrated by many
emphasis on the second anniversary of the attack on the Netherlands, and
Dutch and their willingness to continue to fulfill, under the prevailing cir-
thus of the beginning of the war for the Dutch. This emphasis has a dual
cumstances, their usual everyday duties (cf. for an overview Warmbrunn
purpose: firstly, to show the occupied that the occupier has not "forgotten"
1963; de Jong 1969 etc.; Hirschfeld 1984).
the traumatic experience they had gone through and secondly to counter
I should finally like to quote a not altogether representative example of
suspected Dutch memories of time before occupation by stressing the
how one would have liked, as a German Nazi, ideally to have treated the
necessity of taking action hie et nunc. The particularly precarious position
Dutch. It is taken from a memorandum for the founding of a "Secret Lan-
of the DZN on this point, and the reference to a particular date, gave rise
guage Office" intended to co-ordinate and to intensify all NS-activities in
to experiments with new forms of writing. If on the first anniversary there
the realm of language policy; and it reveals in which forms the claim of the
was a preference for retrospective articles, articles that recapitulated past
Reich to world domination could sometimes be manifested.
events in the form of reports or summaries (cf. DZN of 10th May 1941, as
[ ... ] Furthermore, opportunities which cannot be passed up are now pre- well as a small series of articles appearing under the heading "Before and
senting themselves as regards the Dutch, as German anti-aircraft artillery After 10th May" on 12th May, 13th May and 14th May 1941), now, on 10th
defends Dutch cities, as German soldiers stroll along with Dutch girls
(Dutch: "meisjes"). Now is the time to decisively cultivate the awareness May 1942, the new experiences following the attack on the Soviet Union,
of the close kinship between the German and Dutch peoples. [ ... ] Yet it is and the general expansion of the war come fo the fore. The editorial intro-
easy indeed to create an awareness of our close kinship with the Dutch, by duction (text A) already makes it clear that the readers are to be given the
showing time and again that the Dutch and the Flemings, when they speak impression that there is simply no time to indulge in trifling reminiscence.
dialects, speak German dialects, the same as we do in the Reich, namely
Such reminiscence is substituted by seven brief and personal articles by the
Lower Frankish, Saxon, Frisian. When they speak and write their literary
language, they also speak and write a German, a Low German literary lan- respective section editors who individually aim to vilify the temporizing
guage. The Dutch themselves sense that this literary language is not a attitude of the Dutch towards the occupier's efforts at nazification, and to
genuine literary language but only a written dialect. Otherwise, Afrikaans pressure the Dutch into being, either voluntarily or nolens volens, more
20 CHRISTOPH SAUER
accommodating towards German demands. I suspect that this kind of text
"tells" more of the general impetus of the occupier's language policy than
dutiful articles on less explosive occasions could. It is precisely because
these commemorative articles, of which text B is an example, were written
with a full awareness of the precariousness of the situation they addressed,
that they release textual strategies which correspond to the precarious inter-
mediary position of the DZN. The selection of these texts documents the
"normality" of the occupier in heightened circumstances of articulation.
3.2 Texts
Text A: DZN 10th May 1942, p.3
AFfER TWO YEARS
On 10th May the spark of war which until then, in the West, had been
almost indistinguishable from an armistice also jumped across the borders
of the Netherlands.
Pr. Amsterdam, 10th May
There is still war in Europe and in the world. In a gigantic final struggle the
nations who feel themselves to be bearers of true civilization have taken on
AnglO-Saxonism and the destructive powers of Bolshevism. Today, two
years have passed since the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany,
which was provoked by the behaviour of our enemies. It cannot be the task
at the present time to account for all that has been achieved, with peaceful
intent, in this country. Nevertheless, if we give several of our contributors
the chance to express their impressions upon such a purely external occa-
sion, it is done so with the awareness that in the struggle it is more impor-
tant to take action than to meditate. Nor can a brief moment of contempla-
tion, whose character is more subjective than objective, claim to be com-
prehensive. Rather, it is to be judged in the same way as the conclusion
from these two years: at the end of this war which we bear together, the
shared task of European peace awaits us.
Text B: DZN 10th May 1942, p.3
IN A STATE OF WAR
(1) It is not that we had wished for the Netherlands to be saddled with
the worst kind of war and all its conceivable consequences. (2) On the con-
trary, it would be worth a lot to us if many things were easier and simpler
in this country. (3) For that would be a sign that there were fewer worries
within the Reich as well. (4) But the Dutch as a whole do not yet in fact
know the meaning of war. (5) Indeed, they have not even properly under-
stood yet that they themselves are caught up in the most gigantic and far-
reaching confrontation of all time, and that they must take sides, one or
the other.
STRUCfURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 21
(6) They speak of war and really only mean the way in which they
were frightened to death by the five days of May 1940. (7) Some, to be
sure, were badly, indeed terribly stricken. (8) But all nine million? One
evening, they retired to bed protected by the Dutch armed forces and the
next morning they awoke behind German lines. (9) And quicker than
w?~d have bee~ the case with a prolonged defence of the country, the
military-grey uniforms returned home to their families. (10) For the Fuhrer
ge~erously g~ve the?1 their freedom. {11) Only a few days later, the
Reichskommissar arnved, accompanied by a civilian government that did
absolutely everything to satisfy the wishes of the Dutch. {12) The use of
terr~r by the oc:upying forces which the Jewish papers had prophesied -
nothing of the kind. (13) Dutch girls (Dutch: meisjes)S strolled along with
German soldiers; people sat in the cafes and laughed; in the evening one
raised one's tipple (Dutch: borrel), sat together cheerfully, and was able to
walk home on streets that were safe late at night. (14) All this did not have
to be so. (15) The freedom conceded to the Dutch was an expression of the
faith of the Reich in the healthy sense of reality attributed to the Dutch.
(16) If today all this is no longer as it once was; if one must be home
on the stroke of twelve; if the rations of potatoes, bread, meat and lard are
r~strictive; if the flow of liquor (Dutch: jenever) has almost run dry, and
cigars are sold at exorbitant prices - true, all these things may be an
expression of the war, but, in the end, they are rather harmless. {17) They
should no~ cause the esteemed esquires (Dutch: weledele mijnheeren) to
quarrel with th~ Germans, and to pretend to be irreconcilable. {18) For
never ~as the birth of a new era been initiated without sacrifice, just as
young life does ~ot .emerge painlessly and accidentally into the light of day.
(19) Others sacrifice much more than just their tipple (Dutch: borrel) and
blue smoke. {20) They stand before the newly emerging with the blood
they have but once to lose. (21) Yet, provoked by plutocratic-Bolshevist
Jewry, they do so gladly. {22) In the belief, nay, in the knowledge that it is
too late for a different solution to be found.
(23) We cannot force the Dutch to believe in the German victory. (24)
~e do not even make those who think differently hope for the German
victory. {25) But we have to expect that everyone, after two years, has
understood that the Netherlands, too, is in the thick of war. (26) Of a duel
between a new manifestation in the life of nations against an old demand-
ing extreme sacrifice. (27) So world-wide and significant is this struggle
that even the land of unlimited opportunities is beginning to recognize its
rather severe limitations. {28) In this regard, we do not want to neglect to
draw the attention of the Dutch to the fact that on the side of the Allies -
who, after all, as is well known, protect smaller nations against "fascist
aggression" - nations of nine million are not treated to such peaceable
negotiations on securing food, and on social and cultural matters. (29)
There, as the examples of South America or Iran show, one is simply told
to dance to their tune! (30) Yet the United States cannot claim to be saving
a culture from destruction. {31) For they have none. (32) The moloch of
22 CHRISTOPH SAUER STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 23

technology reigns over them just as over the soulless Soviets. a quotation ("the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany, which was
(33) "Germany fights for Europe!" (Dutch: Duitschland strijdt voor provoked by the behaviour of our enemies") - something which, from the
Europa!) is what the Dutch newspapers write every day above the German
Army report. (34) Because the Germans wish it to be so, many will say.
very outset, had been continuously repeated as the German reading and
Fine. But also because it is so! (35) Just as it is not possible to only take thus signals that this time the theme is to be different. Thus the repetition
care of Holland, since, owing to the bad foresight of past European politi- in text A of elements of the official discourse functions as an allusion to
cians, all of Europe depends on overseas supplies for its food- something German justifications of the attack of 10th May 1940, and cloaks the mem-
that England has always viewed with great joy, since this furnished her ory in authority. It is, as it were, the purpose of text A to negate any expec-
with the weapon of the blockade. (36) This example at once, however,
should show the Dutch whose side they are on today. (37) One does not
tation of an unequivocal theme, and, in announcing "their impressions", to
always belong to the party for which one took up arms. (38) The area in create a specific curiousity directed towards differentiating these texts from
which one lives dictates other alliances. (39) Curiously enough, small the usual ones. Instead of a compilation from the editors and the archives,
nations especially believe that they can ignore these by pointing out their the reader gets a sequence of "their impressions". The sign-board of the
weaknesses, thereby obtaining a licence for an opposing alignment. (40) introduction signals an intended rejection of other textual strategies and
However Holland is still chewing on these sins of their fathers today. (41)
Like Fra~ce, like Belgium or Greece. (42) Until Germany, the Axis, the
thus indicates that the exigencies of the moment demand different - and
Triple Alliance powers finally have led it out of the bottleneck in which too perhaps less explicitly "propagandistic" - forms of writing.
little grows and into which the bombs of the ruthless destroyers of the
world drop. 3.4 Textual strategies in text B: first mode of reading
(43) It is war which will also liberate Holland; it is peace which gagged
Europe. H .T. (translated by Andreas Michael)
Text B is, in the context of my discussion, the actual example of a lan-
guage-political procedure. It is one of seven examples, from which this par-
3.3 Text A and its function of directing reception
ticular text, owing to the great similarity of these examples, has been
selected somewhat a random. The subject of B is the current situation in
Text A might be viewed as setting the scene for the reader for the
the occupied country, which is suffering from an increasing scarcity of
entire article; it is the (boldfaced) introduction to the individual contribu-
resources of all kinds. All of the privations, and all of the measures of the
tions which follow. It plays on the suspected expectation of the occupier's
occupying power, are articulated in the term "war", although "struggle" is
reaction to the anniversary of the beginning of the war for the Netherlands,
nowhere spoken of. 6 The self-declared theme - already signalled by the
and transforms this expectation into a self-evident "duty" of the DZN. The
title - of the contribution, then, is this: the gradual change of the Dutch
importance of this duty, however, is devalued by the dichotomy between
situation into that of a war-like state.
"action" and "meditation". The reader thus expects a form of meditation
This message is presented in a very specific manner. It appears in the
which is characterized as being not very important, as "subjective". Text A
form of an argument: the occupier carries on a kind of dialogue with the
also addresses the question as to how comprehensive the subsequent indi-
occupied in which actual or virtual counterargument of the Dutch is
vidual contributions will be: it is obviously concerned with scaling down the
immediately refuted. All of this amounts to an imposition of the German
issue, presumably in order to avoid the thought of any definitive account.
perspective on the Dutch, who evidently see a different cause for the aggra-
In this way the DZN also avoids the precarious problem of the addressee of
vation of the situation. It is part of the physiognomy of this text that it
such an account: the Reich, the Dutch, the Party, or others. The basis of
adheres to the formulation "the Dutch", while at the same time addressing
assessment for the collection of articles that are introduced by text A is not
them as readers; similarly, a judge may speak of "the accused" although the
explicated for the reader; this gives rise to a certain tension, a void of
latter stands before him and might also be addressed in a different manner.
expectation to be filled by the texts to follow. Of course, text A also com-
On the one hand, the form of writing forces this mode of writing upon the
municates some official information, but it ~oes this mainly in the form of
DZN-journalist; on the other hand, it allows him to exploit a subtle oscilla-
24 CHRISTOPH SAUER
tion between the Dutch as "subject" and "object".
The exposition contained in sentences (1) to (5) is already directed
towards the conclusion, i.e. the "side" one is said to have to "take" (5). The
author, in so doing, starts with a bang; he simply denies that the Dutch pos-
sess any grasp of what is his own point of departure, namely "the meaning
of war". Thus the argument begins with a reproach which immediately
forces the opposing side into the defensive. The next section, (6) to (15),
briefly describes reminiscences of the "five days of May 1940" (6) and the
ensuing phase of the occupation, the "freedom" (15) the Dutch allegedly
had. The author idyllizes the gradual restructuring of the country under the
aegis of National Socialism as a generous privilege (cf. (14)) and an agre-
able surprise in view of their worst fears -for which others, namely "the
Jewish papers" and not the Dutch themselves, are held responsible. The
changing of the initial phase is the subject of section (16) to (22). Here,
there suddenly appears the term "sacrifice" (18, 19), whose reference, at
first, had been the rationing of food, but which is now directed towards
death. Compared to the latter, the restrictions imposed on life in the
occupied country appear small. Both in the second and in the third sections,
the journalist articulates a comparison with "graver" situations, in order to
be able to dismiss the changes as "harmless" (16): things might have been
much worse.
The fourth section, (23) to (32), turns to the "inner" condition of the
Dutch. The particular aim is to wrest from them the acknowledgement
"that the Netherlands, too, is in the thick of war" (25). What is at stake,
however, is clearly more than mere lip-service; for pre-war expectations
and previous thoughts are taken up, and, with reference to the occupation
policy of the Allies, presented as outmoded. The DZN is here trying to get
the occupied to admit that the German occupation is not as bad as all that.
The argument of "culture" (28, 30, 31, 32) in this draws on historical
stereotypes that are not particular to Nazi ideology. Indeed, it may be gen-
erally asserted that the explicitly ideological articulations one might expect
here are very much muted. Nevertheless, the fifth section, from (33) to
(41), starts out with them, albeit only in the form of a quotation from Dutch
papers, a form which makes it possible for a conflict between the formula-
tions imposed by the Germans and those the Dutch themselves would wish
to be acted out here. In the main, however, this section is concerned with
advocating a change of sides on the part of the Dutch, and to lead them
from the position of an enemy (37) into another, which can only be
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 25
localized very indirectly. In this regard, the formulation "on whose side
they are on today" is the key point: it permits a "factual" reading by evok-
ing the current inclusion of the Netherlands in the German continental
hegemony; but it may also be read as the intentional result of a decision in
which one "side" includes the refutation of the other "side". The final part
of the section, presenting the "bottleneck" (41) in supplies as the result of
the pre-war politics of the Netherlands and other occupied countries, con-
stitutes a justification. Thus the circle which also includes Sections 2 and 3
is completed: if the reason given there for the aggravation was "war" in a
general sense, then here it is also the fault of the countries affected, which
had all taken the wrong path in their food production. The final sentence,
as a section by itself (42), is a summary in which the "old" equation of
"peace = freedom" is substituted by the "new" equation of "war = free-
dom", and the terms "subjugation" and "coercion" are sedulously avoided.
The first passage through text B, then, reveals a review of pre-war
developments and developments in the occupation policy of the recent past,
a review in which the deterioration of the quality of life in the occupied
Netherlands is portrayed as ineluctable. The possibility of speaking of a
"crisis" is countered by the author by the use of the term "mistake", which
is said to name the real cause. Thus the occupier is acquitted, and an
attempt is made to prevent the reader from thinking that the clock might
still be turned back. It is notable that text B as a whole projects a tone of
irritation: from the outset, the reproach of being unable to imagine the real
meaning of "war" is addressed to the occupied, and in (4, 5) it takes on, as
it were, a life of its own, in spite of the concession to be found in (7); a
result of this is the final expectation that, even if only on this score, more
"war" would "balance the scales of justice".
3.5 Consensus-making and intervention: other modes of reading
The mise-en-scene of the "message" of the text strikes one as being
rather poorly developed and inconsistent. It is very obvious that the text
oscillates between a variety of focal points. This constitutes a contradiction
of the importance of the occasion of writing and of the degree of awareness
involved in this address, both of which, for instance, were evident in text A.
For this reason it would also be wrong merely to presume that the writer
had an off-day. In fact it is of little interest to speculate to what extent the
formulations are calculated; to proceed thus would at best only result in the
26 CHRISTOPH SAUER
question of what the intention of the author was. My approach to the con-
cept of a text focusses, by way of contrast, on the central question of which
specific reconstructions and operations of meaning are occasioned by the
text, and how these correspond to the ideological practice of fascism as an
occupying power. The fact that text B proceeds in a rather irregular fash-
ion, I take to be an indication of a specific mode of reading. The DZN here
jumps from one aspect to another, and is evidently able to expect the
reader to effect a corresponding argumentation. The moment this is
achieved, the reader will also have adopted as his own the perspective of
the text. This is altogether different from agreeing with or refuting the text;
the point, rather, is to activate the reader's memories of the first years of
occupation, to assimilate them into the text, and to reformulate them in the
light of new aspects.
The central perspective is predetermined; it is that of "war". Evi-
dently, however, this is not intended to mean that the Netherlands are to
become an actual theatre of war, for this would imply an Allied invasion.
The issue, rather, is to render infinite a restricted meaning of "war" -
which signifies an armed combat of military forces - , and thus to include
under the heading of "martial acts" forms of behaviour hitherto beyond the
concept of "war". Here one may detect a certain (but not more than that)
similarity with the concept of "total war" whose announcement was made
in a macabre spectacle by Goebbels in his infamous speech in the Berliner
Sportpalast. While "total war", especially in its articulation as a "totaliza-
tion of the war", is aimed at the most pervasive mobilization of men and
forces, the way in which "war" is here rendered infinite is a technique of
transforming meaning, a technique that enlarges the semantic range ( =
extent) of "war". The more comprehensive "war" becomes as a concept of
perception, the more it will extend over other aspects oflife. These aspects,
having become martial, cut off other, non-martial modes of behaviour, and
locate these "outside", that is, as something harmful to "war" and thus to
be refrained from. It is this restructuring of social experience towards which
the text is geared. The frequently mentioned counter-position shows what
the face of martial behaviour in the Netherlands is to look like: no more
complaining, strong action, the entering of new alliances, turning over a
new the page in history; in short: to support congenially the occupying
power. What is cloaked in the gown of argumentative dialogue is to be
calibrated to the martial pattern of order and obedience. 7 One of the pre-
requisites for this is a sanctioning power that is capable of enforcing obedi-
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 27
ence. To incre~se the violent measures of the occupier (which are already
pointed out here) would be to counteract the originally intended self-nazifi-
cation of the Netherlands. Therefore the text enacts, in its introduction of
the structure of "order and obedience", an intervention into the situation as
it has been till now, an intervention that transforms the experience of the
occupied: the dichotomy of "war" and "peace" that (in the textual descrip-
tion) determines most actions of the Dutch, now results in a new conjunc-
tion of these two concepts. Reactions to the wishes or orders of the occupier
can now only be articulated as obedience or as insubordination (with all its
attendant consequences). To continue to insist on "peace" amounts to a
behaviour that the occupier represents as criminal using all possible means.
A third stance, for instance that of a denigrating attitude such as charac-
terized the first phase of Dutch response to the occupation, will no longer
be tolerated by the Germans.
With the imposition of the pattern of "order and obedience", the text
-reacts to the most recent measures put into effect by the Nazis to transform
the Netherlands, measures that indeed document that the previously
hoped-for "voluntary falling into line" (Selbstgleichschaltung) had not been
successful. At the beginning of May, 1942, the so-called "Jewish Star"
(Judenstern) became compulsory after most Jews (especially in Amster-
dam) had already been herded together in ghetto-like conditions. This was
done in preparation for deporting, which commenced in the middle of 1942.
Only the few instances in the text in which there are anti-Semitic formula-
tions ("Jewish papers" (12), "plutocratic Bolshevist Jewry" (21)) allude to
these administrative measures of the Holocaust. More important still, how-
ever, is the excision of further possible formulations, which thus refers the
reader to his own recapitulations. This is also the case with the preparation
for the so-called "labour deployment" (Arbeitseinsatz), the combing-
through of Dutch factories in search of surplus workers who were to be for-
cibly deported to the Reich; this started in April 1942 (on the Arbeitseinsatz
in general cf. Herbert 1985). Here, too, readers only find underlying refer-
ences, which mainly refer to the "securing of food" (28) to which the
occupied themselves are to contribute in greater measure. The intervention
in existing conditions is in part articulated in ostentatious silence and in
deliberate vagueness, both of which transgress the self-erected frame of
argumentative dialogue and function as allusions and gaps. It is, further-
more, wholly congruous with this textual strategy that the explicitly ideolog-
ical should be so rare. Only in the sentences (18) to (22) do we find an
28 CHRISTOPH SAUER
ideological manner of speech, which encompasses "blood", the "birth of a
new era", "sacrifice", anti-Semitism and "faith". Now, here is an occasion
on which I feel it is not sufficient to speak merely of an abbreviation which
is (supposed to be) nullified by the reader in the act ofreading. In consider-
ation of the deliberations we have embarked upon thus far, I should like to
propose an interpretation that detects, at this point, a tendency to substi-
tute for an ideologization a militarization. This tendency is not yet fully
developed, although it is already dominant here. The renunciation of
explicitly ideological modes is not caused by a relaxation of pressure, let
alone by German resignation; on the contrary, this renunciation is opera-
tive as an exacerbation and "martialization". I thus ascribe to the sometimes
polemical tone a literal meaning, of reproach, of a scolding and reprimand-
ing of the Dutch, especially in (4, 5, 13, 14, 16, 17, 23, 24, 25, 33, 34, 38). It
is not irony- although this cannot be wholly excluded - that is to the fore
in these descriptions that are addressed to the occupied and report on some
of their modes of behaviour; it is a demagogic narrowing of perspective.
If one follows the language-political operations of meaning in text B,
then a war-like state in the occupied country is shown to be the only way to
continue the implementation of an occupation policy under the aegis of
Germany and National Socialism given the altered conditions of the inter-
nal and external situation, i.e. the course of the front-line. In the "syn-
tagma" of the "New Europe", the "peaceful" Netherlands are exchanged
for "martial" Netherlands, and this new "war"-paradigm entails further
rearrangements and displacements.
Apart from that of intervention, the text also pursues an aim of a con-
sensus between occupier and occupied, for the active participation of the
Dutch must continue if the most basic necessities of life are to be provided.
In order to bring about such a consensus, the text draws part of its authority
from Hitler and Seyss-Inquart by alluding to certain modes of formulation:
the superlatives "the most gigantic and wide-ranging confrontation of all
time" (5)" surely stem from Hitler and from the empathy of the DZN-jour-
nalist; while "this one or that" constitutes a paraphrase taken from various
speeches of Seyss-Inquart's, who was particularly concerned with banishing
from Dutch consciousness a "third way", and who on several occasions also
used the "duel" (26) to vilify an attitude of non-participation among the
Dutch (cf. Sauer 1984). The partial recognition of habitual modes of speech
of the various Fuhrer is a means of creating the consensus. Another is to
refrain from differentiating Dutchmen from one another in the text. The
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 29
absence of even the slightest mention of Dutch Nazis indicates the calcu-
lated decision made here by the DZN to omit a consideration of this issue,
which was a sensitive one for the occupied, who generally reacted rather
negatively towards Dutch collaborators with the Nazis. The general
stereotypes of the United States and of the Soviet Union (in 30, 31, 32) are
further elements in a consensus, elements whose acceptance is a foregone
conclusion for the author.
The appearance of Dutch words in the German text is of special
import: Meisjes (13), Borrel (13, 19), Jenever (16), weledele Mijnheren (17)
and Duitschland strijdt voor Europa (33). In these linguistic forms the DZN
demonstrates to the occupied its detailed knowledge of the situation and of
current general moods. In addition, there is a certain, measured spiteful-
ness on the part of the author, who is thus, within the predetermined prop-
aganda framework, able to allow a free rein to his subjectivity, and also
perhaps to make use of personal familiarity with the Dutch language, some-
thing not to be expected of all DZN-men. In this kind of textual strategy
the consensus - which after all presupposes a certain degree of parallelism
of opinion - crystallizes into an imposition of a single description which
constantly refers to the addressee. This procedure is especially versatile in
those instances where the Dutch conception of their own national charac-
teristics comes into play. This is the case in sentence (15): "The freedom
conceded to the Dutch was an expression of the faith of the Reich in the
healthy sense of reality attributed to the Dutch". The "healthy sense of
reality" is surely viewed as an adequate formulation of the emphasis on the
pragmatic (which, incidentally, is operative in Dutch politics even today!).
In this way the occupier also succeeded in keeping low the losses caused by
friction, and in prompting most Dutchmen to "go on". However, the "heal-
thy sense of reality" is given a special twist in the relative clause "which one
had attributed to the Dutch". "One", in this context, is unmistakably the
Reich.
More important, however, is that the image the Dutch had of them-
selves is thus made dependent upon another agency, upon someone who is
called upon to confirm the image. This makes the "healthy sense of reality"
the result of a relationship between the Dutch and that "someone", a
relationship governed at the very least by the condition that the Dutch
should be wellbehaved in the eyes of the Germans. In this way, the achieve-
ment of a consensus based on a "healthy sense of reality" is transformed
from a simple statement that might or might not be true into a linguistic
30 CHRISTOPH SAUER STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 31

action that compels whoever is so designated to bring about a correspon- Without such a search-strategy the task, in the main, would be to assign
dence between formulation and fact, in other words, to bow the Reich. The categories to elements in the text. It ought, however, to have become clear
actual case here is that "everyone, after two years", should have "under- that the categories themselves derive from ideological discourses and must
stood that the Netherlands, too, is in the thick of war" (25). The consensus thus equally be included in the scope of interpretation.
instrumentalized by the text draws the Dutch reader more strongly into the
operations of meaning in the text than would be the case were he not him- 4. Reading between the lines
self implicated; and these operations of meaning themselves constitute an
intervention in existing conditions. Techniques of camouflage such as were adopted by the "inner emigra-
Although the analysis of text B presented here has not been exhaus- tion" and later painstakingly uncovered in subsequent academic works in
tive, we may conclude by noting that the language-political procedures and order to document the opposition to the regime they were held to express
the textual strategies are rather complex, and that they operate through the are not the exclusive province of those texts. s Worse still, they are exploited
multidimensionality of the text. The force of the ideological here was by the Nazis and the NS-journalists themselves. All implicit appeals addres-
derived mainly from allusions to various fascist Fuhrer and from the sed to the reader in contributions to newspapers and magazines to read
emphasis on a military perspective. By considering socio-historical determi- especially between the lines - a specific regulation of reading, one might
nations of meaning it was possible to take adequately the situation of occu- say, inherent in these texts - are equally inherent in Nazi-texts. The NS-
pation into account in our analysis. I should like to conclude by presenting texts themselves exploit a culture of reading already in existence, a culture
the results in a diagram (see Figure 2). that equally provides for written forms of mistrust, of deception, of duplic-
ity, of closedness, of ambivalence and allusion. These procedures were not
Co111en1 change of reproach: Dutch people don't really know anything about war invented by the Nazis; but they were certainly exploited by them. Without
Dutch occupation since 1940: idyllic presentation a socio-historical linguistic analysis it will be impossible to distinguish Nazi-
situation = .9 comparison with other countries: Dutch change is harmless
.9 n i--:-:~---,..,._-=--=-.,..---,--..,--,,....-~-----i texts from camouflaged texts, unless one wishes to refer to the good or bad
by war and -., 1;l i-,...di_re_ct_a_dd_r_ess_i....;ng=-:_D_u_tc_h_m_us_t_ac_k......
no_w_Ie_d.=.ge_t_he_w_a_r_ _ _-i
8 1;' bottleneck in supplies as result of Dutch pre-war politics: intent of the author (and then it would be neccessary to divine his inten-
occupation now at least change of sides
Uwar is freedom H
tions). We must, however, accept what all the more recent work on the
ideological emphasizes, namely that the text, any text, to a great extent
Mise-en-scene (dialogical) a tone of irritation: it is the war
argumentation which brings the Dutch to their senses eludes the authority of its author, that it becomes independent. Only in
of one German and reduces the occupier's problems considering other contemporary texts and discourses, then, is it possible to
to the Dutch
reconstruct with any kind of comprehensiveness the field of meanings
Language policy central perspective of the 'war': order and obedience as new social experience inscribed into the text by the author, and the way in which the text itself
lthology Iintervention ~ representation of non-participation as criminalt . . . .
polemic as 'martiahzatmn'
socially processes this field of meanings. Thus the technique of reading
- ideologization by militarization between the lines is a minimum condition to be satisfied by any science of
F ~u;h~rlty ;;fHlt~;a--;.d se;s~-In~~a~- - - - - l- -----------
j~--;.~;s;;;m~kl;g the "text", and by any attempt to examine linguistic actions as "texts" in
- Dutch words in German text S"healthy sense of reality" their historical or present circumstances. In this task, it is not possible to
set, once and for all, norms by which one might distinguish with any cer-
Figure 2: Co-occurence of textual strategies in text B (DZN 10 May 1942, p. 3)
tainty the "nazistic" from the "democratic"; they have to be developed for
each individual case.
The multiple mode of reading, in the form in which it has been
demonstrated here, is necessary to instigate the "movement" required in
order to trace NS-language policy and ideological combinations of texts.
 32 CHRISTOPH SAUER
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I presented some parts of this article in Dutch at the Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht in a series of lec-
tures on "Fascism: Ideology and Language" in March 1986. I would like to thank Joaquin Rico,
Utrecht, for some comments and important discussions. Special thanks are due to Andreas
Michael for translating my text.
NOTES
1. I shall confine my discussion here to the historical National Socialism and its (ideological)
functioning as an occupying power. In this respect, my discussion of the relation between
language and ideology focusses on a case-study whose potential for being generalized is
perhaps limited. It is, however, a case-study having a decisive influence on our notions,
academic and otherwise, of how ideology and the ideological function. More particularly,
we must today (1986) take into account that, in current political debates, any reference to
historical fascism itself contributes to the ideologization of the discussion. To cite but one
I example from the Netherlands: the party that is mainly known for its hostile stance
towards foreigners and for its ethnocentrism, the "Centrumpartij", is termed "fascist" by
its opponents; but this party itself reacts to the actions - such as demonstrations, riots
and disruptions of its events - undertaken by these opponents by reproaching the latter
with the use of "fascist methods". The inflationary use of the label "fascist" documents
how much the ideological is constituted in each case by already-existing ideological ele-
ments.
2. In this analysis l use the term "the ideological" rather than, for instance, "ideology". I do
so because I view "ideology" as a general social sphere, which nourishes the discussions
about desired or criticized conditions in the society concerned. Ideology, in a sense, lends
itself to all sorts of ideological ends, whereas a specific form of the ideological arises only
from the arrangement or combination of specific ideological elements. In order to clarify
this difference between the ideological material (= ideology) and the specific form (in
which, for instance, fascism manifests itself), I propose to term the specific form the
ideological (cf. Haug 1980).
3. In his excellent study Language and the State Coulmas (1985) focusses on the insuffi-
ciently realized theoretical pre-conditions of descriptions of language planning. His main
conclusion is that the determination of language as a "fait social" (Saussure) has till now
not been realized; instead, too much attention has been given to isolated aspects. My
term of "linguistic relations" is intended, even in its formulation, to emphasize that what
is at stake is not just language as a vehicle of communication, but also the establishment
of identity; language as an instrument of knowledge; and a comparatively independent
medium upon which different aspirations are (or may be) projected.
4. The DZN was published (7 times a week) as a daily newspaper with a circulation of
approximately 50.000 copies, which was comparable to that of the so-called quality news-
papers which the DZN, even its external appearance, strove to emulate. More particu-
larly, the DZN was very quick to adopt the use of photographs (from the archives, if no
recent pictures were available) which in those days was habitual in Dutch newspapers.
(cf. Hoffmann 1972; Hirschfeld 1983; Sauer 1983. A general discussion of occupation
newspapers is to be found in Hale 1964). However, we do not yet have detailed examina-
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 33
tions of the function and role of papers analogous to the DZN in the occupied European
countries.
5. Each appearance in the English translation of "(Dutch: ... )" signals the presence in the
German original of Dutch words; the author can safely assume that these words, since
they are very common words and/or typical formulations for current events, will be intel-
ligible to his readers.
6. Sentence (26) features the expression "duel", first in a metaphorical form ("between a
new manifestation in the life of nations against an old"); later it is echoed as a "struggle"
(27). Furthermore, even the choice of the expression "duel" has a language-political
motivation: it disarticulates the war against three enemies, or on two fronts, which the
Reich was surely afraid of in 1942, and thus corresponds to the ideological equation of the
Allies with the "plutocratic-Bolshevist Jewry" (21).
7. This also explains the Prussian officers' mess tone of militaristic phrases such as "wished
for the Netherlands to be saddled" (1), "frightened to death" (6), "dance to the tune"
(29), "chew on the sins" (39). A one-dimensional textual analysis would here speak only
of an "unevenness of style", while what is meant goes much further: the new dimension
of a military perception of the hitherto peaceful Netherlands.
8. Cf. Stolzenburg (1957) as one of several examples.
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APPENDIX
Text A: DZN 10.5.1942 p. 3
NACH ZWEI JAHREN
Am 10. Mai 1940 sprang der Funke des Krieges, der sich bis dahin im Westen nur
wenig von einem Waffenstillstand unterschieden hatte, auch iiber die Grenzen der
Niederlande.
Pr. Amsterdam, 10. Mai
Noch ist Krieg in Europa und in der Welt. In einem gigantischen Endkampf sind
die VOiker, die sich als Trager wahrer Zivilisation fiihlen, angetreten gegen das Angel-
sachsentum und die zerstorenden Miichte des Bolschewismus. Zwei Jahre sind heute
36 CHRISTOPH SAUER
seit der durch das Verhalten unserer Feinde provozierten Besetzung der Niederlande
durch Deutschland vergangen. Es kann nicht Aufgabe des Augenblicks sein,
Rechenschaft zu geben fiber all das, was in der friedlichen Arbeit in diesem Lande
geleistet wurde. Wenn wir trotzdem einer Reihe von Mitarbeitem das Wort geben, um
aus einem rein iiusseren Anlass uns einige personliche Eindriicke wiederzugeben, so
geschieht das in dem Bewusstsein, dass es mitten im Werk, mitten in Arbeit und Kampf
wichtiger ist, zu handeln als zu meditieren. Bin kurzes Besinnen, das mehr subjektiven
als objektiven Charakter triigt, kann auch keinen Anspruch auf Vollstiindigkeit erge-
ben. Es ist vielmehr im gleichen Sinne zu werten, wie das Fazit dieser zwei Jahre: Am
Ende des Krieges, den wir gemeinsam tragen, steht die gemeinsame europiiische
Friedensaufgabe.
Text B: DZN 10.5.1942 p. 3
ES HERRSCHT KRIEGSZUSTAND
(1) Nicht, dass wir den Niederlanden den Krieg in schiirfster Form und alle nur
denkbaren Folgen an den Hals wiinschten. (2) Im Gegenteil: Wir giiben etwas darum,
wenn vieles leichter und einfacher ware hierzulande. (3) Denn das wiire ein Zeichen
dafiir, dass es auch im Reich weniger Sorgen giibe. (4) Aber - die Hollander in ihrer
Gesamtheit wissen ja gar nicht, was Krieg bedeutet. (S) Ja, sie haben noch nicht einmal
recht begriffen, dass sie in die gewaltigste und weltweiteste Auseinandersetzung aller
Zeiten selbst mitverwickelt sind, dass sie Position beziehen miissen - bier oder da.
(6) Sie reden vom Krieg und meinen eigentlich nur einen Schreck, den ihnen die
fiinf Tage im Mai 1940 in die Knochen jagten. (7) Einige gewiss traf es schwer, fiirchter-
lich sogar. (8) Aber die Gesamtheit der neun Millionen: Sie ging eines Abends im
Schutz der niederliindischen Wehrmacht schlafen und erwachte am anderen Morgen
hinter den deutschen Linien. (9) Und schneller als im Falle einer langen Verteidigung
des Landes kehrten die Feldgrauen in ihren Familienkreis zuriick. (10) Denn der Fuhrer
schenkte ihnen grossziigig die Freiheit. (11) Mit dem Reichskommissar zog schon Tage
spiiter eine loyale Verwaltung ein, die alles, aber auch alles zur Befriedigung niederliin-
discher Wiinsche tat. (12) Der von den Judenbliittem prophezeite Terror der Besat-
zungsmacht - keine Rede davon. (13) Die Meisjes flanierten Arm in Arm mit den
deutschen Soldaten, man sass in den Cafes und lachte, hob abends seinen Borre! an den
Mund, hockte gemiitlich zusammen und konnte zu spiiter Stunde auf sicheren Strassen
den Heimweg antreten. (14) Das alles hiitte nicht so zu sein brauchen. (15) In der
Freiheit, die man den Holliindem gewiihrte, zeigte sich das Vertrauen des Reichs in den
gesunden Sinn fiir Realitiit, den man den Niederlanden nachsagte.
(16) Wenn das nun heute nicht mehr alles so ist wie damals, wenn man Schlag zwolf
zu Hause sein muss, Kartoffel-, Brot- und Fleischrationen keine grossen Spriinge
erlauben, der Jeneverstrom beinahe versiegt ist und Zigarren zu Phantasiepreisen
gehandelt werden, so sind alle diese Dinge Ausdruck des Krieges, aber immerhin noch
recht harmlose. (17) Sie sollten fiir die weledelen Mijnheren keinen Grund abgeben, um
mit den Deutschen zu hadem, die Unversohnlichen zu spielen. (18) Denn nocb nie ist
die Geburt einer neuen Zeit ohne Opfer eingeleitet worden, so wie auch junges Leben
nicht schmerzlos und von ungefiihr unter die Sonne tritt. (19) Andere bringen grossere
Opfer als den Verzicht auf Borre! und blauen Dunst. (20) Sie stellen sich vor das wer-
STRUCTURES OF CONSENSUS-MAKING AND INTERVENTION 37
dende Neue mit ihrem Blut, das sie nur einmal zu vergiessen haben. (21) Aber sie tun
es, herausgefordert von dem plutokratisch-bolschewistischen Judentum, gem. (22)
Glaubend, ja wissend, dass eine andere LOsung nicht mehr gefunden werden kann.
(23) Wir konnen die Hollander nicht zwingen, an den deutschen Sieg zu glauben.
(24) Wir veranlassen jene, die anders denken, nicht einmal, auf den deutschen Sieg zu
hoffen. (25) Aber wir konnen von ihnen alien erwarten, dass sie nach zwei Jahren end-
lich begriffen haben, dass auch die Niederlande mitten im Krieg stehen. (26) In einem
Zweikampf einer neuen gegen eine alte Erscheinungsform im Leben der Volker, der
schwerste Opfer aufgibt. (27) So weltweit und bedeutungsvoll ist dieser Kampf, dass
selbst das Land der unbegrenzten Moglichkeiten seine recht engen Grenzen zu sehen
beginnt. (28) Wir mochten nicht unterlassen, die Niederliinder in diesem Zusam-
menhang darauf aufmerksam zu machen, dass auf Seiten der Alliierten, die ja
bekanntlich die kleinen Volker von der "faschistischen Aggression" schiitzen, mit Neun-
Millionen-VOlkern nicht so friedlich iiber die Sicherung der Emiihrung, soziale und kul-
turelle Fragen verhandelt wird. (29) Dort heisst es - siehe Siidamerika oder Iran -
einfach, nach deren Pfeife zu tanzen. (30) Dabei konnen die Vereinigten Staaten nicht
fiir sich in Anspruch nehmen, eine_Kultur vor der Vernichtung zu bewahren. (31) Denn
sie besitzen keine. (32) Der Moloch Technik beherrscht sie ebenso wie die seelenlosen
Sowjets.
(33) "Duitschland strijdt voor Europa!", schreiben die niederliindischen Zeitungen
tiiglich fiber den deutschen Wehrmachtsbericht. (34) Weil die Deutschen es so wollen,
werden viele sagen. Gut. Aber auch, weil es so ist! (35) Ebenso wie nicht nur fiir Hol-
land gesorgt werden kann, da dank einer schlechten Voraussicht der ehemaligen
europaischen Politiker nahrungsmittelmiissig ganz Europa von iiberseeischen Zufuhren
abhiingig ist - das hat England stets sehr gem gesehen, denn es gab ihm die ~lockade
waffe in die Hand. (36) Das Beispiel gerade sollte den Holliindern aber ze1gen, auf
welcher Seite sie heute stehen. (37) Man gehOrt nicht immer zu der Partei, auf deren
Seite man die Waffen erhoben hat. (38) Der Raum, in dem man lebt, diktiert andere
Bindungen, an denen merkwiirdigerweise gerade kleine Volker unter dem Hinweis auf
ihre Schwiiche, die einen Freibrief fiir gegenteilige Ausrichtung abgeben soil, vorbeige-
hen zu konnen glauben. (39) An diesen Siinden der Yater aber kaut Holland heute. (40)
Gleich Frankreich, gleich Belgien oder Griechenland. (41) Bis Deutschland, die Achse,
die Dreipaktmiichte es endgiiltig herausgefiihrt haben aus dem Engpass, in dem zu
wenig wiichst und in den die Bomben der gewissenlosen Weltzerstorer fallen.
(42) Es ist der Krieg, der auch Holland die Freiheit bringt, wiihrend der Frieden
Europa knebelte.
H.T.
 Language policy during the fascist period:
the case of language education

Gabriella Klein
University of Naples

Introduction

The seemingly asystematic character of language policy (LP) during

the two decades of fascism in Italy makes one wonder whether it can cor-
rectly be defined as an LP. However, through comparison of the processes
of other LPs on which sociolinguistic studies are available today, and on the
basis of thorough-going research into and interpretion of first-hand sources
from that era (particularly reviews, newspapers, archive documents, laws
and decrees, dictionaries), I would like to develop the thesis that fascism
followed a precise LP design.
Three main steps can be identified in the regime's LP: (i) in public edu-
cation fascism attempted to create a policy of linguistic unification, which
bordered on dialectophobia (Klein 1984a, b); (ii) simultaneously, but in a
more accentuated manner, the idea "one nation = one language" was
developed. This exercised pressure on the principal minority languages
both in the schools and in public and even in private use; (iii) the effort not
only to achieve but also to mantain this ideal linguistic unity culminated in
an autarchic LP with regard to so-called "exotisms" (Klein 1981, 1982 and
Raffaelli 1983).
The following considerations will provide a general scheme of LP pro-
cesses (Section 1), illustrating its specific application to the field of language
education during fascism (Section 2) and synthesizing the fascist LP inter-
ventions in other fields (Section 3).
40 GABRIELLE KLEIN
1. Theoretical and methodological framework
From a methodological point of view I will refer to sociolinguistic
studies on LPs and thus a general series of aspects and sub-aspects of the
problem.
1.1 The first aspect is the definition of the norm, including a preliminary
examination of the sociolinguistic repertoire of a given speech community
(e.g. according to the well-known distinctions among functional categories
such as Standard, Classical, Vernacular, Dialect, Creole, Pidgin, Artificial,
Xized Y (mixed but non-reduced variety, like Pidgin, of group usage),
Interlanguage (mixed variety like the former, of individual usage),
Foreigner Talk (variety used by native speakers with foreigners); (Stewart
1972 and re-elaboration by Bell 1978: 152-157). The definition of the norm
encompasses the distinctions among various language statuses reflecting dif-
ferent governmental attitudes (unique official, adjunctive official, regional
official, encouraged, tolerated, discouraged languages, and one could add
"forbidden" languages). Various fu.nctions of the normative variety must
furthermore be specified: language of wider communication for external
and/or internal use, language for educational use or common teaching
object in formal education and/or medium of instruction (possibly varying
with different levels), language of religion (Bell 1978: 182-184).
1.2 The second aspect is definition of the type of language planning. It is
possible here as well to identify a series of sub-aspects. In deciding on the
type of language planning to apply, one must distinguish between attemp-
ted LPs which in a micro- and intra-linguistic perspective aim at the whole
language system or a part of it (Kniipfer and Macha 1971: 72), and other
attempts which in a macro- and extra-linguistic perspective aim at all lan-
guage varieties in a community or at one of these. The extra-linguistic
perspective deals therefore not with the linguistic code itself but with the
function of one or more linguistic varieties in their functional distribution
(pragmatic and social) in the community. In language planning a policy-
approach can be identified and further subdivided into various standardiza-
tion processes according to whether the problem is the choice of a code ( =
constitution of an official language), the stability of the code(= codifica-
tion) or the functional extension of the chosen code ( = differentiation).
Then there is the cultivation-approach, whose problem is differentiation
LANGUAGE POLICY DURING THE FASCIST PERIOD 41
within the code itself; a particular case of this is linguistic purism (Clyne
1975: 144-145).
In defining the norm of usage, one must distinguish different standardi-
zation options: formal (language behaviour. codified by the community of
users) vs informal (uncodified but sociaily preferred norms of usage);
monocentric (single set of universally accepted norms) vs. polycentric (dif-
ferent coexistent sets of norms); endonormative standardization (based
upon native models of usage) vs exonormative standardization (based upon
foreign models of usage) (Stewart 1972: 534 and note 5).
1.3 It is important to consider the "norm establisher", whether individuals
or institutions, their motivations, interests and measures of intervention.
Here it is useful to distinguish between decisional and executive organisms,
intra- and extra-governmental, such as politicians, writers, journalists,
academics, and the clergy. Kniipfer and Macha (1971: 73-75) adduce four
types of motivation: (i) aestethic viewpoint, (ii) simplification of communi-
cation by language rules (e.g. in multilingual communities, the establish-
ment of one language, a conglomerate or a completely new language as
standard); (iii) normalization of technical languages as means of nationaliza-
tion; (iv) language as means of social control (normalization of connota-
tions and values aimed at influencing speakers' thought processes). A fifth
type of motivation could be national integration, which will be indispensa-
ble in this study.
These measures of intervention are carried out using means such as pre-
scriptive laws and models to follow (e.g. spelling and grammar books, liter-
ary works and translations, movies, plays, journals, newspapers etc.). The
choice of the means determines the area(s) of intervention. As a result it is
possible to intervene in specific areas such as education, publishing
activities, the cinema, theater, radio and television, and mass communica-
tion in general, industry, agriculture and so on.
One must remember, furthermore, that in every LP process there are
pressure groups such as professional teachers' associations, typewriter
and computer designers, editors in general and textbook writers in particu-
lar, journalists, ideologists, etc.
1.4 The fourth aspect regards the application range: one must distinguish
whether the LP refers to a whole language community or to a part. It is
important to consider that adaptation to the norm is influenced by factors
42 GABRIELLE KLEIN
such as the prestige and power of the "norm-establishers", fear of sanc-
tions, conformism, and the speakers' willingness to identify with the norm-
establishers. (Kniipfer and Macha 1971: 76).
The description of this aspect should always be preceded by an analysis
of the speech community type, distinguishing between endoglossic, exoglos-
sic and mixed states (Bell 1978: 170-171). In endoglossic states the official
national language is the mother tongue of the majority of the population;
this may imply problems of language minorities and of immigrants who
bring with them non-standard varieties of other languages. Exoglossic
states are extremely heterogeneous linguistically; one of the varieties may
assume the function of lingua franca, but is not accepted as official lan-
guage, so that an extraneous language may be necessary to fulfil this func-
tion. In mixed states an indigeneous language may satisfy the function of a
national variety and a non-indigeneous one may become an official lan-
guage. One must, furthermore, identify possible situations of diglossia and/
or social bilingualism within a language community.
1.5 An exhaustive analysis would require an evaluation of the success of
any LP, although this is very difficult to measure. In this regard one could
refer to the studies on interaction, in LP processes, between sentimental
and instrumental forces having integrative or disintegrative effects (Kelman
1972 and Fishman 1971), as well as to the studies on methods of evaluating
success or failure in language planning (McNamara 1971 and Rubin 1972).
2. LP in schools
In a multilingual society with a high rate of dialectophony and illiter-
acy, a totalitarian regime, like the fascist regime in Italy (1923-1943), can be
expected to consider establishing an official and unifying language norm.
To reach this objective, schools as the principal acculturation agencies
became the focus of attention for the fascist regime: precise language edu-
cation interventions permitted formal, monocentric and endonormative
standardization. Socio-political control and national integration rep-
resented the motivational forces in this operation.
Instruction in and through the first language as well as second-
language teaching were important in the socio-political formation of the
student, especially after the consolidation of power in the 1930s. Therefore,
I will examine the response of the fascist state to the problem of language
LANGUAGE POLICY DURING THE FASCIST PERIOD 43
norm as well as the role it gave to Latin and modern foreign languages.
The two most decisive points in the conception of language education
in the elementary school were the ministerial programs of 1923 (minister
Gentile) and of 1934 (minister Ercole). The progressive exclusion of dialect
from educational programs was accompanied by the increasing importance
of grammar teaching. This pro-grammar strategy was also important in
teaching Latin as a language which became a model for the learning of Ita-
lian as well as of modern foreign languages.
2.1 The language of education and the language/dialect issue in the elemen-
tary school.
In order to resolve the problem of illiteracy in the early 1920s, adult educa-
tion followed the so-called "from dialect to language" method (Klein 1986:
41, note 24), which was subsequently adopted at the elementary school
level. The students' dialect represented the point of departure aiming at the
acquisition of Italian as the "national" language; the ultimate aim was Ita-
lian as a unifying language variety. This point is clearly illustrated in the
wording of art.4, para.l, R.D. (Royal Decree) October 1, 1923, n.2185:
"In all elementary schools of the Kingdom instruction is to be imparted in
the language of the State". This paragraph remained unchanged in the so-
called "retouches" to the Gentile Reform carried out by the minister Fedele
(R.D. January 22, 1925, n.432, art.31, para.1 and T.U. [Testo Unico]
approved by R.D. February 5, 1928, n.577, art.33).
The inspiration behind this paragraph is naturally mirrored in ministe-
rial programs for the elementary schools and the relationship between the
two varieties, dialect and the standard language, is conceived as a unilateral
dependance: the M.O. (Ministerial Ordinance) November 11, 1923 prop-
osed, beginning at the 3rd year of elementary school, "exercises in transla-
tion from dialect" (see also art.8, section 4 of the R.D. October 1, 1923,
n.2185; art.27 of T.U. approved by R.D. January 22, 1925, n.432; and
art.29 of T.U. approved by T.D. February 5, 1928, n.577) in order to ena-
ble the student to gain a mastery of Italian, the sole recognized aim.
This unilateral conception attributes a subordinate role to the dialect
variety which is already stated in didactic prescriptions for the 2nd year
such as "methodic and graduated exercises in dictation, aimed specifically
at combatting spelling errors which are more frequent when suggested by
the dialect" (M.O. November 11, 1923). The programs of 1934 (M.D.
44 GABRIELLE KLEIN
[Ministerial Decree] September 28, 1934) no longer refer to these "exer-
cises in translation from dialect" but retain the prescription of dictation
exercises in the 2nd year to "combat spelling errors which are more fre-
quent when favored by the dialect". Furthermore, while the M.O. of
November 11, 1923 refers, for the 4th year, to "little lexical exercises: (a)
word families in the Italian language; (b) annotations of dialect sentences
and words most difficult to translate", this second part has been removed in
the 1934 programs. The 1923 programs contained, for the 5th year, "or-
ganic notions of Italian grammar, with particular emphasis on syntax, and
systematic reference to dialect", whereas the 1934 version lacks this "refer-
ence to dialect".
Up until 1928 the Ministerial Commission on textbooks, whose reports
and lists are published in the Bollettino Ufficiale della Pubblica Istruzione
(title changed in 1929 to B. U. della Educazione Nazionale), published lists
of primers on regional culture and books of exercises in translation from
dialect (Circular n.90, October 18, 1924; M.D. June 19, 1925). And in 1928
the Commission announced the adoption of a "unified state textbook"
(testo unico di stato), criticizing most of the "books on regional culture" for
"not corresponding to teaching programs, and for lacking freshness, reada-
bility and attractive variety" (M.D. November 20, 1928).
As the pre-1934 programs did not reject dialect in toto, the debate at
that time in educational reviews on the language/dialect issue focused exclu-
sively on the elimination of the interference of dialect elements in Italian
(Caimo 1926: 34). From 1934 on, when programs no longer took dialect
into account as a point of departure for the acquisition of Italian, the educa-
tional debate became more rigidly anti-dialect. This attitude of dialect sub-
ordination was now taken to extremes, although dialect and the reality it
expressed were still recognized: even though its existence could not be
negated, a new language variety was to be superimposed on it (Laurenti
1935a: 322). The negation of dialect figures as a negation of the reality it
represents (Parente 1937: 388), and by the 1940s the objective of language
unification acquired an explicitly political connotation (Villa 1941).
The impossibility of dispensing with dialect as a point of departure,
since it is the students' mother tongue, is shown in a Circular from 1940
containing "instructions for use of the 1st year reading book"; point V
refers to an?"examination of illustrations in beginners' readers; the child
learns to say in a clear and precise manner the names of the objects or ani-
mals illustrated, translating them from dialect" (Circ. n.2, December 30,
1940).
LANGUAGE POLICY DURING THE FASCIST PERIOD 45
2.2 Conception of grammar in first-language education
Language unification, whose forum during the regime was the school,
seemed possible by centering language teaching on grammatical instruc-
tion. The concept of grammar teaching underwent a substantial change
from the 1923 programs to those of 1934, even though superficially these
changes may not seem fundamental. The 1923 programs for grammar
teaching were formulated in a relatively generic manner, suggesting an
inductive learning process, while the 1934 programs were more specific,
prescribing exercises modelled on grammar rules.
The debate which developed around the question of grammar teaching
revealed its essential importance during that period. Following the Gentile
Reform, grammar teaching based on definitions and abstract rules, a gram-
mar "separate from what was a living, spoken or written language", was
criticized, although no one conceived of the abolition of grammar itself
(Gabrielli 1924: 433). The contrary opinion proposed inducing the student
to discover the rules (Gabrielli 1924: 434). One of those who spoke out
against grammatical definitions was Padellaro (1927a and b), who defended
exercises which he believed to be indispensable in the student's learning
process "to express himself as an adult", because only by means of exercises
could he acquire "the technique of this expression" (Padellaro 1928b: 3; see
also 1928a). Various educational exponents supported the opinion that:
up to the 5th year grammar teaching should be practical and experimental,
via correction by the teacher, reading, spontaneous observation by the stu-
dent, practical translation from dialect, without, let me repeat without,
any specific notion of grammar (Montiani 1931: 1169).
But even though following the 1923 programs many educationalists were
opposed to the use of grammar books and to grammar itself, the review La
Scuola fascista published an anonymous article which reveals that already
by 1927 "the grammatical zeal" had come to the fore again; the article
affirms that "without grammar, language cannot be learned" (Purus ...
1927).
After the 1934 programs, this debate changed definitively. The 1923
abolition of the grammar book was criticized, and the consensus was
that "the new programs seemed to give it [grammar teaching] more
space; furthermore, there is a return to the use of a specific book"
(Laurenti 1935b: 338). While before 1934 grammar had been considered
mainly a subject to be mastered (A.C. 1927: 261), it was now defined as
46 GABRIELLE KLEIN
"the basis of the language and not a superfluous complement as, unfortu-
nately, it is still often considered" (Pucci 1936: 414).
2.3 The role of Latin as a language model
This evolution from an anti-grammar to a pro-grammar concept of language
teaching can also be seen in second-language teaching, taking its impetus
from Latin. The teaching of Latin had played a central role in the formation
of the student since the time of the Gentile Reform. The classical orienta-
tion of the 1923 Reform considered the teaching of this language to be the
"foundation of classical education". So "where it is taught, it must deter-
mine the characteristic direction at school; it must be the nucleus of the
forma mentis, the hinge of spiritual orientation" (Mondolfo 1923: 169).
Finally "a beneficial effect on the learning of modern languages" was attri-
buted to Latin (Vignola 1927: 543; see also Mittner 1933: 211). This con-
cept, according to the humanistic method, encompassed not only the study of
Latin literature but also "the exercise of speaking, reading, expressing one-
self and composing directly in Latin" (Barbera 1925b: 232).
In this case as well, the teaching of grammar was defined, by its critics,
as "pedantic" and a "grammatical fetish" (Barbera 1924a: 122); on the
other hand, a proposal was made to substitute the translation from Italian
by direct composition in Latin (Gianola 1928: 428).
School programs of 1923 contain no explicit indications on grammar
teaching; only one Circular by Minister Fedele (n.6, January 30, 1926)
clarifies that "no language examination program includes any abstract
grammar thesis". It adds however that "every language and literature
examination covers the domain of grammar which is a composite discipline,
since grammar, style, and thought are an inseparable unit" (see also Dal-
masso 1940: 39). The controversy about the teaching of grammar in Latin
and in all other languages was thus silenced. Finally in 1936, the school pro-
grams reinserted grammar into all language courses, including Italian.
Simultaneously, or perhaps as a result (in the late 1930s), this object of
Latin teaching acquired a new significance, that of a model of civilization:
"grammar should be studied along those fundamental lines which represent
the strong backbone of this language of achievers, which is what the
Romans were" (Dalmasso 1940: 41). In the programs, Latin was described
as: "the language which had the virtue of expressing man and humanity
both in sovereign dignity ap.d in lucid and harmonious spirituality" (Dal-
LANGUAGE POLICY DURING THE FASCIST PERIOD 47
masso 1940: 46). Studying this language was equated with studying its
grammar, and the grammatical method was considered "the only method
possible for a profitable instruction of this language" (Tescari 1941: 182).
The School Charter by Minister Bottai reconfirmed the preeminent
position of the study of Latin ("Dichiarazione" XIX and XXIII of the Char-
ter): "Latin poses not only the problem of Latin itself, (... ], but of the
whole of education" (Bottai 1942~317). This minister maintained that the
"massification" of general education and its decadence were consequences
of the decline in the study of Latin: "Latin, as we know, is for the select
few" (Bottai 1942: 319; see also Latino... 1931, Galdi 1931 and
Rifiorimento ... 1932).
These observations seem to suggest that Latin should maintain an elite
character: if it were disseminated too widely it would lose its role as a
model for Italian and other modern languages, a model in that it is the
expression of the Roman Empire whose magnificence represented an
example for the fascist "Empire".
2.4 The political significance of foreign language
With the Gentile Reform, the teaching of grammar had experienced a crisis
not only in Latin but also in modern foreign languages. The 1923 ministerial
programs replaced it with "intuitive and practical" teaching (Alfero 1941:
349). The teaching of modern languages, furthermore, "had to lose its old,
exclusively utilitarian character and assume an educational value" (Min.
Ed. Naz. 1941: 259). A remedy to this crisis was seen in updating courses
abroad for foreign language teachers (Vignola 1928: 389-391). In fact the
Ministry of Public Education (Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione), recog-
nizing the importance of foreign language instruction, suggested govern-
ment funding for such courses, and proposed to increase the number of
foreign language teaching positions in middle schools (ACS, PCM 1929,
f.5.5, n.6263 (2)).1
It is interesting to note that the creation of these additional positions
had the essential purpose of reversing the ratio between French and English
teaching positions, French having previously enjoyed an enormous preva-
lence. However, families continued in their preference for French, and a
further problem was the high number of teachers trained in this subject. In
1938 the Ministry made a further attempt, again reducing the number of
French teaching positions, and Mussolini ordered Bottai to demote French
48 GABRIELLE KLEIN
to an optional subject (ACS, PCM 1938, f.5.3, n.5502). This reduction
made way for an increase in German teaching positions.
In spite of the formative importance attributed to the learning of mod-
em languages in view of the "intense and powerful policy of imperial
expansion" (Alfero 1941: 352), Bottai's School Charter abolished the teach-
ing of foreign languages in the middle school, inserting them later, once stu-
dents had thoroughly learned both Italian and Latin grammar. This seem-
ingly contradictory decision is understandable in view of the fact that the
Charter reintroduced grammar as the basis for all language learning, and
recognized Latin grammar as grammar par excellence.
Not before the 1940s did the political and cultural relevance of modem
languages become accentuated; a confirmation of this was the extra-
scholastic initiatives to encourage foreign language learning. The decisive
political role by now acquired by modem language teaching is evident in
the addition to the four principal languages (German, English, French,
Spanish) of Arabic which was becoming necessary in view of relations with
the African colonies.
In conclusion, language teaching policy in the schools can be said to
have constituted not so much the elaboration of didactic techniques, as an
implementation of LP for which the school represented an indispensable
route to the regime's three objectives: (a) to establish a language norm
through the teaching of Italian, thus creating a medium for instruction,
whereby dialectophony and related illiteracy could be diminished; (b) to
use Latin as a teaching object to constitute a language model for both the
language of instruction (i.e. Italian) and foreign languages; (c) to establish
a numerical ratio among modem languages as objects of instruction, on the
basis of their political utility.
3. Did an LP exist during fascism?
The theoretico-methodological framework and the heuristic data (like
those presented here and in Klein 1986) make it possible to define more
precisely the type of LP during fascism.
As for the sociolinguistic repertoire of the speech community (i.e. the
speakers inside the political territory) it consisted of at least three types of
varieties: one of which was standard Italian, another vemacular2 and a
third, dialect or regi9nal Italian. A standardized Italian (Bertoni-Ugolini
1939), which in fact did not exist, was supposed to serve as the norm for the
I _Uni . I
LANGUAGE POLICY DURING THE FASCIST PERIOD 49
official variety, attributing a subordinate status to the minority languages
and the dialects. Although the dialects had been tolerated in private use,
every means was nonetheless applied to discourage the use of minority lan-
guages both in public and private life: for instance, the interventions against
the use of minority languages on tomb ~ones and the italianization of sur-
names and the prohibition of the use of non-Italian names. The measures
against the minority languages were much more severe than those aiming to
discourage the dialects. Therefore, the minority languages had a status first
of a "discouraged language" and then of a "forbidden language"; thus the
standard variety assumed all functions at a public level, and as for the
minorities, the attempt was made to impose its use also privately.
Language planning thus directed all the varieties: both on a micro- and
intralinguistic level (e.g. the "battle" against regionalisms and exotisms;
Monelli 1942; see also Foresti 1977: 119-120: note 38) and on a macro- and
extralinguistic level (e.g. with all measures against jargons and dialects, and
above all against the minority languages). Generally speaking, one can
affirm that the language planning on a micro- and intralinguistic level was
used to obtain final results on a macro- and extralinguistic level as well.
From the intra-linguistic point of view, the LP during fascism was charac-
terized by a cultivation-approach, especially in the form of linguistic purism
(Migliorini 1935). Somehow, it was determined also by a policy-approach
aiming at the stability of a chosen code (codification) of a standardized Ita-
lian with reference to the dialect speakers and minority groups. With regard
to the Italian colonies in Africa, however, one can hypothesize that it was
aimed at the choice of an Italian code (constitution of an official language) .
Finally, there existed a functional extension of the chosen code (differentia-
tion) where the dialects and thf! foreign terminologies ( = exotisms; e.g. in
advertising) had so far been uSed publicly. At the same time the standardi-
zation regarding the state interventions was formal in the sense that "lan-
guage behaviour is codified by the community of users" (Stewart 1972:
534), even if there existed all along a spontaneous informal standardization.
Furthermore, it was monocentric and endonormative.
Regarding norm establishers one can find not only in the
intragovernmental environment (the senators of the regime such as Tom-
maso Tittoni, Alessandro Chiapelli and Luigi Federzoni, or ministers of
public education such as Gentile and Bottai) but also in the
extragovernmental structures (linguists such as Migliorini or Bertoni, and
intellectuals). Language planning, therefore, was already determined both
50 GABRIELLE KLEIN
at a decisional and an executive level. On a decisional level the Minis-
ter of Internal Affairs was responsible for purifying the Italian language of
exotisms, while on an executive level, it was the responsibility of the Royal
Italian Academy. In this operation, the two bodies found valuable allies in
the syndicates (Confederazioni Professionali). In addition, numerous writ-
ers and intellectuals in general (Emilio Cecchi, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti,
Luciano Anceschi, Mario Luzi, Alfonso Gatto, Oreste Macri', Gianfranco
Contini, Carlo Emilio Gadda), journalists (Ermanno Amicucci, director of
the newspaper Gazzetta del popolo, Ezio Camuncoli, Giovanni Mosca), lin-
guists with different theoretical backgrounds (Migliorini, Bertoni, Panzini,
Schiaffini, Merlo), and even non-linguists but members of the Academy
(the philosopher Franscesco Orestano, the mathematician Francesco Sev-
eri) participated in the debates (cf. the discussions about the relationship
between language and revolution in the reviews, L'Orto and Critica fas-
cista, during the years 1934-1935, and that of the relationship between the
literary language and the language of everyday usage in the review La
Ruota, in the years 1941-1942). The authors of the above debates made
concrete contributions to the determination of LP processes during the fas-
cist period. The prefects of the minority territories (Val d'Aosta, Alto
Adige, Venezia Tridentina, and Venezia Giulia), delegated by the "prefec-
tural centralism" of the regime, interferred actively in LP problems of the
linguistic minorities.
As to the underlying motivations of the LP, they served only as a social
control with the goal of applying the proclaimed "national unity" to the lin-
guistic level as well. On the ideological level the LP was characterized by
"autarchism" (Migliorini 1937) and xenophobia, the evidence of which
was clearly demonstrated in the sphere of international economic compet-
ition. As a result, the purification of the language from foreign interfer-
ences aimed, above all, at the technical languages of commerce and indus-
try, as well as cultural productions and sport.
As regards the measures of intervention connected with both the areas
and the means, there existed laws, decrees, ministerial circulars, and the so-
called "veline" from the Ministry of Popular Culture (Ministero della Cul-
tura Popolare) which regulated the language use of the press (Flora 1945
and Matteini 1945). For the extra-governmental areas, one can cite the edu-
cational instructions in terms of textbooks, especially the unified state
textbook (testo unico di stato), and grammar books; the publishers of gram-
mars and dictionaries (Trabalza-Allodoli 1934); mass communication by
'
LANGUAGE POLICY DURING THE FASCIST PERIOD 51
means of broadcasting, newspapers, magazines and other journals, as well
as the cinema. Furthermore, the education and the academic world were
provided with scholarly reviews (Lingua Nostra which even had a "norma-
tive" section) and other specialized publications. With regard to profes-
sions, the syndicates (Confederazioni) were extremely active in the LP in
publishing lists of substitutions for foreign terminologies (Conf. Fasc. Prof.
e Art. 1941). The application range of this LP (especially for the stability of
the code, i.e. codification) applied to the whole speech community, charac-
terized either by endoglossia or diglossia with partial social bilingualism.
As for the cultivation-approach, language planning was concentrated in
various specialized sectors (commerce, industry, some cultural sectors and
sport), while for the constitution of an official language the LP aimed at an
extension of Italian as a standard variety, in the colonies as well (Foresti
1984).
The motivations resp2nsible for the acceptance (or pseudo-acceptance)
of such linguistic impositions were doubtless for the majority, the fear of
sanctions (for instance, fines prescribed by law), while for others it was the
readiness to identify themselves with the regime and to recognize the pre-
stige of some of its leaders and, of course, of Mussolini whose use of the
Italian language had become a model and found its way into text and gram-
mar books in the form of quotations (Trabalza-Allodoli 1934).
In conclusion, one may claim that the LP during fascism was mostly
intentional and, to a lesser extent, systematic. The peculiarity of the LP
during the fascist period can be said to be characteristic of a totalitarian
regime, which denied implicitly every local and regional autonomy in the
name of a state culture idealizing itself in the myth of Rome and a fascist
"Empire". Consequently dialectophobia reached its height during this
period, although, due to its deep roots, it still survives today, though to a
much lesser extent. The sarrie applies to the xenophobia which, already
existing in a less coercive form (Raffaelli 1983), was brought to its climax
during that period. Finally, without doubt, the state centralism of the
regime revealed itself to be particularly repressive with regard to the more
important minority languages. On the basis of the documentation brought
to light in my research, one should conclude that a distinction ought to be
made between a LP of fascism and a LP during fascism, in other words
between an intragovernmental LP and an extragovernmental LP. 3
52 GABRIELLE KLEIN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The first section is from Chapter 1, the second section from Chapter 3, and the third section
from Chapter 7 of Gabriella Klein. 1986. La politica linguistica del fascismo, Bologna: II Mulino.
Grateful thanks are due to Mary Parilli and Sophia Foo Pellicciari for their help with the transla-
tion of the text. I would also like to thank Thomas Frank for some stylistic correction of the Eng-
lish version of the text.
NOTES
1. This is a document from the Central State Archives (ACS), Presidency of the Council of
Ministers (PCM).
2. This is especially true in the case of the minority languages, if one assumes the de~tio~,
proposed by UNESCO, of a language that is "the mo~er ton~e of a group ":?1ch ~s
socially or politically dominated by another group speaking a different language . This
definition "distinguishes the term from 'dialect' only in the possession of autonomy m the
vernacular and its lack in the dialect." (Bell 1978: 153).
3. With regard to the problem of whether one may define this LP a "fascist" one, I w?uld
like to refer to the discussion in Klein 1986: 148-149and153-157. As to the success/failure
ofthis LP, see Klein 1986: 153-157.
REFERENCES
Language policy:
Bell, Roger T. 1978. Sociolinguistics. Goals, Approaches and Problems.
London: Batsford.
Clyne, Michael. 1975. Forschungsbericht Sprachkontakt. Unter-
suchungsergebnisse und praktische Probleme. Kronbergffs.: Scriptor.
Fishman, Joshua A. 1971. "The impact of nationalism on language plan-
ning: some comparisons between early twentieth-Century Europe and
more recent years in South and Southeast Asia". In Rubin and J emudd
(eds) 1971: 3-20.
Fishman, Joshua A. 1972a. Advances in the Sociology of Language. Vol. IL
The Hague - Paris: Mouton.
Fishman, Joshua A. (ed.). 1972b. Readings in the Sociology of Language.
The Hague - Paris: Mouton. (1st publ. 1968).
Kelman, Herbert C. 1972. "Language as aid and as barrier to involvment in
the national system". In Fishman (ed.) 1972a: 185-212.
LANGUAGE POLICY DURING THE FASCIST PERIOD 53
Kniipfer, Annelen and Jurgen Macha. 1971. "Zu einer allgemeinen
Analyse von Sprachnormierungen". Linguistische Berichte 16: 69-77.
McNamara, John. 1971. "Successes and failures in the movement for the
restoration of Irish". Rubin and Jemudd 1971: 65-94.
Rubin, Joan. 1972. "Evaluation and language planning". In Fishman (ed.)
1972a: 476-510. (1st publ. in Rubin and Jemudd 1971. 217-252).
Rubin, Joan and Bjorn H. Jemudd. 1971. Can Language Be Planned?
Sociolinguistic Theory and Practice for Developing Nations. Honolulu:
Univ. Press of Hawaii. (1st publ., reprinted in paperback 1975).
Stewart, William A. 1972. "A sociolinguistic typology for describing
national multilingualism". Fishman 1972b. 531-545.
Language policy during fascism:
Foresti, Fabio. 1977. "Proposte interpretative e di ricerca su lingua e fa-
scismo: la 'politica linguistica"'. Leso, Cortelazzo, Paccagnella and
Foresti (eds) 1977: 111-148.
Foresti, Fabio. 1984. "II problema linguistico nella 'politica indigena' del
colonialismo fascista". Parlare fascista 1984: 133-155.
Klein, Gabriella. 1981. "L'italianita della lingua e I'Accademia d'Italia.
Sulla politica linguistica fascista". Quaderni Storici 47: 639-675.
Klein, Gabriella. 1982. "Zur italienischen Sprachpolitik: Der Normbegriff
des Italienischen wiihrend des Faschismus". Linguistische Berichte 79:
53-62.
Klein, Gabriella. 1984a. "Le tendenze di politica linguistica nel fascismo e
nel nazionalsocialismo: il tentativo di un confronto". Annali della facolta
di lettere e filosofia - Universita degli studi di Perugia - sezione 3: Studi
linguistico-letterari (1981-82) XIX, nuova serie V: 39-53.
Klein, Gabriella. 1984b. "Tendenzen der Sprachpolitik des italienischen
Faschismus und des Nationalsozialismus in Deutschland". Zeitschrift far
Sprachwissenschaft 1: 100-113.
Klein, Gabriella. 1986. La politica linguistica del fascismo. Bologna: II
Mulino.
Leso, Erasmo, Michele A. Cortelazzo, Ivano Paccagnella and Fabio
Foresti. 1977. La lingua italiana e ii fascismo. Bologna: Consorzio Pro-
vinciale Pubblica Lettura.
Parlare fascista. 1984. Convegno di studi "Parlare fascista. Lingua del fa-
scismo, politica linguistica del fascismo" (Genova, Centro Ligure di
Storia Sociale, 22-24 marzo 1984). Movimento operaio e socialista 1.
54 GABRIELLE KLEIN
Raffaelli, Sergio. 1983. Le parole proibite. Purismo di stato e regolamen-
tazione della pubblicita in Italia (1812-1945). Bologna: II Mulino.
Source materials from the fascist period:
A.C. 1927. "Ancora in tema di grammatica". La Nuova Scuola Italiana 9:
261-262.
Alfero, G.A. 1941. "Le lingue straniere nel quadro del nuovo ordinamento
scolastico". Scuola e Cultura 5-6: 347-352.
Barbera, Mario. 1924a. "Lo studio della lingua latina nella scuola classica."
La Civilta cattolica I: 121-130.
Barbera, Mario. 1924b. "Lo studio della lingua latina nella scuola classica".
La Civilta cattolica I: 220-234.
Bertoni, Giulio and Francesco A. Ugolini. 1939. "L'asse linguistico Roma
-Firenze". Lingua Nostra I: 25-27.
Bottai, Giuseppe. 1942. "Funzione del latino nella nuova scuola". Scuola e
Cultura 6: 315-325.
Caimo, Ines. 1926. "Classe I: 'educazione linguistica"'. La Nuova Scuola
Italiana. Didattica 2: 34.
Conf. Pase. Prof. e Art. 1941. Confederazione fascista dei professionisti e
artisti. Autarchia nel vocabolario. Bibliografia Fascista 12 (suppl. of
December).
Dalmasso, Lorenzo. 1940. "Per una didattica del latino". Scuola e Cultura
1: 37-46.
Flora, Francesco. (ed.). 1945. Stampa dell' era fascista. Le note di servizio.
Roma: Mondadori.
Gabrielli, Giorgio. 1924. "Lingua e grammatica". I Diritti della Scuola. La
scuola in azione 28: 433-435.
Galdi, Marco. 1931. "Ancora a proposito del latino 'modemo"' . .//Mar-
zocco 9. 4.
Gianola, Alberto. 1928. "Il tormento del latino". Levana 4: 727-434.
Latino ... 1931. "Un 'latino-modemo' lingua intemazionale". fl Marzocco
5. 3.
Laurenti, Livio. 1935a. "I nuovi programmi per la scuola elementare". I
Diritti della Scuola. La scuola in azione 21: 321-322.
Laurenti, Livio. 1935b. "I nuovi programmi per la scuola elementare". I
Diritti della Scuola. La scuola in azione 22: 337-338.
Matteini, Claudio. 1945. Ordini alla stampa. Roma: Ed. Politecnica
Italiana.
LANGUAGE POLICY DURING THE FASCIST PERIOD 55
Migliorini, Bruno. 1935. "II tipo radiodiffusione nell'italiano contem-
poraneo". Archivio Glottologico Italiano XXVII: 13-39.
Migliorini, Bruno. 1937. "Autarchia linguistica". Critica Fascista 4: 62.
Min. Ed. Naz. 1941. Ministero dell'Educazione Nazionale. Dalla riforma
Gentile alla Carta della Scuola. Firenze: Vallecchi.
Mittner, Ladislao. 1933. "Spiegare la grammatica. (Note di un professore di
lingua straniera)". Scuola e Cultura 2: 211-226.
Mondolfo, R. 1923. "La riforma della scuola". Critica sociale 11: 168-170.
Monelli, Paolo. 1942. "Lingua, dialetto e gergo". Primato 13: 244.
Montiani, 0. 1931. "Della grammatica e di altre cose". La Nuova Scuola
Italiana 39: 1169-1170.
Padellaro, Nazareno. 1927a. "II Verbo". La scuola fascista 9: 3.
Padellaro, Nazareno. 1927b. "I decreti della grammatica". La scuola fas-
cista 11: 3-4.
Padellaro, Nazareno. 1928a. "Moneta linguistica". La scuola fascista 29: 2.
Padellaro, Nazareno. 1928b. "Nessi e passaggi". La scuola fascista 33: 2-3.
Parente, Giovanni. 1937. "Valore politico e formativo dell'insegnamento
della lingua". I Diritti della Scuola 25: 388-389.
Pucci, A. 1936. "Mezzi di avviamento alla composizione". La Nuova
Scuola Italiana 11: 414-416.
Purus ... 1927. "Purus grammaticus". La scuolafascista 5. 4.
Rifiorimento ... 1932. "Per ii rifiorimento dello studio e dell'uso della lingua
latina". fl Marzocco 48: 3-4.
Rispoli, Guido. 1930. "Variazioni sul latino". La scuola fascista 1. 7.
Tescari, Onorato. 1941. "L'insegnamento del latino". Scuola e Cultura 3-4:
179-184.
Trabalza, Ciro and Ettore Allodoli. 1934. Grammatica degl'Italiani.
Firenze: Le Monnier.
Vignola, Bruno. 1927. "Le lingue straniere: II. Negli lstituti Tecnici''.
Annali della Istruzione Media 6: 536-544.
Vignola, Bruno. 1928. "La scelta e la preparazione degli insegnanti di lin-
gue straniere". Annali della Istruzione Media 5-6: 385-395.
Villa, L. Sereno. 1941. "La lingua e la guerra". I Diritti della Scuola 26:
408.
 The political language of Futurism and its
relationship to Italian Fascism

Rosita Rindler Schjerve

University of Vienna

1. Textual analysis as a contribution to historical research

The present study deals with an analysis of the political language of

Futurism at the beginning of the 20th century in Italy. This study will
attempt to elucidate the contents of the Futurist discourse in a critical man-
ner and in so doing clarify the relationship between political Futurism and
Italian Fascism. This relationship is constantly alluded to in literary and
social historical research; however, up to now it has not been systematically
analyzed.1 The present contribution is therefore an attempt to explain by
means of linguistic analysis the political and ideological positions of the
Futurist movement in its historical context; furthermore it attempts to
analyze the linguistic means and strategies employed, to elaborate how cer-
tain elements of Fascist ideology and linguistic forms were anticipated in
Futurism.
Taking into account that this study is an exposition of historical texts
which have so far scarcely been considered in historical research on Fas-
cism, this linguistic-analytical study of Futuristic propaganda should contri-
bute to a deeper understanding of the historical dimensions of Fascist
phenomena. In recent years studies on the language of Fascism have been
conducted in Germany. These especially have focused on the importance of
linguistic analysis in historical research, and have shown the role language
and its systematic analysis play in the study of historical processes (cf. esp.
Wodak 1983; Maas 1984). Considering that certain existential and expe-
riential concepts are expressed through language, a textual critical analysis
of the historical primary sources can contribute to the comprehension of
58 ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE
specific historical situations. Especially in cases where the textual analysis
reveals texts to be expressions of specific social and ideological realities and
where it points to mechanisms which led to the formation and interaction
between language and ideology in a given historical situation, does such an
analysis have the dual functions of enlightening us and broadening our con-
sciousness.
In a critical analysis of historical texts it is generally problematic to
reconstruct the experiential correlations, using only written data associated
with given linguistic conventions in a certain historical situation. This is
especially true of political discourse with its power to persuade and elicit
action. In interpreting discourse one must take care not to apply present
day intuitive and associative values, because of a lack of detailed knowl-
edge of the pragmatic and psychological dimensions of a given historical sit-
uation. Perceiving meanings hermeneutically means that the interpretation
of historical linguistic data must be supported by an exact knowledge of the
socio-historical context from which the historical-linguistic sources derive
(cf. Wodak 1983: 265). The various sociological, socio-psychological and
linguistic approaches which deal critically with the analysis of ideological
language use, for example the study of the origin of myths (cf. Barthes
19702), stereotypes (cf. Schaff 1968; Quasthoff 1973) and jargons (cf.
Adorno 19705), provide us with the necessary tools, which together with
methods of textual analysis, enable us to analyze the meaning of political
texts and to elucidate and objectify their role in historical processes.
2. Textual analysis and criticism of ideology
The present analysis is based on a definition that sees the creation of a
text as a communicative action determined by socio-historical factors and
which understands texts as relays of interactions geared to specific goals.
The actual linguistic creation of texts and the social setting in which they
originate, are in close relationship to one another. Analyzing the means
applied in the creation of the text, one can, therefore, critically elucidate
the social setting and the ideological forces at work through the use of lin-
guistic correlates. Ideologies are themselves closely related to cognitive and
psychological processes and are expressed through language or originate in
or are reinforced by it. The textual-analytic approach enables us to eluci-
date critically the structures of ideas within an ideology, which stem from
value judgements and attitudes that determine people's actions; further-
POLITICAL SPEECH OF FUTURISM AND ITALIAN FASCISM 59
more it provides a way of illustrating the ideological formation of certain
social forces by examining the linguistic strategies used in creating texts (cf.
Burger 1973; Wodak 1983).
Assuming that ideology is a system of ideas based on value judgements
and attitudes, which aids certain forces within a society to further their
interests or to stabilize their power, a descriptive approach which elucidate~
the origin and activity of such structures of ideas serving political power, by
analyzing the means and patterns by which the ideology is linguistically
realized, is of necessity critical ideology.
The present analysis is also meant to be a critical contribution deiding
with the meaning of Futurist texts in the historical context of pre-Fascist
Italy. Above all, with the aid of textual linguistic methods and with resort to
actual historical events, the present paper undertakes to demonstrate the
active political potential of these texts and tn analyze critically the credibil-
ity and the rationality of their argumentation. As the form and content~ of
the linguistic documents of Italian Futurism display many similarities with
the language of later Fascism, there is every reason to believe that
Futurism, inspired by nationalistic extremism and revolutionary activism,
had in its political activities anticipated ideological and action-inducing el~~
ments, which were later used by Fascism on its road to power. The critic&!
study of the political texts of Futurism will hopefully help to reveal the
ideological and pragmatic functions of this type of propagandistic discourse
and to show to which purposes this movement, inspired by the "will of
revolutionaries", actually applied the power of its words. For this reason it
seems necessary, however, to briefly outline the actual historical situation
and the movement of Futurism in pre-Fascist Italy in order to interpret the
linguistic correlates of these societal realities in accordance with their his-
torical context.
3. Futurism in its socio-political context
Italy had achieved its national unity only relatively late and after 1861
it had not been able to solve the question of the Irredenta, the "unre-
deemed regions" of Trieste and Trento. Italy began the process of indus-
trialization too late and arrived on the scene only after most of the colonies
had been distributed. In domestic politics the socio-economic differences
between the industrialized north and the feudalistically structured south
seemed to be irreconcilable.
60 ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE
This paralyzed the democratic and liberal development of the young
monarchy. The memory of the time of the Risorgimento and its heroes was
still alive, especially among the intellectual youth. The latter partially
turned away in disappoinment from the political inactivity of the parties in
power and started to come together in patriotic youth organizations. In this
way a hotbed for radical nationalism was created, which by 1910 had devel-
oped into a party. Initially it found little echo in literature, but after the
Libya campaign it spoke out more and more loudly for a militant patriotism
and imperialistic expansionism. The origin of Italian nationalism lay in a
movement, supported by the social elite, who felt impelled to go out into
the streets to fight against the striking and demonstrating socialist proleta-
rians (cf. Priester 1972; Alff 1971). This development took shape shortly
before the First World War and reached its peak in the street riots and
growing fascist influence in the post-war period.
This is the immediate background of the origin and influence of
Futurism founded in 1909 by F.T.Marinetti as "the anticipation of a new
feeling" and as an exceedingly nationalistic artistic movement. Right from
the beginning, however, the Futurists did not limit themselves to questions
of artistic form, but participated in political and social activities. Although
the Futurists initiated certain endeavours with the nationalists, they
remained a movement independent from nationalism, a movement whose
political program differed in several points from that of the latter. Initially
limited to literature, Futurism later expanded to the fields of painting,
music and architecture. With avant-garde elan and deep contempt for the
past, Futurism held the view that bourgeois art had no chance of further
development and only a radical break with the past and its traditions could
lead to new artistic directions. Arte-azione was the motto of Futurism, that
is to say to express art through actions. However, not only art, but life as a
whole should be perceived as action.
On February 20th, 1919 the first Futuristic Manifesto was published in
the Paris magazine "Figaro", in which the Futurists sang the praises of their
"love of danger" and glorified "war as the only way of cleansing the world".
Aside from the programmatic artistic Manifestos which were the Italian
contribution to the European art revolution (cf. Baumgarth 1966), the
Futurists also wrote several pamphlets of political propaganda in which the
intellectual affinity to the language of the Fascists is evident. In particular,
the political programs and agitational evening meetings of the Futurists
organized by Marinetti drew a great deal of attention. These were aimed at
POLITICAL SPEECH OF FUTURISM AND ITALIAN FASCISM 61
stirring up the population against Austria and German culture and at con-
vincing them of the necessity of the imminent war. The outbreak of the war
against Libya was referred to as the "great Futurist hour", and in "the Man-
ifesto on Italian Tripolis" the Futurists demanded that the government
should proclaim "the birth of Pan-ltalianism" (FF, page 74). In 1913 they
finally published in "Lacerba" the "political program of Futurism", in
which they announced that all liberties were permitted except being a
pacifist, a coward and an anti-Italian. They also called for a stronger army
and navy, patriotic education of the proletariat, colonial expansionism,
irredentism and antisocialism as well as the intensification of physical edu-
cation and training. After the outbreak of the First World War they started
a propaganda campaign in favour of an intervention on the side of the
Entente. Together with the nationalists they organized the first shock
troops of Arditism, the much feared fasci interventisti. Marinetti organized
demonstrations in Rome and Milan and incited the students to protest
against the "destructive intellectualism originating from Germany" (cf.
Salvemini 1966: 104ff.). Here he met Mussolini, who participated in the
interventional campaign. After the war they appeared together in public
with the fasci. Together they set fire to the editorial office of the socialist
newspapers office "Avanti" in Milan, and both were key figures behind the
slaughter in Bologna. In front of the parliament in Rome Marinetti called
the people to oppose the government, and in the 1919 elections the
Futurists and Fascists ran together on a common list. In order to secure his
aims, Mussolini had finally agreed to compromise with the Church and the
Monarchy, which did not correspond to Marinetti's conceptions. In 1920
Marinetti left the Fascist Party. In 1924 he published "Futurism and Fas-
cism" in which he emphasized that "Vittorio Veneto and the seizure of
power by the Fascists was the realization of the Futurists' minimum pro-
gram", and that Futurism was intended to be an artistic movement which
would intervene in the political struggle "only in times of extreme danger to
the nation" (FF, page 235).
4. Textual analysis
4.1 The texts into context
The study of the political texts of Futurism reveals three stages of
development (cf. Hardt 1982); there is only one collection of texts entitled
62 ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE
Guerra, sola igiene del mondo from the first stage lasting from the Founda-
tion Manifesto of Futurism (1909) to the entry of Italy into the First World
War (1915). This stage is characterized by a high level of verbal aggressive-
ness, in which the Futurists glorify war as a revolutionary force renewing
the world. These texts represent a call to war. The aim is to mobilize all
forces in the Italian nation, in order to take up the fight against Austria, to
regain Trieste and to stake out Italy's claim in the race for future colonies
(cf. text T1-T4).
The second phase, which lasted from the official separation of artistic
and political Futurism in 1918 to the withdrawal of the Futurists from the
Fascist Party in 1920, includes the Manifesto del partito futurista italiano
(1918) and the collection of articles Democrazia futurista (1919) as well as
the Manifesto Al di la del Comunismo (1920), which are characterized by a
moderate tone and are the first attempts to come to grips with the real
social problems in Italy. The external enemy, Austria, had been defeated;
now it was matter of defeating the internal one. The Papacy, the Monarchy,
Parliament and the Senate had to be eliminated. In order to free Italy from
the old filth, a revolution was needed (cg. Concezione futurista della Demo-
crazia from the magazine "L'Ardito" 1919, cit. in FF: 124-127). Eventually
socialism and communism also had to be challenged.
In the third .phase, the Futurists, and especially Marinetti, at last
moved closer to the Fascist Party. At this stage, no new ideas were devel-
oped and also in Futurismo e Fascismo 1924, an autobiography of Futurism
which Marinetti dedicated to the Duce, he does not bring forth any innova-
tions, only linguistic reproductions and a variety of political texts.
In our analysis of Futurist language we will refer to the collection of
texts Guerra, sola igiene del mondo (GI) and to Marinetti's book Futurismo
e Fascismo (FF).
4.2 Language use and ideology
According to the external and internal characteristics of Futurist texts,
they can be classified as a subtype of the text-class2 "political discourse".
The texts serve political propaganda. Since propaganda always refers to
something controversial and aims at changing public opinion (cf.
Dieckmann 1969: 38), the contents and form of these texts are not acciden-
tal, but conscientiously planned and carried through by the Futurists, in
particular Marinetti. We can reconstruct the intentions of Futurist language
POLITICAL SPEECH OF FUTURISM AND ITALIAN FASCISM 63
from the actual historical context, i.e. the historically documented activities
of Futurism in Italy during the pre- and post-war period up to the seizure of
power by the Fascists. In this context we are particularly interested in the
linguistic expression the Futurists gave to their dreadful ideology of war and
the way they succeeded, at a time of social change, increasing societal insec-
urity, and growing uneasiness about existing conditions, in becoming the
spokesmen of ideas which the Fascists later applied in political practice.
The Futurists contributed substantially to the ideological channeling of the
existing inferiority complex and fears of certain social groups, especially
those of the intellectual middle classes. These means of clever agitation
rendered them servants of the interests of those in power. 3
Existing analyses of the essentials of authoritarian linguistic styles (cf.
Adorno 1976; Marcuse 1970a), suggest that there exist certain characteris-
tics of ideological linguistic usage (cf. also Wodak 1983). The linguistic per-
formance of ideological contents and-systems show certain characteristic
features such as distortions into the mythical (cf. Barthes 19742) or the use
of stereotypes (cf. Schaff 1968; Quasthoff 1973) and specific jargons (cf.
Adorno 1964). By creating certain contrasts and enemy-images through the
cautious application of discursive strategies4, language becomes emotion-
ally charged. In a kind of petrified concreteness it forces itself upon the
recipient of the text and hinders his reflection upon the contents expressed.
We find these characteristics in Futurist texts as well, where, for example,
the concept of war is transformed into myth. The stereotypical use of con-
cepts such as "blood", "race", and "heroism" as well as a biologically orien-
tated argumentation create an emotional hotbed on which prejudices are
activated.
The political texts of Futurism are comprised of propaganda speeches,
programmatic Manifestos and autobiographical descriptions. Whereas the
propagandistic-programmatic writings aim at convincing the recipients of
the necessity of war, in the autobiographical writings of Futurism Marinetti
tries to present the development of the movement, to legitimize its political
practice and to emphasize its contributions to interventionism and the sei-
zure of power by the Fascists. These various interactive objectives show up
in the textual structure, where different classes of texts are realized.
Whereas in the propagandistic-programmatic texts, the textual base is
argumentative and partially instructive, in the biographical writings the nar-
rative class of text prevails.
The following analysis of texts will limit itself to excerpts taken from
64 ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE
political speeches and manifestos, because they are clear examples of how
language was used for political propaganda purposes, and how Futurism
thereby prepared the way for the contents considered to be the main ele-
ments of Fascist ideology.
4.3 Analysis of the political speeches and manifestos
The following section is dedicated to analyzing the linguistic realisation
of the texts by means of textual linguistic concepts taken from the different
theoretical models relating to textual planning (cf. Werlich 1975; Gulich/
Raible 1975 and 1977; Quasthoff 1979; Beaugrande/Dressler 1981; Wodak
1981; etc.) and with recourse to sociological and socio-psychological
approaches, which serve to throw a critical light onto the way political lan-
guage functions (cf. Burger 1973; Quasthoff 1973; Wodak 1983 and 1985;
etc.).
The political speeches and manifestos of Futurism are texts which were
used in the service of conscious propaganda. Some of the speeches were
delivered at Futurist cultural events or during political negotiations, usually
by Marinetti himself. The manifestos usually reached their targeted reci-
pients through newspapers and magazines. In spite of the somewhat differ-
ent medial-communicative conditions under which these texts originated,
there is almost no noticeable difference with regard to their performance.
The propagandistic speeches as well as the programmatic manifestos show
substantially the same text-typological and text-constitutive features. 1 n
both cases the same discursive techniques are applied using emotionally
charged language, with the aim of inducing the listener to arrive at affective
value judgements or to approve of those presented to him.1This aim of per-
suasion is realized by applying strategies typical of propaganda: argumenta-
tion and instruction.s Looking at the selected texts listed below, we will
pursue the question as to what the contents were which the Futurists con-
veyed through these texts and in which manner they delivered their dis-
course in order to persuade.
In the propagandistic texts of political Futurism the primary task is one
of communicating an ideology, which, as a tool of aggressive nationalistic
and imperialistic interests, tried to subordinate all forms of human
endeavour to serve the purposes of an imminent war. In order to attain this
goal, persuasive means which were apt to justify the Futuristic ideology of
aggression had to be employed.
POLITICAL SPEECH OF FUTURISM AND ITALIAN FASCISM 65
4.3.l Creating enemy-images
To substantiate this aggressive message externally, opponents and
enemies had to be created against whom one had to fight in order to elimi-
nate them and the grievances they caused. A very important strategy of
Futurist discourse is to create imaginary enemies, against whom one tries to
mobilize all forces within society. It is employed in every text.
In their aggression against Austrian and German culture the Futurists
could link up with certain resentments derived from the tradition of the
Risorgimento, and were able to arouse prejudices on the psychological
level which could be exploited politically. In domestic politics their hatred
turned against the "internationalistically and pacifistically" disposed
socialists and against conservative clerical circles, who through their inactiv-
ity encouraged social stagnation and "passatism".
These were the enemies they declared war on. For this purpose they
applied the strategy of adopting the main concept and values of their oppo-
nents and changing them completely by means of skilful linguistic delivery,
making them appear absurd and casting doubt on the credibility and the
social importance of their contents.
Already in 1909 the Futurists speak in their Discorso ai Triestini (cf.
Tl) of an "internationalistic and antipatriotic socialism" which is nothing
else but the "glorification of the needs of stomach" as well as of an "anxious
conservatism with a clerical stamp", whose ideals limited themselves to
"comfortable slippers and a warmed-up bed".
In 1919, in his speeach on the Piazza Belgioioso, Marinetti referred to
socialism as a "dictatorship of callous hands" and said that communism was
a "criminal absurdity" in a "creative race" such as the Italian (cf. TS).
In his manifesto A di la del Comunismo (1919) he described com-
munism as the "outgrowth of a bureaucratic cancer which gnaws away at
mankind" (cf. T6).
In order to successfully undermine the political goals of the opponent,
qualities attributed to him were negated and presented as a contrast to posi-
tive qualities found in their own movement. Thus, for example, the glorifi-
cation of the "needs of stomach", "the slippers and the warmed-up bed"
was set against the "glorification of patriotism" and "of war as a glorious
bath in heroism" (cf. Tl). The espousal of peace by the internationalists
was seen as an expression of the "bad and putrefying forces in the blood"
and contrasted with the "good forces" of the Futurists who were inspired by
war (cf. Ts).
66 ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE
4.3.2 Escape into myth
Because the language of the Futurists excluded rationality, it had to
resort to myths and irrationalisms. Only then could it strengthen its claim
that its ideology was true and gain credibility for itself. Its decisive feature
is the strong orientation of the language towards pseudo-scientific concep-
tions, in which it calls upon the never changing laws of nature to justify the
myth of the hygienic needs of men for war. "Patriotism and love of war
have nothing to do with ideology: they are principles of hygiene, without
them only decadence and death would remain ... " (cf. T2). "War as the only
hygiene of the world" was seen as the natural consequence of biological
principles: "war cannot perish, because it is a law of life ... " (cf. T4). In
order to emphasize the importance of their war in finally overcoming the
"slumbering mediocrity of the spirit" (cf. Tl) it was elevated into the realms
of heroism as a "synthetic need to go beyond the limited human abilities"
(cf. T6), as "a noble bath in heroism" (cf. Tl).
War needed its heroes, - therefore a type of man was created which
drew his abilities from his blood and his genius. This heroic man reached his
"maximum development" in his native country, in that "natural-organic
wholeness", in which the "ascending power of man and race" could develop
(cf. T6). Barthes (19702) indicates that myth is a language which deforms
meaning, not by destroying, but only by alienating it. In myth things obtain
a clarity which is not the clarity of explanation, but that of observation
(page 131). In order to change language into myth, however, certain condi-
tions apply.
H we now try to relate the creation of myths by the Futurists to the
actual historical context, we notice that the tendency to elevate man into
the realms of heroism stemmed from the need, particularly of certain intel-
lectual circles, to compensate for their uneasiness about narrow, tradi-
tional-bourgeois life-style by projecting man into the mythical sphere.6 In
any case, the relation to the superman as proclaimed by Nietzsche in con-
temporary philosophy, cannot be ignored.
The ocjectives to which one should dedicate this hygienic war as a
"necessary and bloody hymn of the powers of a nation" (cf. T4), become
evident in the conclusion of Marinetti's Manifesto to the Italian students
(cf. T4). Here he states that war is a "business-deal" for a "poor and fertile
nation", because it "can acquire the soil it lacks with its surplus blood". In
the Manifesto of Tripolis in 1911 he had already called upon the "Italian
Government which had finally taken the Futurist banner" to "make
POLITICAL SPEECH OF FUTURISM AND ITALIAN FASCISM 67
national goals even more ambitious and proclaim the birth of Pan-
Italianism" (cf. T3).
4.3.3 Creating stereotypes
In order to communicate the ideology of war more effectively one
needed not only certain arguments which could be legitimized scientifically,
but which could also be applied discursively in a way that was easily intellig-
ible, and which guaranteed the widest possible approval by people who had
received the text. One strategy to ensure this objective was to charge lan-
guage emotionally by creating stereotypes and using slogans. Widely known
meaning-references were inserted into new contexts, where they aroused
unconscious connotations and emotions. The repeated employment of lin-
guistic elements used in specific contexts to appeal to concepts which were
highly charged emotionally and associated with specific value judgements
or prejudices, encouraged the creation of stereotypes and made reflection
on the communicated contents more difficult (cf. generally Quasthoff 1973;
Schaff 1968). Especially the stereotypical use of terms such as "blood",
"race" and "genius" contributed to establishing a collective consciousness
of Italian superiority, and hence created the foundations for legitimizing
pro-war propaganda. So, for example, the stereotype "blood" was created
by limiting its use to lexical contexts, in which it was associated with the
mysterious and vehement forces which drive man and from which he cannot
escape: "In our blood we nourish hatred ... ", "when the internationalists
glorify peace, that is the greatest evil that flows in their blood... " (cf. T2),
"to acquire soil which we lack, with surplus blood" (cf. T4), etc. The
demands for "freedom" also appear to be stereotypes which Futurist prop-
aganda uses to appeal to emotions linked with the desire to finally liberate
Italy from foreign rule and to restore it to a "glory" a "hundred times
greater than that of Ancient Rome" (cf. TI). This emotional disposition
could be exploited because of the "hatred of the 20th century Italians, the
hatred for Austria!" (cf. T2). At the same time it could also be transformed
into a vision of a nation which became more vigorous through fighting; for
example: "all liberties will be granted by the nation", in which "patriotism,
militarism and war" were glorified (cf. Tl); "all liberties except being a
coward" (cf. T3). Similar concepts, though already collectively and nation-
ally conceived, are also appealed to by formulations such as "our race", "to
castrate the races" (cf. T2), "a race full of individuals" (cf. TS); "the
ascending power of the race" (cf. T6), etc.
68 ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE
POLITICAL SPEECH OF FUTURISM AND ITALIAN FASCISM 69

4.3.4 Textual structure

Aside from these techniques aimed at being effective especially on the
psychological level, Futurist propaganda also employed several other dis-
cursive strategies. For this reason, for example, the structuring of texts dis-
tinguishes itself mainly through the development of a basic line of argu-
ments within the text. The coherence of the texts is usually established
through sequences of explicitly contrastive passages. The assertion gains its
persuasive power, by emphasizing the relationship existing between these
differing passages. This strategy is often supported by elements assigning
certain qualities to the sequence and placing them in negative contrast to
one another; for example, "socialism" as the expression of mean instincts
and "clericalism" as the expression of anxious effeminacy as compared to
"Futurism" as the expression of freedom and the proponent of war, pat-
riotism and militarism (cf. Tl).
To be for the future means to maintain the personal hygiene of the daily
struggle, and the collective hygiene guaranteed by the century-long flow of
blood. Not to be for the future means to conjure up peace among the
nations and castrate the races (cf. T2).
The analysis of the theme-rheme-sequence also shows that newly intro-
duced themes often emerge as contrasts from the preceding rheme. For
example in (T6), in which persuasion to struggle against the "communist
prison", results from the following thematic progression:
Tl (mankind) -----> Rl (individualism)
Rl = T2-------> R2 (strong spirit)
T3 (communism) -----> R3 (mediocre formula)
R3 = T4-------> R4 (anxiety of war)
T4-------> R5 (fashion)
R6 (bureaucratic outgrowth of cancer)
R7 (German cancer)
R7 = T4-------> R8 (German pedantry)
TS (pedantry) -----> R9 (inhuman)
RlO (Fortuna becomes tired)
T6 (history) ----->
T7 (life) -----> Rll (possession by those who improvise)
TB (soil) ----->
T9 (Futurism) -----> R12 (military barracks)
R12 (communist barracks)
TlO (anarchical spirit) -----> R14 (fight against the communist prison).
T3 emerges here as contrastive theme from Rl and R2; as well as T6,
17, TB, from R9 and RlO; T9 reappears in altered form as Rll and TlO is
the paraphrased form of Tl; hence mankind must proclaim war against the
communist prison.
By creating contrasts the argumentation obtains stringency, it becomes
clear and intelligible and could go without further reflection.
Another important factor in determining the structure of argumenta-
tive texts is the speaker's point of view. It is often impersonal, although the _
Futurists insert occasional personal comments, in particular in texts which
are written reproductions of speeches actually delivered, and in which they
consciously contrast themselves with their opponents; by this change in
perspective they attempt to present themselves to the recipients of the texts
as ideals to be followed. For example: "One cannot energetically look into
the future without our personal hygiene of the daily struggle ... We nourish
in our blood ... " (cf. T2); "in policy we are so far away ... from socialism";
"we glorify war ... "; "we sing the praises of patriotism" (cf. Tl). And the
expression "we are optimists", "we believe ... I demand ... " (cf. TS) result
clearly from the drawing of a line between the Futurists and communism.
The presentation is objective and the mode factual, e.g. "the life of insects
shows us how everything is reduced to reproduction at all costs and sense-
less destruction" (cf. T6), etc.
In order to carry out its objectives Futurists propaganda uses not only
argumentative types of texts, but also instruction. The instructive nature of
a text becomes obvious whenever it is a matter of announcing important
points of the program that seek to induce certain actions.
Typical of the structure of these texts are the explicitly enumerative
sequences, which are often visually separated from one another and pro-
vided with numbers. So, for example in (TI), where Futurist principles are
listed as follows: 1. "We shall permit ... ", 2. "it shall be proclaimed ... ", 3.
"we shall erase .. ".
A characteristic of the Futurist discourse is that it is highly charged
emotionally. This results mainly from the well-directed application of lin-
guistic means. The syntactic structure of Futurist discourse is generally very
simple. Language is characterized by the asyndetic arrangement of short
sentences. Longer complex sentences are often paratactically arranged.
The relations between the individual syntactic sequences are often marked
contrajunctively especially in the argumentative text type. For example,
"we are not optimist ... but ... " (cf. TS); "mankind is directed towards ... an
anarchic individualism . ... Communism, however, is ... " (cf. T6). The short-
ness of the sentences and the frequency of slogans or nouns, provided with
 70 ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE
expressive attributes, give the language the flavour of jargon. They increase
its emotional potential to a degree where, at certain points, language turns
into a hypnotic formula as, for example in (T6), where the Futurists
announce:
One cannot escape from the two concepts-feelings: patriotism, i.e. the
practice of developing the individual and the race; heroism, i.e. the synth-
etic need to go beyond the human limitations, and the ascending power of
the race.
The use of catchwords, on the whole, is a characteristic of Futurist dis-
course: "antipacifism", "antisocialism", "anticlericalism", "Pan-
ltalianism", "patriotism", etc. Another feature typical of Futurist language
are certain slogans possessing a highly appellative function as, e.g. "war,
the only hygiene of the world" or "all liberties except being cowards,
pacifists, anti-Italians" or "the word Italy must predominate over the word
I freedom", etc. The use of contrasting pairs, especially in the field of evalua-
tive adjectives (i.e. "generous, heroic, dynamic, futuristic" vs. "strait-laced,
anxious, static, passatistic" (cf. T6)) increases expressiveness of these texts.
r Another typical strategy is to join adverbs onto adjectives, and attributes
onto nouns resulting in a kind of accumulative subordination.
For example,
we cannot walk resolutely into the future without maintaining our personal
hygiene through the daily struggle, and our collective hygiene of the decen-
nial bloody shower. (cf. T2).
In the stylistic structuring of their language Futurists use a number of
rhetorical elements. Parallelisms, hyberboles, climax and especially
metaphors contribute to making the language emotionally charged and
facilitating manipulation.
5. An assessment of Futurist propaganda with regard to Fascism
The realtionship between Futurism and Fascism results not only from
their common political activities, which united Mussolini and the Futurists
during the period of interventionism and the beginning of the spread of Fas-
cism - it can also be derived from the linguistic and ideological forms of
their political propaganda.
A central topic of Futurist propaganda is war. It is glorified as a neces-
sary hygienic measure, as a law of human life and as an expression of the
genial and heroic man. Our textual analysis has shown which discursive
POLITICAL SPEECH OF FUTURISM AND ITALIAN FASCISM 71
strategies the Futurists applied in conceiving their propaganda in order to
formulate their message convincingly and to incite the people to act.
Hence, for example, the creation of images of an enemy against whom one
could join together and show solidarity; hence, the development of myths,
by which the Futurists attempted to give a rational legitimization to irra-
tional actions and the call for aggression; hence, also the stereotypical use
of central concepts which were to substantiate the claim for the myth to be
true and consistent; hence, the use of slogans and catchwords which
appealed to emotions and an argumentation, whose persuasive character
resulted mainly from the contrasting of oppositions; hence, a type of
rhetoric which employed the imagery of metaphor in order to express its
message clearly and urgently, and finally a language, which by using con-
cepts of the natural sciences and their laws, presumed to possess also their
rationality. All these are strategies, characteristic of the use of language in
the process of conveying ideology. The typical feature of this discourse,
which distinguishes it from many other types of political discourse, and
which, however, places it unmistakably within a specific socio-historical set-
ting, is the orientation of its language. Typical, too, is its message, which
consists of evoking the long desired war as a necessary measure in the ser-
vice of aggressive imperialistic aims. Both the contents of the message and
the means of its linguistic performance reveal the ideological affinity
between Futurism and Fascism, and it is exactly this obvious affinity of con-
tents and expression within the language, which justifies the identification
of Futurist political discourse as a discourse closely associated with Fascism.
The relationship between Fascism and Futurism pesides primarily on this
level; it is in particular the similarities in the speeches of the Futurists and
the Duce that suggest such a relationship.
It is not possible here to analyze in detail the texts of Mussolini. This
would go beyond the scope of the present paper and has already been done
at length elsewhere (cf. Leso 1978; Cortelazzo 1978; Simonini 1978, etc.).
In this context we limit ourselves pointing the fact that Mussolini, too, per-
ceived war to be the only possibility for the true development of human
abilities. Just as in Futurism, the ideology of war was substantiated by
forces of the blood and interpreted as a law of life.
The following examples of texts are taken from the writings of Musso-
lini in the collection of texts by Spinetti (1950):
We have to act, move, fight ... It is blood that gives the impulse to the sing-
ing wheel of history (Spinetti 1950: 7).
72 ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE
To renounce fighting is the same as to renounce life, and this is impossibile
(Spinetti 1950: 273).
The matter of the Italian expansion in the world is a matter of life or death
for the Italian race {Spinetti 1950: 107).
The reference to revolution also appears again in Mussolini's speech: "War
is the melting-pot from which the new revolutionary aristocracy will
emerge" (Spinetti 1950: 52). The creation of heroic man was another thing.
Fascist discourse could not do without, albeit that the heroic man of Fas-
cism had to prove himself not only through his courage in action, but espe-
cially through his willingness to sacrifice his life. "The freely accepted sac-
rifice elevates men to the level of heroes" (Spinetti 1950: 301).
Just as the Futurists, Mussolini tries to present peace as cowardice and
weakness:
. .. Fascism . . . does not believe in the possibility or utility of perpetual
peace. It therefore rejects pacifism, which implies a renouncement of
struggle and cowardice at the sight of sacrifice. A man who scrupulously
avoids each war, will be anything but a man. Because only the fight com-
pletes a man, only someone who risks his own life, only someone who does
not hesitate to give his own blood, is a man. If he does not act like this, he
is a slave and deserves fetters {Spinetti 1950: 103).
A people who do not like to bear their own arms, end up bearing the arms
of others (Spinetti 1950: 327).
The concepts of the fatherland and the nation are used to divert atten-
tion from existing social conditions, whose antagonistic aspects one tries to
neutralize: in the mythico-natural fusion of the individual and the collec-
tive. They remind us of the Futurists' vision of the "greatness of the indi-
vidual in his fatherland".
Our myth is the Nation, our myth is the greatness of the Nation and to this
myth, to this greatness ... we subordinate all the rest {Spinetti 1950: 61).
Although Fascism in many points went beyond the program of Futurist
propaganda, - here one must consider especially the various stages Musso-
lini went through in his ideological development from pre-Fascism to state-
Fascism - these examples show that Fascist propaganda reveals certain
parallels to the contents and the form of Futurist propaganda: the imagery
of its metaphors, the persuasion resulting from mainly contrastive
sequences, the syntactic structure, the same orientation of the language, the
same stereotypes and catchwords, and the same myth based on nature. The
large number of similarities in the discourse of both movements would
seem, therefore, to establish a relationship between Futurism and Fascism.
POLITICAL SPEECH OF FUTURISM AND ITALIAN FASCISM 73
In connection with what has been said above, it is still difficult to pre-
cisely define the position of Futurism as a political movement in relation to
the development of Fascism. It is true that fairly exact accounts on
Futurism as an artistic avant-garde exist. However, a study of the phenom-
enon of political Futurism has not yet been accomplished by historical
research. In order to be able to make any well-founded statement on the
contribution of Futurism to the genesis of Fascism, we would have to pos-
sess exact evidence concerning the reception of Futurist propflganda. If one
is to believe Marinetti and contemporary observers, Futurism addressed
itself especially to the intellectual youth (cf. Marinetti 1924; Dresler 1929).
And even if the official organ of Fascism, the newspaper "Popolo d'Italia"
wrote on July 12th, 1924 that Futurism was one of the precursors of Fas-
cism, procuring for Fascism the following of many students, there is every
reason to believe that the recipients of the Futurist message represented
only the radical nationalistic camp of the intellectual youth. Therefore it
would be problematic to see the political discourse of Futurism and the
spread of Fascism as a type of cause-and-effect relationship. The activity of
Futurism and its propaganda are rather to be seen as a symptom of the fact
that long before the seizure of power by the Fascists other Fascist elements
were already present in the fabric of society. Myths and irrational factors,
so typical of Futurist and later also Fascist discourse, had initially to be
made conscious and internalized before those action-inducing factors which
were to characterize the suggestive quality of Fascist discourse could
become active within the language. The position which the Futurists and
their intellectual leader Marinetti occupied in the development of Italian
Fascism, is rather one of a mouthpiece; their call for action and their glorifi-
cation of war anticipated an ideology and societal conceptions, which were
to be known as the phenomenon of Fascism once they had been channelled
into an organizational framework.
NOTES
1. Dresler (1929) already points to the relationship of Futurism to Italian Fascism and refers
to and says that a knowledge of political Futurism is absolutely necessary for the com-
prehension of the development of Fascist movement, for the creation of a war atmos-
phere in Italy, for the Fascist aversion to Bolshevism and the Fascists' espousal of
imperialism as well as for its terminology (Dresler 1929: 342). Baumgarther (1966) also
writes in her book on Futurism, that Fascism had adopted the slogans and propaganda
methods of the Futurists and had thus gained many supporters among the youth (Baum-
74 ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE
garther 1966: 109). Indications of the relationship between Futurism and Fascism can be
found also in Trotzki (1971), Falqui (1953), Romano/Scala (1961), Farner (1970),
Dashwood (1972), Riesz (1979), Hardt (1982). In my unpublished thesis "Futurism and
Fascism" (1974) I made the first attempt to elucidate the relationship between both move-
ments through a critical textual analysis. A systematic study which especially employs tex-
tual linguistic methods has not yet been accomplished.
2. Concerning the definition of the concept "class of text" see Gillich/Raible (1975: 44ff.);
Beaugrande/Dressler (1981: 191) indicate that the assignment of a text to a class of texts
depends rather on the function of the text within communication than on its surface form.
3. In a paper of this scope it is impossible to enter into the sociological and socio-psycholog-
ical details on the process of the growing influence of Fascism. These phenomena have
been accurately analyzed in works on various theories of Fascism (cf. Reich 1933; Nolte
1963; Marcuse 1970b; Rosenberg 1970; Kiihnl 1971, etc.). With regard to the social con-
ditions, which led to the origin of Italian Fascism, compare Nolte (1963); De Felice (1965,
1966-68); Salvemini (1966); Tasca (1969); Alff (1971); Priester (1972).
4. In a view of recent.research on textual linguistics it seems appropriate to perceive textual
planning not in terms of strictly prescribed rules and patterns of performance, but as a
combination of various flexible speakers' strategies. These strategies may be conscious as
well as unconscious planning processes (cf. Wodak 1981; Zammuner 1981; Van Dijk/
Kintsch 1983).
5. Here I follow the typology indicated in Werlich (1975).
6. In this context it cannot be ignored that many literary people also some outside the
Futurist camp (cf. the social role of newspapers such as La Voce and Lacerba at the
beginning of the century in Bobbio 1936; Romano/Scala 1961; etc.) became spokesmen
for rebellion, and that Fascist agitation later was able to successfully exploit their uneasi-
ness within culture (cf. Alff 1971: 43).
Abbreviations:
GI= F.T. Marinetti 1915. Guerra, so/a igiene del mondo. Milan.
FF= F.T. Marinetti 1924. Futurismo e Fascismo. Foligno.
(Tl), (TI), (T3), (T4), (TS), (T6) = examples of texts.
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Schaff, A. 1968. Essays uber die Philosophie der Sprache. Wien, Frankfurt/
Main and Zurich: Europa Verlag.
Simonini, A. 1978. 11 linguaggio di Mussolini. Mailand: Arna.
Spinetti, E. 1950. Sintesi di Mussolini. Testimoni XW. Bologna: Cappelli.
Tasca, A. 1969. Glauben, gehorchen, kiimpfen. Aufstieg des Faschismus.
Wien, Frankfurt/Main and Zurich: Europa Verlag.
Trotzki, L. 1971. Der Futurismus. Zurich: Edition "Arche Nova".
Werlich, E. 1975. Typologie der Texte. Munchen: Quelle u. Meyer.
POLITICAL SPEECH OF FUTURISM AND ITALIAN FASCISM 77
Wodak, R. 1981. Das Wort in der Gruppe. Linguistische Studien zur
therapeutischen Kommunikation. Wien: Osterreichische Akademie der
Wissenschaften.
Wodak, R. 1983. "Der Stellenwert von Sprache in der Geschichtsfor-
schung". Zeitgeschichte 7: 261-285.
Wodak, R. et al. 1985. Die Sprache der "Miichtigen" und "Ohnmiichtigen":
Der Fall Hainburg. Wien: Arbeitsgemeinschaft fiir staatsburgerliche und
politische Bildung.
Zammuner, V. 1981. Speech Production. Strategies in Discourse Planning.
A Theoretical and Empirical Enquiry. Hamburg: Buske.
APPENDIX
Texts in Italian:
Discorso ai Triestini (1909) (Tl)
In politica siamo tanto lontani dal socialismo intemazionalista e antipatriottico -
ignobile esaltazione dei diritti de! ventre - quanto dal conservatorume pauroso e
clericale, simboleggiato dalle pantofole e dallo scaldaletto.
Tutte le liberta, nobile bagno di eroismo, senza il quale le razze si addormentano
nell'egoismo accidioso, nell'arrivismo economico, nelle taccagneria della mente e della
volonta. (GI: 24)
Trieste, la nostra bella polveriera (1909) (T2)
... Trieste! tu sei la nostra unica polveriera! In te riponiamo ogni nostra speranza!
... Disprezza dunque le teorie pacifiste ed intemazionalistiche! II patriottismo e l'amore
della guerra non hanno nulla a che fare coll'ideologia: sono principi d'igiene, senza i
quali non c'e che decadenza e morte! ...
Mentre i passatisti ci riproverano di far saltare in aria tutte le tradizioni, i falsi
avveniristi ci dichiarano retrogradi pel nostro patriottismo e pel nostro amore gella
guerra.
Agli uni e agli altri, noi rispondiamo che non si puo avanzare risolutamente nell'av-
venire, senza mantenere la nostra igiene personale di lotta quotidiana a la nostra igiene
colletiva di doccia sanguinosa decennale.
Noi nutriamo nel nostro sangue il nostro principale odio d'ltaliani del ventesimo
secolo: l'odio per l'Austria! ...
Quando gli intemazionalisti esaltano la pace, e cio che v'e di peggio nel loro sangue
(cio che-trema e imputridisce) che parla in loro.
Invocare la pace dei popoli, non significa essere avveniristi, ma semplicemente cas-
trare le razze e fare una coltura intensiva della vilta.
78 ROSITA RINDLER SCHJERVE
Chi puo affermare che un uomo forte non respiri assai meglio, non mangi assai
meglio, non dorma assai meglio del solito, dopo aver schiaffeggiato e atterrato un suo
nemico? - Chi puo affermare che la parola uomo e la parola lottatore non siano
sinonimi?
Percio noi concludiamo che quando parliamo di guerra, e la miglior parte del nostro
sangue, la parte futurista, che parla in noi. (GI: 81-82)
Manifesto a Tripoli italiana (1911) (T3)
Abbiamo recentemente cazzottato con piacere, nelle vie e nelle piazze, i piu feb-
bricitanti avversari della guerra, gridando loro in faccia questi nostri saldi principii:
1. - Siano concesse all'individuo e al popolo tutte le liberta, tranne quella di essere
vigliacco.
2. - Sia procalamato che la parola Italia deve dominare sulla parola Liberta.
3. - Sia cancellato il fastidioso ricordo della grandezza romana, con una grandezza
italiana cento volte maggiore.
L'ltalia ha oggi per noi la forma e la potenza di una bella dreadnought con la sua
squadriglia d'isole torpediniere. Orgogliosi di sentire uguale al nostro il fervore bellicoso
che anima tutto il Paese, incitiamo il Governo italiano, divenuto finalmente futurista, ad
ingigantire tutte le amibizioni nazionali, disprezzando le stupide accuse di pirateria e
proclamando la nascita del PANITALIANISMO. (FF: 74)
Manifesto agli Studenti (1911) (T4)
... La guerra non puo morire, poiche e una legge della vita. Vita = aggressione.
Pace universale = de'crepitezza e agonia della razze. Guerra = collaudo sanguinoso e
necessario della forza di un popolo.
... Soltanto la guerra sa svecchiare, accelerare, aguzzare l'intelligenza umana, alleg-
gerire ed aerare i nervi, liberarci dai pesi quotidiano ...
... La Guerra e una imposizione fulminea di coraggio, di energia e d'intelligenza a
tutti. Scuola obbligatoria d'ambizione e d'eroismo; pienezza di vita e massima liberta
nella dedizione alla Patria.
Per una Nazione povera e prolifica la Guerra e un affare: acquistare colla sovrab-
bondanza del proprio sangue la terra che manca. (FF: 95-96)
Discorso di Piazza Belgioioso (1919) (TS)
Noi siamo ottimisti, perche non soltanto il patriottismo della razza e stato rivelato
dalla guerra, ma specialmente la meravigliosa genialita della razza.
Non crediamo che la razza italiana debba dominare il mondo con le forze indust-
riali ma siamo convinti che lo dominera con la forza indiscutibile dei suoi genii creatori.
'1o rivendico i diritti del Genio e i diritti dell'Intelligenza sotto tutte le sue forme,
contro la pretesa dittatura dei calli alle mani.
Parlare di comunismo livellatore in una razza piena di individui, in un popolo pieno
d'inventori, e un'assurdita criminale. (FF: 199-120)
POLITICAL SPEECH OF FUTURISM AND ITALIAN FASCISM 79
Al di la del Comunismo (1919) (T6)
L'umanita cammina verso l'individualismo anarchico, meta e sogno d'ogni spirito
forte. II comunismo invece e una vecchia formola mediocrista, che la stanchezza e la
paura della guerra rivemiciano oggi e trasformano in moda spirituale.
II comunismo e l'esasperazione del cancro burocratico che ha sempre roso
l'umanita. Cancro tedesco, prodotto dal caratteristico preparazionismo tedesco. Ogni
preparazione pedantesca e anti-umana e stanca la fortuna. La storia, la vita e la terra
appartengono agli improvvisatori. Odiamo la caserma militarista quanto la caserma
comunista. II genio anarchico deride e spacca ii carcere comunista.
II cuore dell'liomo rompe nella sua espansione circolare ii piccolo cerchio soffoca-
tore della famiglia, per giungere fino agli orli estremi della Patria, dove sente palpitare
i suoi connazionali di frontiera, come i nervi periferici del proprio corpo. L'idea di Pat-
ria annulla l'idea di famiglia. L'idea di Patria e un'idea generosa, eroica, dinamica,
futurista, mentre l'idea di famiglia e gretta, paurosa, statica, conservatrice, passatista.
La Patria e ii massimo prolungamento dell'individuo, o meglio: ii piu vasto indi-
viduo capace di vivere lungamente, dirigere, dominare e difendere tutte le parti del suo
corpo.
Non si puo sfuggire a questi due concetti-sentimenti: patriottismo cioe praticita di
sviluppo dell'individuo e della razza; eroismo, cioe bisogno sintetico di superare le forze
umane, e potenza ascesionale della razza.
II progresso umano, che ha per essenza le velocita crescenti ammette, come ogni
velocita, ostacoli da rovesciare, cioe guerre rivoluzionarie.
La vita degli insetti dimostra che tutto si riduce ad una riproduzione ad ogni costo
e ad una distruzione senza scopo.
L'umanita sogna vanamente di sfuggire a queste due leggi che la eccitano e la stan-
cano altemativamente ... (FF: 207-210)
 War with words

Herbert E. Brekle
University of Regensburg

1. Preliminary remarks

Let us first look briefly at three ways in which the title of this essay may
be interpreted:
a. In a metaphorical sense: someone is "at war" with words, i.e. with
the language. Lack of knowledge of its rules and deficiency of vocabulary
lead to an inability to express oneself adequately. We shall not be con-
cerned with this sense here.
b. Someone wages war on words as used by others, i.e. he does not
agree with the words - or their content - as communicated in the state-
ments and texts of others; the key-phrases here are censorship and other
means of repression. This reading is of importance for our topic, as is the
following:
c. Someone wages war on others by means of words (this is connected
with reading (b) but goes far beyond it); someone seeks adversely to affect
the conditions of other peoples' lives, to obtain power over them, to rob
them of their human dignity or, in the extreme case, of their physical exis-
tence, using among other means words, statements, texts.
It should be clear that the term "war" is not being used here in the
strict modern sense of war between nations, but in a more general, more
basic sense to mean actions carried out between rulers or between rulers
and subjects, and also between individuals, with the intention of injuring
the other party by means of physical violence or psychological pressure.
Note the contrast here to the view of Thomas Hobbes, who saw "bellum
omnium in omnes" (De Cive, chap.l, 12:15) as applying only to situations
82 HERBERT E. BREKLE
outside the state. Here we shall take the view expressed by Plato (Laws,
Book I:3) where Clinias denounces men's lack of ability to realize that "hu-
manity is in a condition of public war of every man against every man, and
private war of each man with himself."
2. Some linguistic considerations
Which linguistic means are available, then, for use in a dispute based
on the interests of power, in a war with words? In principle every type of
speech act or act of writing (statement, question, command, promise,
threat, giving of advice, etc.) can serve the enforcing of someone's
interests. It depends of course upon the intention of the utterance and upon
the goal to be reached. But certain types of speech acts are associated with
special supporting conventions, some of which go back a long way to the
early history of language. On the one hand there are "magical" speech acts
such as cursing, the invocation of higher powers (conjuration, prayer, bap-
tism, etc.), insult and slander; on the other hand there are "normal" non-
magical speech acts such as deception, lying, calumny, denunciation, expo-
sure or institutionalized speech acts like nomination, condemnation, milit-
ary commands etc. All these types of speech acts are in principle suitable
for enforcing the interests of power.
It is not possible to give an outline of linguistic pragmatics here; within
this subdiscipline of linguistics scholars have been attempting for several
decades to give a more precise analysis of the "practical" aspects of linguis-
tic utterances. Let us just look for a moment at those special linguistic acts
which we have put under the heading of magical speech acts. From time
immemorial men have held the belief that the simple uttering of particular
sequences of words can call forth changes in the environment or in other
individuals, and the victim is in principle not able to do anything about it.
The effect of such utterances depends entirely upon the intention and,
perhaps, upon the social function of the utterer (if he is a medicine man, or
a priest, for example). Only if the victim sees through the mechanisms of
the magical speech act is he in a position to resist its effects.
Let us give an example from the Italian Renaissance: when Pope Ale-
xander III imposed the third interdict on Venice, the doge in office, Pietro
Gradenigo, fully aware of the economic power of Venice, responded by
observing: "Only children are afraid of words."
Even today only a small minority of people is in the position to take
WAR WITH WORDS 83
such an enlightened and independent stand such as this one against the
institutionalized and conventionalized speech act types used in our present
society. And, of course, whether such a stand can be taken or not is directly
dependent upon the efficiency of ideological systems and their associated
rushes and bans based on real or supposedly real resources of power.
3. Propaganda and censorship (1914-1933)
We would now like to turn to the role of linguistic utterances in a war
between states, using the First World War as an example. The key-words
here are propaganda and censorship. In times of war, in times of prepara-
tion for war, and also in times of so-called peace, there has existed since the
First World War a war of words between the various great powers, nowa-
days between their respective blocs. On both sides the use of words - put
together into appropriate texts and propagated by the mass media - is
regarded as a powerful means of exerting influence in order to advance the
goals of each side both in their own country and in the other countries. It
has long been recognized that the employment of suitable language with the
aim of influencing the masses is all too often only the precursor and herald,
the father of the acts of war which will follow. It is also recognized that the
feelings evoked, be they feelings of fear or timidity, the will to win or the
impulse to destroy, depend wholly upon the words used. And these feelings
are of course evoked by particular groups in positions of power who are
interested in the emergence or the continuance of a particular state of war.
One of the most important prerequisites for the achievement of such
widespread effects - i.e. for propaganda on a large scale - was the
emergence of the mass media towards the end of the 19th century. The use
of propaganda in the form of words and pictures during the First World
War is carefully documented in a number of works on the subject. A com-
parison between England and the German Reich shows that the internal
propaganda in England was far more efficient than in Germany. The
British Government was able to present its war objectives convincingly to
the British public through the controlled use of stylistically effective reports
from the front; thus the fighting spirit and the desire for victory of the
British people were not allowed to flag. But for German censorship and
military bureaucracy, the task of communicating Germany's war objectives
to the general public proved much more difficult, especially after 1915 or
16. However, in spite of the initial opposition to the war by the German
84 HERBERT E. BREKLE
social democrats, it became clear during the years 1915-18 that in large sec-
tors of the public, the social democrats included, the principle of
nationalism was stronger than the principle of international socialist unity
and solidarity. Actual propaganda was carried out on two different levels.
On the one hand there was censorship: both the English and the German
governments were able to repress the vast majority of unwelcome news
items and thus .to prevent their circulation. On the other hand there was
carefully controlled misinformation about the actual progress of the war
and a great deal of influence exerted on the general public in an attempt to
make sure that no doubts whatsoever could emerge concerning the victory
of one's own country.
3.1 A case study of a piece of propaganda of the Allies
In his commendable book Falsehood in War-Time: Containing an
assortment of lies circulated throughout the nations during the Great War (of
which there were 8 reprints between 1928 and 1940), Lord Ponsonby gives
an analysis of the strategies and mechanisms of propaganda involved in
forged items of "news", such as were circulated in the mass media, espe-
cially by the Allies. He reveals the various stages in the emergence and
transmission of such falsehoods, and their effects on the general public. A
particularly illustrative example concerns the growth and development of
an apparently harmless piece of news from November 1914, as is was hand-
led by the European press (Ponsonby 1940, Chap.28: 161):
In Cologne the Kolnische Zeitung reported in November 1914 that
when the fall of Antwerp became known, the church bells were rung.
(What is meant of course is that they were rung in Cologne; this is evident
from the context and from the conventions applying to such situations in
the German Reich).
The Parisian newspaper Le Matin, citing the Kolnische Zeitung,
reported that the clergy of Antwerp had been forced, upon the taking of the
fortress, to ring the church bells (The editor of Le Matin has transformed
the original impersonal passive construction into an active one and given it
a subject appropriate to the interests of French propaganda, namely the
humiliated clergy of Antwerp.)
The Times of London further developed the report in Le Matin to the
effect that the Belgian priests who had refused to ring the church bells when
Antwerp was taken had been driven from their places. {At this stage in the
WAR WITH WORDS 85
development there is an extension of the fictitious category of affected per-
sons - from "the clergy of Antwerp" to "the Belgian priests" - and an
introduction of new material, namely their refusal and the resulting sanc-
tions. The Times editors have embellished the meagre framework of Le
Matin's script so that it bears even less resemblance to the original. The
only things which remain are the parameters "fall of Antwerp" and "ringing
of bells".)
At the fourth stage of development, the Corriere della Sera intensified
the Times report to the effect that the Belgian priests who had refused to
ring the bells had been sentenced to hard labor. (On the principle "always
go one further".)
The finishing touches were then added by Le Matin, which, without
referring to its own earlier announcement, and only mentioning Corriere
della Sera's report "from Cologne via London", stated that the "barbaric
conquerors of Antwerp punished the unfortunate Belgian priests for their
heroic refusal to ring the church bells by hanging them als living clappers to
the bells with their heads down." (This final stage in the development of the
news item is characterized by the use of emotive adjectives such as "bar-
baric" and "heroic" and by the transformation of the Corriere's invented
"hard labour" into an act which might have been taken directly from a hor-
ror film. The communicative goal was of course to show the world the bes-
tiality of the "huns" as they advanced through Belgium.)
It was very important for the government of England that the press,
that is, the so-called press barons with their vast newspaper empires, could
be completely trusted to circulate news and influence the public in the way
the government wished. In the German Reich this was not the case: even
though the vast majority of newspapers in the German Reich were of con-
servative tendencies, the Government and above all the armed forces con-
stantly doubted their loyalty. This can easily be traced back to the opinion
cultivated in William's empire that the military stood above all civil bodies.
3.2 Propaganda strategies of the allies
In the literature on the topic (Ponsonby 1928), the methods and ingre-
dients of British propaganda in the First World War are generally reduced
to eight basic features:
1. stereotypes ("bull-necked Prussian officer")
2. names with negative connotations ("huns")
86 HERBERT E. BREKLE
3. selection and suppression of facts, often with palliative terms (re-
treats are called "straightening the front")
4. reports of cruelty ("Belgian nuns violated", "hands of children
cut off')
5. slogans ("a war to end all wars")
6. one-sided reporting (small victories are exaggerated, large
defeats are glossed over)
7. unmistakably negative characterization of the enemy ("German
militarists")
8. the so-called "bandwagon effect" ("every patriot joins up")
While on the British side the active propaganda, using the strategies
just mentioned, was able, owing to the agreement of press and government,
to exert great influence on the people, the situation in the German Reich
was, as we have seen, quite different.
Because the government mistrusted the German newspapers, it
invested a great deal of energy in the censoring of press reports. The actual
internal propaganda on the German side during the First World War was
limited to simple catchwords such as "holding out", the charge that the
enemy was "transgressing martial law", the assertion of the value of Ger-
man culture and of Germanness, the affirmation of the necessity of gaining
more land and the proclamation that a German victory could only bring
good for the rest of the world. As a typical example of German propaganda
let us consider the use, or rather misuse, of the poetic form; the following
example is from Welt am Montag, 20th November 1914, a macabre charac-
terization of Germany, the land of the poets:
0 Germany, hate now with icy blood,
Slaughter in millions the devilish brood.
Though the smoking flesh and the bones of men
Should tower as mountains, into the clouds.
0 Germany, hate now armoured in iron:
Bayonet each enemy straight through the heart!
Take them not captive, but silence them outright
And lay waste the belt of lands round about.
(our translation, cf. Appendix 1)
(The poem was published anonymous merely under the title "Privy Coun-
cillor".)
This was not an exception; there are volumes of propaganda poems of this
type, especially from the early years of the war. It should not be necessary
WAR WITH WORDS 87
to point out that the contents of this piece of work are a horrible anticipa-
tion of the Nazi crimes. It has since been established by historical research
that the Nazis did not have to invent their own doctrines and methods of
propaganda, but that they could rely on examples produced during Wil-
liam's reign. Nevertheless, the Nazis were very concerned to raise the stan-
dard of their propaganda to "international level". In 1933, Eugen
Hadarnovsky, later Gobbels's deputy, published a book with the title Prop-
aganda und nationale Macht (Propaganda and National Power), in which he
explained how Nazi propaganda, especially in the press, should learn from
the English press propaganda of the First World War. Hitler himself also
dealt with this problem in Mein Kampf (1939, Chap. 6: 193ff): he com-
plained that German propaganda during the First World War was
inadequate in form and psychologically wrong in substance. He rebuked the
Germans for not having understood the value of propaganda as a terrible
psychological weapon; all statements issued by the government and the
press, both internal and external in nature must be subjective and one-sided
on all questions, they must appeal to the primitive feelings of the masses
and they must endlessly repeat the same few points.
4. Glimpses on the present-day situation
George Orwell, not surprisingly, has dealt with a theme in many
respects similar to our own (Politics and the English Language, 1946): "In
our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefen-
sible." This is truer today than ever. In place of Orwell's post-war examples
- atom bombs over Japan, England's rule in India - let us take some
examples from our present situation: rearmament on all sides, the rapid
destruction of the natural environment, the belief in the ideology of
growth, and increasing restrictions on the freedom guaranteed by the con-
stitution (of course all these are functionally connected things).
The language of the politicians, in order to convey such states of affairs
to the public, must consist to a large extent of euphemisms, rhetorical re-
pression of the actual problems, empty words, nebulous half-statements,
stereotyped expressions and commonplaces. The statements of the present
West German Chancellor, but also of other leading politicians, offer excel-
lent examples. Compare the statement by the Minister for Family and
Youth Affairs GeiBler, that Pazifismus fii,hrt zu Auschwitz (Pacifism leads
to Auschwitz). Massacres by the superpowers in Nicaragua and Afganistan
88 HERBERT E. BREKLE
are called "acts of pacification", plutonium factories and reprocessing
plants for atomic waste are called Entsorgungsparks (lit. "parks where
peoples' worries are removed"; meaning atomic waste reprocessing plant);
the Bavarian Minister President called the death of an old-age pensioner of
a heart attack during checks by DDR border officials a "murder". (It is
interesting to compare in this context StrauB's opinion of himself as expres-
sed in Vienna's Die Presse, 12th October 1978: lch bin ein Intellektueller,
der priizise denkt und formuliert; (I am an intellectual, who thinks and for-
mulates precisely.) When the weapons of the East are under discussion, the
word "atomic", otherwise avoided in Germany, is frequently used: "atomic
rockets", "atomic war-heads", "atomic final blow", etc., but in the West
there are only "nuclear" weapons. "Atomic" has negative connotations for
most people: thus in Germany we speak of Kernkraftwerke ("nuclear power
plants"), Kernbrennstoffe ("nuclear fuel") etc. (Notice the association with
kerngesund (sound in health), Kernobst (fruit with pips), etc .. And the lan-
guage of technocracy and the military is full of expressions like Straj3enbe-
gleitgriin (literally "street-accompanying green"; what is meant is bushes
alongside roads) or Hart- und Weichziele ("hard and soft targets"; meaning
buildings and persons).
In all these cases those in power are waging war with verbal weapons,
a war which either serves to cover up ongoing military action or to create a
public climate favourable to possible future military operations.
4.1 A Bavarian example
Let us, finally, give a striking example of symbolic verbal violence,
from Whit Saturday 1983, which characterizes very well the relationship
between the Bavarian government and those citizens who still take their
constitutional rights seriously. The Ministry of the Interior stated on the
20th May 1983 (according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung of 21st May, (cf.
Appendix 2) that at the demonstration against the building of a reproces-
sing plant for atomic waste in Wackersdorf "violent disputes" were
expected to take place. This assumption was unjustified; the Ministry could
have and should have known that the Upper Palatinate citizens' initiatives
had said they would hold a strictly non-violent demonstration, and that they
would make sure this was carried out. The marshalling of hundreds of
policemen with bullet-proof jackets and machine guns was not justified. It
was an obvious case of violence expressed in symbols of the state's powers
WAR WITH WORDS 89
of enforcing law and order. This symbolic and verbal show of force was
either the result of incompetence or it was intended to intimidate the citi-
zens of the Upper Palatinate, to suggest that the citizens' initiatives are run
by anarchists and, by way of a self-fulfilling prophecy, to stimulate the
demonstrators to actual violence. As it is reasonable to assume that the
Bavarian security and police forces work c:>n the whole efficiently, the
action of the Ministry of the Interior, in view of what we now know of the
strategies of those in power, must be seen as a symbolic and verbal act of
agression in the interests of those in favour of atomic energy against citizens
who are simply making use of their right to hold meetings. It is stated that
a particular event is expected to take place; the possible intention and the
actual effect of this are defamation and intimidation. The classic topos of
propaganda Calumniare audacter, semper aliquid haeret (Francis Bacon,
1605:780, based on Plutarch) has again proved its practical value. Accord-
ing to the Mittelbayerische Zeitung of 25th May 1983, (cf. Appendix 3), a
speaker for the CSU group in the Bavarian Parliament added insult to
injury by asking "whether the reproach that there was a lack of compliance
with the ideas of a constitutional state should not first and foremost be
directed at those who prefer illegal means and violent disputes to the peace-
ful settlement of conflicts". Here it is no longer a case merely of intimida-
tion and defamation but of definite slander: the citizens' initiatives of the
Upper Palatinate are assumed to prefer "illegal means and violent disputes"
to a "peaceful settlement of conflicts". But just the opposite is the case: all
announcements and demonstrations by the citizens' initiatives, their partici-
pation in discussions with political parties, churches and various other
bodies are and always have been characterized by the use of peaceful
argumentation in an attempt to persuade the public, parliament and the
government not to go further along the road to becoming an atomic nation.
5. Conclusion
What are the consequences to be drawn from all this? If we have the
slightest interest in the maintenance of our society - and of humanity itself
- in a form compatible with human dignity, we must make clear to our-
selves and to others what strategies and mechanisms are used daily in the
"war with words" which is going on everywhere, and what interests and
ideologies underlie the constant deceptions and lies.
But then it is also necessary to transform this knowledge into patterns
90 HERBERT E. BREKLE
of action with the aim of at least making a serious attempt to render the sur-
vival of humanity a little more probable.
REFERENCES
Bacon, Francis. 1605. De augmentis scientiarum, J. Spedding, R.L. Ellis,
D.D. Heath (eds). London: Longman and Co. 1858.
Hadamovsky, Eugen. 1933. Propaganda und nationale Macht. Miinchen:
Eber.
Hitler, Adolf. 1939. Mein Kampf. Miinchen: Eber.
Hobbes, Thomas. 1647. Elementa philosophica de Cive. Amsterdam:
Elzevir.
O~ll, George. 1946. "Politics and the English language". In The Col-
lected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell by S. Orwell and
I. Angus (eds). (Vol. IV: 127-140): InFrontofyourNose. 1945-50. Lon-
don: Secker & Warburg.
Plato. 1966. The Laws. Translated with an Introduction by A.E. Taylor.
London: Dent (Everymens Library).
Ponsonby, Arthur. 1928. Falsehood in War-Time: Containing an assort-
ment of lies circulated throughout the nations during the Great War.
London: George Allen & Urwin.
APPENDIX1
Oh du Deutschland, jetzt hasse mit eisigem Blut
binschlachte Millionen der teuflischen Brut.
Und tiirmten sich berghoch in Wolken hinein
das rauchende Fleisch und das Menschengebein:
Oh du Deutschland, jetzt hasse geharnischt in Erz:
jedem Feind einen Bajonettstich ins Herz!
Nimm keinen gefangen, mach jeden gleich stumm,
schaff zur Wiiste den Giirtel der Lander ringsum.
(Das Gedicht wurde ohne Angabe eines Automamens publiziert, nur eine Titel-
bezeichnung wurde genannt: "Hofrat").
Welt am Montag, 20. November 1914
WAR WITH WORDS 91
APPENDIX2
S. 26, Siiddeutsche ZeitungNr. 116, v. 21.5.1983
Turmabbau erregt Atomgegner
Polizei begriindet Aktion bei Schwandorf mit drohenden Gewalttiitigkeiten
Schwandorf (Eigener Bericht) - Polizeibeamte haben am Freitag den von Atomkraft-
gegnem nahe dem geplanten Standort einer Wiederaufarbeitungsanlage fiir Kembrenn-
stoffe bei Wackersdorf errichteten Aussichtsturm abgerissen. Wie berichtet, hatte das
Verwaltungsgericht Regensburg einen Abbruchbescheid des Landratsamts Schwandorf
aufgehoben. Das iiber 15 Meter hohe Holzgeriist, von dessen Plattform aus das kiinftige
Baugeliinde zu iibersehen ist, hiitte demzufolge vorerst stehen bleiben diirfen. Die Poli-
zeiaktion hat dagegen vollendete Tatsachen geschaffen.
Ein Sprecher des Innenministeriums erkliirte, der Abbruch stelle keinen Vorgriff auf
den noch offenen Ausgang der baurechtlichen Auseinandersetzung dar. Die Polizei ha-
be nach ihrem gesetzlichen Auftrag zur Gefahrenabwehr handeln miissen. Es sei zu be-
fiirchten gewesen, da6 der Turm bei der fiir den Pfingstsamstag angekiindigten Demon-
stration als Kommandozentrale und Kemstiick eines Hiittendorfes nach dem Vorbild
von Gorleben hiitte dienen sollen. Von der Veranstaltung, zu der die oberpfiilzischen
Biirgerinitiativen gegen den Bau einer atomaren Wiederaufarbeitunganlage und die
Griinen bundesweit aufgerufen haben, erwartet das Innenministerium gewalttiitige Aus-
einandersetzungen. Es gibt Ankiindigungen, nach denen das Geliinde zeitweilig besetzt
und Bohrlocher fiir die Bodenuntersuchungen zugeschiittet werden sollen.
Die Biirgerinitiative Schwandorf bezeichnete das Vorgehen der Polizei als "unverhiilt-
nismiiBig, wenn nicht rechtswidrig". Der AbriB des Turms babe die Gemiiter erhitzt.
Man werde trotzdem versuchen, miiBigend auf die erwarteten rund 15 000 Demonstran-
ten einzuwirken.
Peter Schmitt
APPENDIX3
S. 8, Mittelbayerische Zeitung Nr. 123, v. 25.5.1983
Polizeieinsatz von Wackersdorf hat parlamentarisches Nachspiel ( ... ),ob der Vorwurf
mangelnden RechtsstaatsbewuBtseins nicht zuerst an die zu richten sei, die illegale MaB-
nahmen und gewalttiitige Auseinandersetzungen einer friedlichen Konfliktlosung vor-
zogen.
 Part II
Language of politics/or politicians
Some remarks on linguistic strategies of persuasion

Karl Sornig
University of Graz

1. RHETORICAL USE OF LANGUAGE

Persuasive behaviour is of its very nature always communicative

behaviour. To employ the stylistic differences between various linguistic
structures for rhetorical purposes is a most common and legitimate every-
day implementation of linguistic means of expression. Rhetorical acts, i.e.
those that aim at a perlocutionary effect upon the rhetorician's audience
and in the last consequence try to trigger off certain behavioral patterns in
the listener(s), belong to the intrinsic and essential functions for which lan-
guage can be and actually has been used from times immemorial.
Furthermore, there is no such thing as a "pure", unbiased statement:
the process of verbalizing thoughts and transmitting ideas involves the
simultaneous signaling of purposes, aims and wishes along with the message
itself. In the actual speech event, certain semantic features of a given
utterance are focused on while others are obscured by the semiotic ele-
ments that surround them, i.e. by the influence of. co- and contextual envi-
ronment. The selection and arrangement of the stylistic resources and
devices that may serve to bring a certain perspective to the fore, to "talk"
somebody over to one's own point of view, to make him/her believe in
something that the persuader him/herself may, or may not believe in, is
actually what rhetoric and persuasion is all about. Nevertheless it is not the
verifiable truth of a message which is relevant and likely to impress an audi-
ence and make it act upon a certain impulse; it is the way things are said (or
done), irrespective of the amount of genuine information carried by an
utterance.
96 KARLSORNIG
This is why persuasion must pre-eminently be seen as a stylistic proce-
dure. As style is something that has to do with outward appearances, i.e.
surface structure, it follows that what rhetoric tries to inculcate, viz. a belief
in the credibility and trustworthiness of the rhetorician's communicative
behaviour, can only be conjectured from the surface structure of what he
says.
I would like to add one single, though necessary, remark on the so-cal-
led power of words here. Words can, in fact, be used as instruments of
power and deception, but it is never the words themselves that should be
dubbed evil and poisonous, as has become the fashion since the days of F.
Mauthner. The responsibility for any damage that might have been done by
using certain means of expression still lies with the users, those who, not
being able to alter reality, _try - through interpretative strategies - to
change its reception and recognition by their interlocutors (Bork 1970: 9).
It is not reality that is altered by its description, rather is it the inter-
locutor's outlook on reality and his/her interpretation that can be controlled
by devices of persuasive communication.
Linguistic devices of a persuasive turn are arranged along two paramet-
ers: on the structural level they range from explicit1, predominantly
marked, even a-systematic elements, down to implicit, unmarked workaday
routines {the language of the peer-group, the language of the family, reg-
ional variants etc.). As far as the relationship between the speaker (per-
suader) and his/her interlocutor is concerned, persuasive devices can either
employ means that serve to arouse surprise, even cause estrangement, or
one may resort to quite another trick: chumming up to somebody by
mimicry, i.e. the simulation of speeach variants that signal intimacy. Thus,
by impressing or surprising somebody, the persuader tries to make his vic-
tim give up his own viewpoint and embrace that of the rhetorician, whereas
in the case of flattery and the acting out of chumminess the recipient is con-
vinced that the persuader has given up his/her own point of view in favour
of that of the persuaded. What is even more effective is when the victim
gets the impression that both partners have had the same outlook on reality
from the very beginning, in which case the persuader is regarded and
accepted as one of the victim's near and dear. Here the central aim of the
persuader, i.e. to get the recipient to identify himself with the views prof-
fered, is achieved by one of the time-honoured tricks of rhetoric, i.e. the
feigned identification of the persuader with his victim.
SOME REMARKS ON LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES OF PERSUASION 97
1.1 Conviction vs. seduction
One could try to bring yet another distinction to bear upon the
phenomena under discussion by distinguishing between persuasion that
attempts to convince somebody on the one hand, and seduction on the
other hand. The difference is not merely one of degree, since seductfon is an
attempt to make people do things as if of their own impulse but really upon
instigation from outside. Seduction as I understand it has at least one
important and frequent preliminary move: mimicry, or rather flatteryz by
mimicry, which means getting somebody to see himself and to look at
things from another, seemingly more agreeable angle, which of course
involves a change of perspective. Whereas the mechanisms of convincing
and conviction obviously work mainly along cognitive argumentative lines,
seduction, instead of trusting in the truth and/or credibility of arguments,
rather exploits the outward appearance and seeming trustworthiness of the
persuader. Seductive persuasion tries to manipulate the relationship that
obtains or is to be established between the speaker and his listener:
(1) Friendliness. We built a bank on it
{Yorkshire Bank)
In fact, even being convinced of the truth of an argument or an idea
may mean having, at some time or other, changed one's mind, or having
had one's mind changed, deliberately and/or consciously.
1.2 Interlude on intelligibility
Intelligibility is a prerequisite of persuasion. This might at first sight
seem to be a very trivial statement: of course one has to understand what
somebody says in order to be influenced by what he has meant. What we
have in mind here is the fact that in order for language to be effective, e.g.
in acts of persuasive communication, the person to be convinced would
have to understand every bit of information and every strand of associative
meaning that is being transmitted to him.\Tuis would mean that not only
referential-denotative features, conditio~ed by presuppositions, would
have to be parallel in both parties, but also degrees of semantic intensity
and expressiveness, and above all the connotative meaning potential,
attitudinal aspects, fears and expectations.3 In fact, the communicative
biographies of the partners ought to be practically the same in order to
98 KARLSORNIG
guarantee mutual understanding and trustworthiness, since parallel semio-
tic backgrounds are necessary to effect the persuader's main task, i.e. to
lure the recipient into identifying with the persuader's perspective.?This is
why in my view understanding in general and (persuasive) comm~ication
in particular has to do with identification: he who listens adjusts his view to
that which is being insinuated; he always identifies himself to some degree
with his partner. This again is why persuasion works ~est ~!!!_ong peopl~
who speak tl}e same language. People who share similar communi~_!ltive
biogra~~es ca~~~hieve _!lnderstan_?ing and agreement with a.minimum--of
ve_rbal activity.
1.2.1 Coercive strategies
The seductive mechanism that employs similarity of communicative
behaviour may well be seen in contrast to coercive strategies which serve a
similar purpose, viz. to make the recipient adjust his behaviour to that
suggested or demanded by the persuader. In this case, however, mutual
understanding is not the aim; the victims know that they are being con-
ditioned and controlled against their will instead of acting upon their own
decisions (see note 3).
Thus, different ideologies may employ similar strategies as discussed in
this paper, although they would concentrate on different aspects of
behaviour depending on what is regarded as reasonable, respectable, and
righteous.
On the other hand, similar purposes, ideological rhetoric or other, may
be served by quite different semiotic surface structures. The choice of
means of expression for the promotion of rhetorical purposes is of course
subject to stylistic decisions.
1.3 Instability of meaning and reduction of semantic content as a result of
focusing and attempts at intensification
One should not forget that the idea of stability of meaning in words
and phrases is really fictitious and results from wishful thinking on the
semanticist's part. In reality, meaning, i.e. semantic content, is continu-
ously modified: decreased or increased in range and intensity, replenished
or deflated in order to meet the requirements of a given situation. As refer-
ential meaning becomes eroded by use in differing contexts and co-texts,
SOME REMARKS ON LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES OF PERSUASION 99
this is even more true of connotational content, especially evaluative and
affective. 4 Since persuasive and manipulative language use to a large extent
employs language material that is emotionally charged, the general trend is
towards reduction, especially of intensity, which obviously results from
hyperbolic language usage, i.e. from exaggeration in the use of evaluative
lexical material. The excessive manipulative employment of intensifying
lexical elements can lead to the reduction of semantic content until it
reaches the status of mere derivational affixes:
(2) super, pure, natural, fresh etc.
Of course, hyperbolic, superlative use of language forms can miscarry: An
Austrian conservative politician spoke of the geschlossenste Widerstand
("the most completest opposition") his party was going to build up against
socialism; a British company advertised the "oiliest of oils".
If semantic content is not deflated or altogether eroded, it may be con-
verted into its antonymous counterpart:
(3) G. toll, i" etc. ("mad", "marvellous")
2. ARGUMENTATION
2.1 At the top of the list of the more or less outspoken rhetorical devices
there are explicit announcements to introduce argumentative steps, such as
(4) I'll explain this to you, shall I?
(5) You (really) must admit ...
(6) Look here...
These are usually followed by assertive statements of varying logical
relevancy; the listener is invited to adjust his perspective to that of the
speaker.
2.1.1 There is yet another aspect that deserves consideration. Since asser-
tions are interpretations of reality, i.e. of a reality as it appears to the
speaker, they are at the same time, as mentioned above, attempts to alter
the recipient's perspective (and this is why the speaker's perspective is
being verbalized at all). And precisely because of this, unmitigated and '
apodictic assertions without justification and/or proof ("British is best") are 1
among the most direct and therefore the most brutal ways of handling the
interlocutor's views and attitudes (cf. Le Bon 1968: 99). Of course, for the
 100 KARLSORNIG
realisation and acceptance of conversational moves of this assertive kind,
the role and status of the speaker and his recipient have considerable influ-
ence. It certainly is not everybody's business to broach a subject, to advo-
cate certain issues, or to change the topic of discussion, let alone to inter-
rupt another's line of argumentation:
(7) Keep to the point, please
(8) What are you trying to say?
(9) What's the idea ...
(10) So what!?
The presumptiousness of assertive communication reaches its climax
when somebody is obliged to repeat a statement (or a command) after the
person who initiated it. This strategy of manipulation is based upon the
assumption that a person will readily believe anything he has said himself in
so many words (irrespective of the fact whether or not he has done so of his
own free will) (cf. Handke 1968).
2.2 The smallest unit of assertive communicative behaviour is name-giv-
ing. Interestingly, as names are bestowed upon somebody by other people,
they cannot easily be got rid of by those who have been stigmatized, for
example, by some nickname. Nicknames need not be justified, neither can
they be contradicted or disproved.
2.3 Don't argue, quote
In this connection one cannot avoid mentioning the persuasive force
, that can be derived from repeating someone else's statement, especially in
the original wording. "Quotational language"S not only carries conviction,
or at least feigns credibility by exploiting the prestige of the person by
whom a quotation was originated ("What's in a name?" (Miele)), it also
contains the temptation to misuse and abuse what somebody of importance
has said and probably meant:
(11) Non scolae sed vitae discimus. ("The aim of any study is use in
practical life, not our teachers' benevolence")
(12) Der Krieg ist der Yater aller Dinge. ("Competition and rivalry is
whence everything originates")
On the other hand, there is always a chance for repartee and protest
against assertive statements and especially against the abuse of quotational
SOME REMARKS ON LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES OF PERSUASION 101
language. Contradiction as one of the fundamental "human" (communica-
tive) rights frequently manifests itself in parody ("Let us spray") as a
specific textual device: parodies are anti-texts, they are contra-quotations.
3. PERSUASIVE GRAMMAR
We do not want to enlarge on the issue of whether there is or is not
such a thing as the language of advertising. What we have in mind here are
(stylistically motivated) choices from among linguistic forms with a view to
persuasive effects to be achieved with the recipient. On the whole, rhetori- ,
cal behaviour of a more outspoken and explicit kind obviously prefers a
grammar (in the widest sense of the word), and for that matter a lexis that
to a certain degree deviate from the ordinary workaday manner of expres-
sion. By this we mean structures that are characterized by markedness as
far as their surface is concerned, the purpose being to arouse attention and
create surprise, and give the recipient the feeling that he/she is taking part
in something quite extraordinary.
As a consequence of this, the combination of unusual, even a-systema-
tic elements in collocations, such as morphological and derivational
pleasantries, extravagancies and novelties are much in vogue in this field.
3.1 For the sake of exemplification we mention here the present tense of
topicality which is quite popular in journalese, where it serves to shift the
temporal dimensions of the recipient's perspective. Similar effects of unusu-
alness, viz. markedness, result from the use of the infinitive or the perfect
participle where an imperative or a narrative tense would have been
expected.
Re-activation and innovation, even invention of morphological, espe-
cially derivational patterns, is quite popular:
(13) Come with us to a Quantastic World (Quantas =Australian Air-
line)
(14) Schweppervescene
The most "grammatical" among the devices for the creation of surprise is
what I call categorial shift, i.e. morphemes are used in categories different
from those the recipient would have expected ("I don't want you to water-
gate my private life").
 102 KARLSORNIG
3.2 Measures like the passive voice, which serve either to camouflage the
author of an action or to diminish the credibility of a statement, as is
achieved by the subjunctive mood, e.g. in reported speech, need not be dis-
cussed in detail here.
In advertising the product often takes the part of the agentive subject
of a sentence (Flader 1974: 12): "Product x will help you to ... ".
3.3 As pointed out, any utterance in a semiotic system is essentially vague
and incomplete as a result of the intrinsic and necessary instability, or
rather variability of communicative systems in general. This means that
every message has to be decoded; i.e. the recipient is expected to take it
upon himself to decipher the message, i.e. to complete what has been left
unsaid; to bring light into obscurities; to verbalize the implicit, etc.
Any kind of elision or deletion, such as in sentences without a verb, or
verbs lacking a subject or object ("Coca Cola is it"), i.e. utterances that
\ allegedly and seemingly can do without a full wording, endow a statement
I with a certain kind of general validity and acceptability. Elliptic language
forces the recipient to complete the utterance and through this mental
activity where he busies himself with what somebody else may have meant,
he/she is lured into identifying himself/herself to a degree with the speaker.
This is simply a natural consequence of the incompleteness and vagueness
of statements whose comprehension and acceptance is liable to misun-
derstanding and depends on the recipient's conscious and voluntary cooper-
ation.
(15) The more you fly- (Lufthansa)
(16) Where the quality still matters (luggage)
(17) Philips simply years ahead
Another consequence of the intrinsic indirectness of any linguistic (and
semiotic) interaction is that anybody who is able to decipher a message the
content and purpose of which are not manifest and cannot in fact be
gathered from its surface structures, has proved by accomplishing this
deciphering task that he/she "belongs" to those who can receive and pro-
cess messages without having to be told everything explicitly in so many
words. The point in question for the present paper is the fact that anybody
who completes another's statement - by this very act of participation, and
identification not only with the propositional content of the speaker's pre-
sumed message but also with its illocutionary intent and perlocutionary pur-
SOME REMARKS ON LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES OF PERSUASION 103
pose - takes upon himself the responsibility for what he himself has said in
his own words.
3.4 Phonetics and the magic power of similarity
Apart from its normal stock of phonemes and morphemes every natu-
ral language is equipped with a whole gamut of as it were semi-systematic,
i.e. not wholly systematized, phonetic elements, which enable it to signal
affective reactions, aggressive as well as those representing amicable
attitudes. Of course, these snarls and purrs can be utilized in purposive
communicative behaviour. 6
3.4.1 In addition, any kind of similarity on the acoustic, or rather the
auditive level, such as alliteration, rhyme and assonance can be taken as a
symptom of vicinity or affinity on other levels, ontological or semantic. This
belief in the parallelism of similarities in different phenomena is as old as
astrology; it has engendered textual products since the Rig-Veda, and still
proves useful and effective for advertising purposes:7
(18) Aristocratic, Authoritative, Adventurous (Aquascutum)
(19) Leave it to us to conquer cancer
(20) Steel yourself for Skol special strength
(21) Rock and Relax
(22) Cavalier is here (Vauxhall)
(23) Don't be vague, ask for Haig (brandy)
3.5 Among the explicit means to direct and shift social relationships, the
different forms of address play an important role. In addition to the pro-
nouns of solidarity (which have been discussed in various publications since
the classic article by Brown/Gilman 1960), the use of first names as a signal
of solidarity, or rather as a means of chumming up to somebody should be
mentioned:
(24) Ronald and Rudolf (Austria's Kirchschlager)
(25) I like Ike
Moreover, the pronoun of the 1st person plural ("Let's be reasona-
ble ... ") is frequently used as a pronoun of (feigned) solidarity: it is a kind of
WE with socializing force, which I shall call the "nurses' plural" (Kran-
kenschwestemplural). Forms of address like this, which include the speaker
104 KARLSORNIG
and the person addressed (cf. Brown/Levinson 1978) are very likely to
create that atmosphere and feeling of shared situational assessment, mutual
understanding, and common destiny mentioned above.s It is this atmos-
phere of mutual trustworthiness and suspended wariness which is the basis
and background of chumminess. To my mind, the creation of this feeling
and the atmosphere of being buddies, of belonging and being accepted, is
the central and most effective instrument of persuasion.
4. TIIE LEXICON OF PERSUASION
This paper is to be Tegarded as an attempt to advocate the concept of
semantic transformation, which is not quite the same process as has
hitherto gone under the name of semantic shift, especially in a historical/
etymological sense.
Compared with this, semantic transformations can be visualized as spr-
inging from the deliberate selective focusing of components, i.e. the selec-
tion, or rather restriction of selection rules, directed by certain choices from
co-textual environment. Semantic transformation starts with those compo-
nents which are easiest to shift because of their instability and ephemeral
quality, viz. components carrying connotative, especially affective and
evaluative9 semantic content. Manipulation of meaning can follow two
main strategies: replacement of words, or rearrangement and focusing of
semantic components (see Sections 4.2 and 4.3).
4.1 The magic of tautology
A strategy similar to that mentioned above, viz. the persuasive, some-
times even convincing force of apodictic assertions, is the use of tautologi-
cal expressions ("A rose is a rose") which, as R.Barthes (1964: 27)
remarked, always have an agressive effect.to What Barthes obviously has in
mind is the subtle aggressiveness that is, for example, exercised by making
somebody listen to one and the same argument over and over again. This is
a. method quite popular in advertising and one that reminds us of the trick
Cato the Elder used to annoy the Roman senate with.
Needless to say, excessive resort to tautological manoevres can also
backfire. Here is just one prominent example:
SOME REMARKS ON LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES OF PERSUASION 105
(26) Der Bolschewismus der Kunst ist die einzig mogliche kulturelle
Lebensform und geistige A.ujJerung des Bolschewismus ii.berhaupt
(Hitler 1939: 283).
("Bolshevism has only one way of expressing itself culturally and
artistically, viz. bolshevistic art")
4.2 Paraphrase
The replacement of words, metaphorical and otherwise, is one of the
devices by which evaluative semantic components can be focused on or
obscured (as need arises). Sometimes paraphrases, and consequently
semantic change, is explicitly stated so that one is reminded of the Ministry
of Truth in Orwell's 1984:
(27) Wenn wir von Europa reden, meinen wir natarlich Deutsch/and
(neofascist statement, Steirischer Friihling, 1972)
("By Europe we mean of course Germany")
But usually paraphrase is not stated and passes more or less
unnoticed as in the following examples:
Katharina Blum (Boll 1976) whose friends describe her as klug
und kii.hl ("a very intelligent, cool, level-headed person") turns
out to be eiskalt und berechnend ("ice cold and calculating")
when discussed in the not so benevolent gutter press;
Atommist ("nuclear garbage") - as its opponents dub it -
sounds much more deprecating than Atommull ("nuclear
. refuse") (the same applies to Kemkraft ("nuclear energy") vs.
Atomkraft ("nuclear power"); Heizol ("fuel oil") sells cheaper
than Dieselol ("diesel oil"), although it is the same substance etc.
4.2.1 Euphemism is by far the most widely used paraphrastic manipula-
tion on the lexical level. Words are replaced by others whose evaluative
components are more agreeable:
(28) Lat. pacare = "warlike intervention"
(29) Ital. roba = "thing" = "drug"
(30) MHG ding = "vulva"
(31) G. jem. freistellen = "sack sh."
(32) Turk. 4lemek = "work" = "steal", "filch"
(33) Turk. tekke = "monastery" = "brothel"
106 KARLSORNIG
Euphemism, as well as paraphrastic manipulation in general, is motivated
by the assumption that a change of name can also impart new and different
qualities to a thing or a person, i.e. that the nature of notions, things and
persons can be altered by baptism.
4.2.2 Frequently, by a manipulative strategy very similar to euphemism, a
word with a concrete meaning is replaced by one whose meaning is more
generic. This de-concretization results in a deflation of referential (and con-
notational) content and therefore can serve as a semantic camouflage:
"We had a problem" (Es hat ein Problem gegeben), said Sepp Wille, from
the Austrian Socialist Party, when asked about the 400.000 oS missing
from the Trade Union funds which had been entrusted to Karl Sekanina,
Austria's Minister of Transport.
4.3 Semantic shift, albeit transitory, but with a purpose
If one keeps in mind the intrinsic semantic instability of almost any
utterance, the ambiguity of most human semiotic behaviour, and the fact
that the meaning of single elements is directed, shaped and conditioned by
their co-text, the simplest strategy to change semantic content, especially its
evaluative elements, is by way of contextualization, or, as Abraham (1973)
has called it priori~ation of features. Here is the model:
(34) The honourable men whose daggers have stabbed Caesar... (In
the course of Antonius' funeral speech the expression honoura-
ble man comes to mean murderer.)
4.3.1 The atmosphere of chumminess, of shared fates and purposes can
most easily be created by lexical elements that appeal to the emotions of the
recipient, especially those of national or sexual pride, aggressiveness and
the like. Thus, one can solicit sympathy, conjure up memories of similar
experiences, real or imagined, etc.
(35) Your Pentax becomes part of you (camera)
(36) Clan. The only fragrance a man needs (tabacco)
(37) The spirit of Christmas (brandy)
This emotive and affective charging (Klemperer 1946: 269 calls it
"Gefuhlsaufbliihungen") is effected by accumulating and focusing on
evaluative and affective features; it works by contextual and co-textual con-
tagion.
SOME REMARKS ON LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES OF PERSUASION 107
Emotional effects are produced by the combination of affectively
charged stylistic elements. Of course this strategy can be overdone, cf. one
of the more famous howlers:
(38) Es liegen die Eier des Kolumbus zu Hunderttausenden herum (Hi-
tler 1939: 311).
("The well-known Columbus's eggs are lying around everywhere
by the hundreds and thousands")
4.3.2 By the repeated employment in situations which, though apparently
divergent, have a similar affective appeal for the speaker (and his inter-
locutor), the denotative meaning of affective expressions becomes increas-
ingly obscured and blurred whereas their connotative conventions are con-
solidated.11
Thus, what originally was just a marginal area of meaning, notorious
for its ephemerity and heterogeneity, may become central when used in
varying contexts but with equal or similar evaluative/affective aspects:
appraisors are changed into designators (cf. Eroms 1974: 308). By this pro-
cess perlocutionary effects are secured; the final product are stereotypes
which have merely a triggering effect upon attitudes.
4.4 A case in point- as regards paraphrases, more often than not with a
rhetorical aim - are various ambiguit~~ especially puns. They create sur-
prise and activate the recipient to exert his decoding competence in order to
extract the sender's meaning (and intent):
(39) His master's vice (brandy)
(40) A gold watch tells more than time
(41) Life begins after eight
(42) Capitol offence (Punch 5.5.76 on US politics)
It's the same trick all over again: similarity vs. difference, in a delicate
balance between the misunderstanding and the resolving of ambiguity (by
the insider). Punning breeds surprise and carries conviction at the same
time.
4.5 Key-words and their connotative force
Quite a lot has already been said and published on this issue: the effect
on evaluative attitudes and behaviour as well as on emotional responses
which is exercised by specific lexical items (slogans, Schlag- und Stichwor-
108 KARLSORNIG
ter). In fact, the well-known pragma-semantic function of the connotative
content of these lexemes has been widely utilized in human communicative
history (cf. Dieckman 1964: 79).
Key-words refer to biographically and existentially important concepts
attitudes and experiences, and by dint of their association with vital areas of
semantic (and mental) space they activate strong emotional, i.e. irrational,
reactions in the user, including the recipient. This triggering force origi-
nates in the conditioned and hence conventionalized perlocutionary reac-
tive potential which is a result of the repeated utilization of certain lexemes
in situations of similar significance for the parties concerned.
(43) Sea-mountains-lakes-art-folklore. Come to know the real Italy.
(44) Silence is golden (Benson & Hedges)
(45) Taste freedom only the eagle has known (DC-10)
4.5.1 Neologisms
The search for lexical material that would provide surprise effects
sometimes results in the creation of new morphological combinations, the
advantage of which lies in the fact that newly invented elements or unusual
combinations of morphemes have not yet been semantically utilized.
( 46) Salignac (brandy)
(47) DAKS (gent's wear)
(48) adidas
(49) A soap called Fa
Sometimes the suggested meaning is explicitly introduced and expounded:
(50) The Dutch word for a good cigar is Ritmeester
The invention and implementation of neologism as one extreme
rhetorical strategy creates an appearance of extraordinariness, bordering
on scientific unintelligibility as is the case with lexemes of foreign origin. A
different method of impressing one's partners works the other way round:
insinuating chumminess and creating an atmosphere of mutually shared
fates by simulating speech variants that connote intimacy (see Section 5).
SOME REMARKS ON LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES OF PERSUASION 109
5. REMARKABLE UNMARKEDNESS: simulation of equality of
minds by imitation of linguistic variants of intimacy: the persuasive
power of mame losn (see Sornig 1985)
A primary and fundamental social faculty is the ability to distinguish
one's intimates from the stranger and outsider, his strange appearance,
behaviour and sounds.
Equality of codes (in the Bernsteinian sense, i.e. equanimity in the
notional visualization of reality including emotional attitudes) is especially
suggestive of equality, at least of comparability of worlds and this will man-
ifest itself in similar communicative behaviour. Conviction is the primary
aim of persuasion, which depends on the parallelism of presuppositions and
expectations, of referential, associative and affective meaning, and, con-
sequently is supposed to lead to coordinate, similar active behaviour. Thus
persuasion will be most effective when following similar affective/evaluative
motivations, and when it is based upon parallel or coordinated connota-
tions, expectations, preferences and aversions. This is probably as stated
above, the most powerful factor responsible for effective persuasion. Per-
suasive use of language does not so much appeal to reason but to the reci-
pient's expectations and emotions. As its purpose is not so much to inform
as to make people believe, and in the end to act upon their beliefs, he/she
who sounds like one of us is the one we most easily trust. If two or more
people share the same connotative bias in their semiotic and communicative
behaviour they most likely are - simply by this fact - forced to find their
mutual partner a most agreeable person indeed, and thus have no difficulty
in identifying themselves with her/him.
Similarity and comparability of meaning(s), referential and especially
connotative, can be suggested, or counterfeited by a similar surface struc-
ture of communicative behaviour; in the case of linguistic imitation it is
especially elements on the phonological and lexical level that are predomin-
antly utilized.
The reason why equality of speech-code, even if only pretended or
alleged, is apt to create or trigger off the impression of equality and
equanimity in other fields of experience, expectation and evaluation, may
be found along the following line of (subconscious) reasoning: language,
especially group-language, is the badge par excellence of belonging: nothing
anyone could say (and mean) is more convincing of in-group identity than
the familar ring of how somebody says what he need not really mean.
 KARLSORNIG
110
As opposed to the strategy of using exotic and marked forms to arouse
attention and feign the sound of scientific language, home-s~u~ unmarked-
ness is apt to be identified with naturalness, honesty and mtimacy Con-
sequently, from similarity of speech one may infe~ that there must be some
kind of equanimity of mind. Needless to say, If two people perchance
should not think quite along the same lines, one of them always has a
chance to try and simulate equality of mind (and in-group identity) by
imitating similar language use. This is a point that has .received littl~ tre~t
ment in the literature - perhaps because of its very indirectness and Impli~
ity or because it is used predominantly in spoken discourse. 12 In any case, It
is a very familiar way of soliciting credibility for the partner's argument and
trustworthiness:
... the other direction of accent is convergence 'downwards' ... by losing
prestige ... the speaker might well gain in terms of_ th_e li~tener:s approval
within the dyadic situation because of increased s11mlanty (Gtles/Powes-
land 1975: 174).
"Slang expression ... is another marker of 'in-group' language" (Scarcella/
Brunak 1981: 63).
This is the point where one of the latest findings of communication theory
comes true: the medium is the message.
NOTES
1. Highly explicit are imperatives: "Win now". "Don't Wait. Enter today". "Become a five
car family for the price of a single Maxi".
2. When your travel in Aqualene, you've arrived.
The magazine anyone who is anyone reads (Der Spiegel).
If you have good judgement you own one (Rover).
Jaguar. For the very few.
There is one exception to this desirable parallelism: the person to be persuaded must not
3.
recognize the rhetorician's actual persuasive intention; persuasive speech acts are charac-
terized by the fact that the condition of sincerity is suspended.
4. Connotative components are among those that are acquired earliest in childhood, more
precisely, they are acquired alongside socialisation, which is the reas~n why th~se seman-
tic elements are apt to function as conditioned stimuli in the activation of attitudes and
prejudice (cf. Quasthoff 1973: 213).
5. Slogans reminiscent of well-known book or film titles are a specific variety of quotational
language:
Oh, to be in Haigland now ... (Haig brandy)
Ten little millions
SOME REMARKS ON LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES OF PERSUASION 111
Orgy and Best
The foresight saga (Glenrothes town project)
Pressure Island (GB)
Trinidad and Tabago, the Pleasure Islands
6. Cf. the important role of phonetic detail in cases of shibboleth-discrimination (Bolognese
0, Brooklenese thoity-thoid) (see Labov 1970: 292). Thus, Moser (1961: 291) is right
when he says that die iiujJere Sprachform is starker far Sprachgruppen und ihr Zusam-
mengehorigkeitsgefahl konstitutiv als die innere ("surface elements of expression are much
more relevant as in-group signals than any deep structure element").
7. The author who has most recently dealt with phonetic reduplication, rhyme etc., , /
Riihmkorf (1981: 19), regards these as belonging to an atavistic mechanism, which rests 1
on the assumption (a magical one as some would call it) that outward similarity indicates
hidden existential affiliation. Actually, this is what poetry is all about, its aim being to
make hidden identities visible and palpable, which consequently means that a mere
exploration of surface similarities can provide new insights into the nature of words and
things .
8. The creation of legendary worlds is part of the business: there is neither a "Marlboro
Country" nor "The world of Lambert & Butler".
9. For the distinction between emotive (referring to and expressing individual sentiment),
affective (referring to attitudes towards one's partner(s)), and evaluative (expressing opin-
ions concerning objects, events, etc. of a given situation) see Sornig (1984).
10. Rauch (1972: 85) talks of" ... affectively charged tautologies that function like 'verdicts"'. \/
By utilizing tautology and synonymity the concepts become ritualized, and thus contradic-
tion is no longer possible.
11. Whether such a reduction of referential in favour of rather subjective connotative mean-
ing should be regarded as a regression to infantilism - inasmuch as words are not pre-
eminently used to denote and describe, but to evoke and stimulate - could be an
interesting issue for discussion.
12. The atmosphere and feeling of chumminess and belonging can be engendered and/or
transported by regional, dialectal variants (cf. Kess et al. 1984: 142). Dialectal variants
are very rarely used in printed advertising: Eef you car til th' deefrunce twin Brummy
Trowfy un t'uthur Beegeds, thee bisn't a bair dreenka, yooth ("If you can't tell the differ-
ence between Birmingham (Brummy) Trophy and the other Bigheads, you aren't a beer
drinker, old boy"; Birmingham bitter; from Punch, followed by a lengthy "translation".)
Punch, June 23 1976, p.1141 ed. by: "Whitbread 'Bighead' Trophy Bitter. Brewed to
understand the local tongue." Cf. also two rare examples of pick-pockets' cant (Punch
3.8. 77, 31.8. 77) advertising American travellers cheques: As the talent suckers chummy,
the wire reefs his leather. While the fluff saps the mark, the dip rips the wad.
REFERENCES
Abraham, Werner. 1973. Zur Linguistik der Metapher. Trier: L.A.U.T.
Barthes, Roland. 1974. Mythen des Alltags. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
112 KARLSORNIG
SOME REMARKS ON LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES OF PERSUASION 113

Boll, Heinrich. 1974. Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum. Koln and
Quasthoff, Ute. 1970. Soziales Vorurteil und Kommunikation. Eine
Berlin: Kiepenheuer & Witsch.
sprachwissenschaftliche Analyse des Stereotyps. Frankfurt/Main:
Bork, Siegfried. 1970. Mif3brauch der Sprache. Tendenzen nationalsozialis-
Athena.um.
tischer Sprachregelung. Bern and Miinchen: Francke.
Rauch, Sabine. 1972. "Herrschaftstendenzen in der politischen Rede -
Brown, Roger and Albert Gilman. 1972. "The Pronouns of Power and Sol-
Agressivitat als Sprachmerkmal". In Projekt Deutschunterricht 2,
idarity". In Language and Social Context, Pier Paolo Giglioli (ed.), 252-
Sozialisation und Manipulation durch Sprache Analysen
282. London: Penguin.
nichtliterarischer Texte Heinz Ide (ed.), 81-100. Stuttgart: Metzler.
Brown, Penelope and Stephen Levinson. 1978. "Universals in language
Riihmkorf, Peter. 1981. agar agar zaurzaurim. Zur Naturgeschichte des
use: politeness phenomena". In Questions and Politeness: Strategies in
Reims und der menschlichen Anklangsnerven. Hamburg: Rowohlt.
Social Interaction E.N.Goody (ed.), 56-310. Cambridge: Cambridge
Scarcella, Robin and Johanna Brunak. 1981. "On speaking politely in a sec-
University Press.
ond language". International Journal for the Sociology of Language 27:
Brunak, Johanna and Robin Scarcella. 1981. "On speaking politely in a sec-
59-75.
ond language". International Journal for the Sociology of Language 27:
Sornig, Karl. 1984. "Emphatische Intentionen - Intensivierende Formen".
59-75.
GLS 22: 201-230.
Dieckmann, Walther. 1964. Information oder Uberredung. Marburg:
Sornig, Karl. 1985. "Intim-Varianten". In Interkulturelle Kommunikation
Elwert.
Jochen Rehbein (ed.), 175-189. Tiibingen: Narr.
Eroms, Hans-Werner. 1974. "Asymmetrische Kommunikation. Zur Funk-
tion von Abstraktem und Konkretem in politischer Sprache". Sprache
im technischen Zeitalter 52: 297-318.
Flader, Dieter. 1974. Strategien der Werbung. Ein linguistisch-
psychoanalytischer Versuch zur Rekonstruktion der Werbewirkung.
Kronbergffs.: Scriptor.
Giglioli, Pier Paolo. 1972. Language and Social Context. London: Penguin.
Handke, Peter. 1968. Kaspar. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Hitler, Adolf. 1939. Mein Kampf. Miinchen: Eber.
Kess, Joseph F., Anita M. Copeland and Ronald A. Hoppe. 1984. "Inter-
national Ambiguity as Verbal Sleight of Hand in Commercial Advertis-
ing". GLS 22: 147-166.
Klemperer, Viktor. 1946. Die unbewiiltigte Sprache. Aus dem Notizbuch
eines Philologen. LT!. Darmstadt: Melzer.
Korn, Karl. 1962. Sprache in der verwalteten Welt. Miinchen: dtv.
Labov, William. 1972. "The Study of Language in its Social Context". In
Language and Social Context Pier Paolo Giglioli (ed.), 283-307. London:
Penguin.
LeBon, Gustave. 1968. Psychologie der Massen. Stuttgart: Kroner.
Moser, Huge. 1961. "Umgangssprache. Uberlegungen zu ihren Formen
und ihrer Stellung im Sprachganzen". Zeitschrift fii,r deutsche Mun-
dartforschung XXVII(4): 215-232.
 Credibility and political language

Werner Holly
University of Trier

1. Faith in politicians

Politicians are not reputed to be personifications of credibility. The

image of the politician who doesn't instill confidence has a long tradition.
Aristotle's tyrant seizes power by defaming the nobles and stays in power
merely by playing the part of the good king (Politeia, 5th book, Ch.10/11).
Macchiavelli's 'principe', the prototype of the modem bad politician, has
no scruples about being hypocritical. There were times when the word poli-
tic and its related words in European languages seemed to be synonymous
with feigning or dissembling, as can be seen in an epigram by the German
writer Friedrich von Logau (1604-1655), who called that manpolitisch who
knows how "to be different, to seem different", "to speak differently, to
mean differently" .1 In the parliamentary era, there appeared a set of almost
cynical aphorisms by William G. Hamilton (posthumously edited in 1808)
indicating how to manipulate and to deceive in parliamentary debates.
There are numbers of other similar examples which coulcl be given.
Politicians' bad reputation concerning their political conduct is to a
large extent due to the way they use language. Having faith in persons, or
calling them trustworthy, presupposes believing what they say. What does it
mean to believe what someone says? A simple answer would be that we
don't consider that person a liar. A liar is a person who asserts something
and doesn't believe it himself.2 So we have to know a person's thoughts in
order to judge him a liar. This is in many cases impossible to do and a
reason why it is so difficult to convict a politician of having lied. We can
only presume that a speaker's assertion doesn't fit our expectations about
116 WERNER HOLLY
his knowledge and beliefs. However, there must be a distinction between
'saying something wrong' and 'lying'. According to Augustinus' classical
definition - the criterion is 'the volition to assert something wrong' ( volun-
tas fa/sum enuntiandi). That is why we have to distinguish 'credibility' or
'authenticity' of propositions on the one hand, and 'trustworthiness' of per-
sons on the other. Of course, a person making false assertions and giving
false information usually is not to be counted as trustworthy. But false
information is not that important with regard to our confidence in politi-
cians. It is not only errors and lies that are responsible for our distrust. If we
judge politicians untrustworthy, we rarely do so because we can convict
them of having given false information or having even lied. If we consider
them 'liars', then in a much weaker sense of the word, refering to a lack of
openness in the way they act verbally. That lack of openness has often been
seen as 'obfuscating' or 'manipulating'. This first brings to mind the case
where there is a disparity between what is said and what is meant. But this
is only to scratch the surface, for non-literal expressions aren't sufficient as
a criterion for "untrustworthiness"; otherwise we could neither consider
rhetorical nor metaphorical speaking as credible. 3 The question to be asked
is: what makes an utterance credible or a person trustworthy (not taking
into account characteristics of non-verbal behaviour)?
The answer I will propose is based on Grice's explication of 'meaning'
and some further reflections on the question of how the meaning of a verbal
action can be conveyed, understood, or interpreted. I shall argue that the
lack of trustworthiness that even politicians themselves deplore is not due
to the fact that their utterances seem to be false or too indirect. And men-
dacity is apparent only in a few of the cases considered as examples of
untrustworthiness. The main reason seems to be that, in political language,
the way of conveying meaning is obscured, and above all, the speaker's
intentions are not overt. I shall discuss how this covertness can be
described, and I shall distinguish two ways of speaking covertly and their
consequences for the impression of untrustworthiness.
2. Grice's 'intentions' and the problem of overtness
2.1 Communication, action, meaning
In trying to explain what it means that an addresser S utters something
meaningful to an addressee H, Herbert P. Grice developed his much dis-
CREDIBILITY AND POLITICAL LANGUAGE 117
cussed model of communication. 4 This model starts out from the assump-
tion that any action has a purpose, i.e. an intended effect, in the case of
communication a reaction r from the addressee. The crucial point of Grice's
construction for our subject seems to be that this effect should not be gener-
ated through some causal or conventional mechanism, but through the
addressee's recognition of the addresser's intention to induce this effect.
This has been formulated in the following three conditions:
(1) S intends that H shows r.
(2) S intends that H recognizes that (1).
(3) S intends that H shows r on the basis of his recognition of (1).
The exhaustive discussion of Grice's models also has been concerned
with the definiendum of the above definition. Whereas Grice intended to
find an explanation for the notion of meaning - and thus causing much
confusion - his definition is more suitable as a basis for the explication of
what it means 'to communicate'. 6 In giving reasons for this it might be help-
ful to elucidate the concepts of 'symbolic or verbal action', and of 'mean-
ing', which often appear in the context of 'communication'. 'Symbolic or
verbal action' is not identical with Grice's concept of communication. It is
quite possible to act verbally without fulfilling condition (2) (and sub-
sequently (3)), which is exactly the case we have in mind when we speak of
'covert meaning' or 'deceiving'. But then, how can a verbal message be
understood without being recognized as intended by the speaker? For the
time being, we know from our everyday experience alone that is does work.
At any rate, Grice's model of communication excludes symbolic action
which lacks in overtness. There are good reasons for such a restrictive
definition of communication, despite the fact that covertness is no rarity.
The latin root of the word communication suggests "making something
common". If a speaker hides his intention about the effect he wants to
include, this is considered as at least to be a deviation from the norm, 7 if not
morally reprehensible. Most philosophical and linguistic theories define
'language' as a means of mutual understanding. The view that language /
should disclose and not conceal thoughts has been defended ever since the
time of Augustin. This rather moralistic position contrasts with a more
realistic or sceptical one whose classical formulation is as follows: "Sermo
hominum mores et celat et indicat idem. "8 In spite of the convincing realism
of the latter, there are not only moral reasons to adhere to the first position
with its primacy of the fundamental reciprocity of language. For it is dif-
118 WERNER HOLLY
ficult to imagine how anything might be understood, if it isn't "made com-
mon" at all, by some device. From Humboldt on, the idea of language as
'energeia' (activity), tending towards a reciprocal or social construction of
meaning,9 has become prominent part of linguistic theory. It is therefore
indispensable that the concept of language as an 'instrument of manipula-
tion' be backed by a model explaining how understanding can be managed
without complete reciprocity.
An essential prerequisite of such a model must be a complex concept
of verbal or symbolic action. Any action may be made by following several
patterns at the same time.10 One pattern may serve another pattern ('adver-
tising' through 'informing') or iriay merely accompany a second one ('ques-
tioning' while 'making a compliment'). A pattern may be 'communicated'
according to Grice's model or may be conveyed while violating Grice's coo-
ditions (2) and (~), a~ I shall sho~. later .11 1. s~all desi~nate this con~eyi_ng ,a
lpattern while violating the Gncian cond1tions as non-commumcat1on .
Nevertheless it is still an open question how this is achieved.
Along with a complex concept of action, our model also needs a com-
plex concept of meaning and understanding. 12 Putting aside f<?r a moment
the question of whether persons 'communicate' or 'non-communicate' the
patterns of their verbal actions, let us ask what a person may resort to with
the aim of conveying the (complex) meaning of an utterance.
First of all, he may use what has been called the usual or lexical mean-
ing of expressions. This is the very simple case: one means something ('it is
hot') and conveys it explicitly by saying: It is hot. There are still the prob-
lems of vagueness and ambiguity, ('of high temperature'/'spicy'/'brand-
new'/'passionate' etc.), found in nearly every meaning (you only have to
look in a dictionary), or in many syntactical constructions. Secondly, our
speaker may proceed in a more sophisticated way and convey meaning by
resorting to what has been described as semantic presuppositions and impli-
cations. In our example he may say: It is anything but cold. Linguistic
knowledge is still used, but a much wider range of possibilities has been
opened, and things become more complicated; we already have to read
between the lines. Finally, there is the possibility of expressing meaning by
using pragmatic presuppositions and implications, only to be understood by
consulting the special situation of the utterance. 13 That a room is very hot
may be expressed ironically by saying: it is awfully cold.
Grice (1975) explained the inference of some of these context-depen-
dent, pragmatic presuppositions and implications with the mechanism of
CREDIBILITY AND POLITICAL LANGUAGE 119
the 'conversational implicature': in order to achieve the correct understand- 1
ing of an utterance, a hearer assumes that the speaker violated neither a
general, nor several more specific principles of cooperation. Thus it can be
inferred that the intended meaning must deviate from the literal version,
because otherwise the speaker would have violated these principles and
thus not have cooperated.
Taking this together with the concept of complex action, we envisage
an utterance as an action/meaning-complex which may consist of several
patterns conveyed by different devices of meaning: (1) literal meaning com-
ponents, (2) semantic and (3) pragmatic presuppositions or implications.
The addressee has to choose the relevant meaning components from a
range of possibilities, according to the particular circumstances of the
interaction. To deal with this task the addressee may question what the
speaker might have intended, but this is only part of the interpretive pro-
cess. His general aim is to arrive at an interpretation which makes sense,
i.e. which fits the whole context.14
2.2 Conventions, understanding, responsibility
Some discussions of Grice's model of communication dealt with 'con-
ventions' as alternatives to 'intentions', and with their importance in under-
standing the meaning of an utterance. But 'convention' versus 'intention'
seems to be a false dichotomy.
First it is not possible to recognize an intention without resorting to
some kind of conventional meaning. Conventions are not only important
for the usual 'literal' meaning of expressions. Semantic and even pragmatic
presuppositions and implications are also rule-governed, though these are
conventions of a different kind. 15 Secondly, resorting to conventions
doesn't exclude the relevance of intentions. Sometimes, a certain intention,
which fits the whole sense of a verbal action, provides an indication for the
interpretation of an utterance. Then we know more precisely which one of
all the possible conventions is being followed. But we might not take into
account the underlying intentions, if the convention ruling an utterance is
so obvious that it is of no consequence whether the speaker really had the
corresponding intention, cf. an unambiguous "I do" during a wedding. If
the speaker, at a later date, denies having married, we might say that the
speaker in the ceremony did not express exactly what he meant, but initially
the convention is stronger than any presumable intention. The way we
120 WERNER HOLLY
understood the utterance, we would say that the speaker acted incorrectly,
but not that he didn't act at all. However, this is an extreme case. Most
utterance have more than one meaning. In cases of conflict, the meaning of
an utterance is not only dete~ined by the hearer. Having no proof of a
speaker's sincerity in disclosing his intentions, sometimes one must attri-
bute them on the basis of conventions. The last criterion is that of sense.
We now see that an utterance may be more or less overt in various
ways. On the one hand, there is an overtness of meaning which depends on
conventions. Such conventions of meaning are more or less strong. Conven-
tions about the literal meaning are rather strong, those about the validity of
semantic presuppositions less so; sometimes the latter may be overruled.
Especially in everyday situations, we do not usually express meaning by
reflecting on all of the possible presupposed and implicated parts of the
meaning complex. A somewhat unusual example : When God says "Thou
shall have no other gods but me!", this is not very precise. We could ask:
"Are there other ones?", bringing a presupposition to light which certainly
was not intended.16 The conventions about the validity of pragmatic presup-
positions following contradictory principles are even less strong, which can
lead to confusion. Therefore the problem of the overtness of meaning con-
stitutes first of all a problem of understanding. It is another matter whether
a speaker makes overt what he intends, i.e. if he fulfills Grice's second con-
dition. Though the meaning of an utterance may be quite clear, it can still
remain unclear whether the speaker wants to disclose his intentions. In that
case, there would be no difficulty in understanding, but there would be the
difficulty of making the speaker responsible for all the meaning components
of his utterance. The speaker might confirm intentions connected with the
literally conveyed parts of his utterance and, at the same time, might deny
other less obvious ones. In many cases, there is ample evidence that the
obvious and admitted intention is not sufficient for an utterance to be rele-
vant, e.g. the intentions connected with literal meanings in ironical utter-
ances. But it is very hard to make a speaker responsible for what he really
meant, because intentions so often resist proof.
Though overtness of meaning must be distinguished from overtness of
intention, there is a connection between the two. It is difficult to deny an
intention which is directly connected with a meaning conveyed overtly,
e.g. with an explicit promise. The speaker himself would have to argue to
reject an intention which could be reconstructed from what he said
explicitly or by other means of linguistic knowledge (e.g. semantic presup-
CREDIBILITY AND POLIDCAL LANGUAGE 121
positions). But then there is no difficulty in denying intentions connected
with pragmatically conveyed meaning components, even when it is quite
obvious that the utterance should be understood in that way. Though overt-
ness of meaning and overtness of intention are connected, the latter should
be treated separately; for above all, it is related to the question of responsi-
bility. Of course, there are political utterances which aren't quite com-
prehensible, especially for the public at large. 17 But most of the problematic
cases are not concerned with clarity, but with the question of whether the
speaker could be called to account for the effects of his utterance. The
problem seems to be: Responsibility for a verbal action deviates in a.signifi-
cant manner from the responsibility for effects of non-symbolic actions.
First of all, it is not a causal relation which connects verbal actions and
effects on the part of the hearer. If a speaker utters something to a hearer
and this brings about the expected attitude, emotion or action on the
hearer's part (perlocutionary effect), then this effect is not due to an
automatic causal mechanism, but to the hearer's fulfilling the speaker's pur-
poses, because he is ready to do so. These effects are already consequences
of the speaker's action. Closing a door 'causes' a closed door, but asserting
something doesn't necessarily 'cause' a corresponding belief in the hearer.
Without the hearer's participation, the only effect a speaker may pro-
duce is a simple result, namely that a certain pattern of verbal action is per-
formed, whatever the hearer may do in reaction.ts But even this 'illocutio-
nary' effect is not produced by a nomothetic causal mechanism, but through
mere conventions: the utterance of certain expressions under certain cir-
cumstances 'counts as' the performance of a certain pattern of action
(speech act). And besides, meaning conventions are of differring strenghts,
as shown above. For this reason, it is often impossible to prove that a
speaker actually performes a certain speech act. Thus he sometimes cannot
be made responsible for the illocutionary effects and even less for the per-
locutionary effects of his verbal actions.
If conventions alone are not strong enough to establish responsibility
for illocutionary acts, then the only way to do this is by having the speaker
disclose his intentions. This is done by the speaker's voluntarily taking the
responsiblity for the performance of a certain speech act. So Grice's condi-
tion (2) and (3) are closely connected with responsibility, i.e. the fixed
determination of meaning, but have less to do with the question of how to
convey a certain meaning. Undoubtedly, conventions may be strong
enough to lead to an understanding, but not strong enough to constitute a
122 WERNER HOLLY
means of proof for that understanding. This bias is systematically used by
politicians and other people who are concerned that influence be subtle and
hard to grasp.
It should be added that understanding may happen more quickly than
control over the speaker's intentions. Understanding an utterance is not
dependent on the speaker's maintaining the responsibility for it, that is to
say, the hearer does not bind his understanding to a speaker's own declara-
tion of responsibility. Once listening we have little control over what we
want or don't want to understand. A reduction in comprehensibility may
however hinder our understanding. If we notice that a speaker does not
maintain the intention we attributed to the utterance, we might be led to
withdraw our interpretation, but this may be too late, its effect having
already taken place.
In this case, we are no longer capable of ascribing the effect of the
utterance to the speaker, although it was originally initiated by him. We
must admit that perhaps our understanding was wrong and ought to be cor-
rected, though it is very hard to completely undo a previous understanding
and effect.19 This mechanism of rapid induction of an effect pertains not
only to the understanding of illocutions, but also to perlocutionary effects. 20
A speaker cannot force a hearer to believe, feel or do something as a reac-
tion to his utterance (except by using violence); and the hearer's control of
attitudes, feelings and actions isn't complete in all situations. The speaker
may calculate effects for which the hearers are ultimately held reponsible,
but nevertheless are induced by him. The less hearers can see through the
whole meaning-complex and make a distinction between overt and covert
intentions, the less they can control their understanding and reaction. For
this reason, a 'non-communicating' speaker not only withholds intentions
from his audience, but also tries to prevent them from reflecting on this
question. He will suggest a simple, uncontroversial reading which will give
them the impression of overtness.
But there are also cases which allow some of the process of concealing
intentions to be disclosed. Two types of concealing intentions are discussed
and exemplified in the following.
3. Two ways of 'non-communicating'
Trustworthiness of politicians is connected with the way they take or
refuse ~esponsibility for meaning components which are intended and con-
CREDIBILITY AND POLITICAL LANGUAGE 123
veyed; this can be shown by the following examples. There are many cases
in politics where controversial utterances are interpreted, corrected or
immunised after the fact. For example, Ronald Reagan's saying that not
only Lybia, but also Iran and Syria would be bombed, if terrorist activity
could be proved, is interpreted by the secretary of state the next day as
being merely hypothetical. Of course, sometimes such commentary is actu-
ally an attempt to solve problems of meaning and understanding and thus
can be compared with the ordinary language problem of preventing misun-
derstandings. But mostly, it can be assumed that the controversial meaning
component was intended and that it was indeed understood correctly, or at
least "taken into the bargain" by the speaker, with the aim of raising topics
or of insinuating stands without later being taken to task for it. It is true, we
seldom have proof for such activity. We can argue that the interests of the
speaker fit our interpretation, but there is no final certainty that the
speaker is sincere or is deceiving us.
Things become even more difficult, if there is no perceptible public
after-effect. Most political utterances are one-way phenomena. Intentions
of the speaker can only be inferred from our general knowledge of the
interests and aims of political groups and personalities. The examples I
shall give here are not very spectacular. It is not certain whether the inten-
tions and the attempts to desguise them which I impute to the speaker
really exist. But it is not completely out of place to do so either; the evi-
dence is sufficient for the purpose of distinguishing different techniques of
concealing intentions and conveying meanings at the same time, a method
I have called 'non-communicating' to contrast it with Grice's model.
3.1 The "running-board" technique '~
,
The first pattern of covertly intended meanings is that of a meaning
which "rides on the running-board"; the interesting part of the meaning
complex gets to its destination, but isn't allowed to sit in the car. It also
could be compared with.' a stowawayi along side the official passengers. A
harmless example: during his visit in 1985, Ronald Reagan delivered an
"Address to the youth" of Germany, at the historical Hambach Castle. 21
The whole text is a solemn plea for the traditional values of Western civili-
zation, especially for freedom, contrasting it to totalitarianism. Freedom is
presented as a foundation upon which young people can stand looking
towards the future, and allowing them to be creative in the field of new
124 WERNER HOLLY
technologies. To encourage and challenge young Germans, Reagan speaks
of Germany's success in the post-war era; then he continues:
We remembered Ludwig Erhard's secret; how he blazed Germany's path
with freedom by creating opportunity and lowering tax rates, to reward
every man and woman who dared to dream and to create the future -
your farmers, labor leaders, carpenters, and engineers - every German
hero who helped to put the pieces of a broken society together.
Reagan's argument is simple: the young people can be confident, for Ger-
many has already proved its capacities, as is verified by the example of
Erhard, still famous Minister of economic affairs. But what simply seems
like praise of the glorious fifties, that time of the "Wirtschaftswunder", and
its personification Erhard, is, at the same time, propaganda for an actual
economic policy, namely "creating opportunity and lowering tax rates",
sometimes called 'Reaganomics'.
There is a nearly universal principle in political language. Any utter-
ance ought to be formulated, any expression ought to be chosen such that
it conveys as much additional material as possible for propaganda purposes.
The most effective place for this material is not in the official focus of an
utterance, nor in the obvious speech act or in the central predication, but in
less obvious positions: for example referential expressions, presuppositions
and implications.22 In the above quote, Reagan conveys a positive self-
evaluation through praising the success of somebody else, whose story is
told- as it seems- only as a means of encouraging the audience. The pat-
tern PROPAGANDA is linked to the pattern REPORTING, which in tum is used to
VERIFY reasons for ENCOURAGING. So the propaganda pattern is well con-
cealed. The advantage of this method of concealment is the reduction of
rational control over what has been conveyed. 23 There is also the risk that
the message can't be understood because it is too veiled, but in the long
run, repetition and variation of forms will compensate for the occasional
failure.
It could be argued that it is only a case of 'non-communication' if a
politician links some pattern with propaganda and doesn't own up to this.
Reagan indeed might admit that he is also propagating his economic policy,
but this is not the point. A clever politician caught in the very act of prop-
aganda wouldn't have to deny what isn't a crime. He could justify his utter-
ance by a strategy of forward defense and call it his duty to propagate his
ideas. We see he could subsequently legitimize what he previously so slyly
hid.
CREDIBILITY AND POLITICAL LANGUAGE 125
But on the other hand: it was no accident that the propaganda pattern
wasn't conveyed more overtly. There is a whole range of patterns which
normally aren't used overtly: 'Persuading', 'showing off', 'threatening', 'ad-
vertising' are performed by using other patterns as tools. 24 Although the
propaganda may not be concealed completely, there is an interest in hold-
ing the corresponding intention in the background. Thus our example isn't
an instance of totally covert propaganda intentions, but rather one where
the speaker can take refuge in the patterns on the surface which are clearly
evident: the speaker at least gives the impression that he doesn't intend
anything else, while nevertheless the propaganda meaning is conveyed
without rational control.
Nearly all political language in the public is two-fold - as Murray
Edelman has pointed out in several of his works concerning the symbolic
functions of political institutions and actions.25 It is never sufficient to con-
sider only one level of interpretation; but whereas in everyday language,
this is only due to the general complexity of actions, duplicity in politics has
its own special character. There is, in many cases, an official, uncontrover-
sial version, and behind that, a more 'touchy' one which should remain, as
far as possible, without consequences for the reponsibility of the speaker. If
the latter version is not only understood, i.e. comes across, which is impor-
tant for making the effect, but also its nature revealed, i.e. seen for what it
is, which usually is bad for making the effect, there are different strategies
for handling the situation. In the case of the 'running-board' technique, it is
possible to go back to the official version, maintaining that one wasn't able
to conciously calculate this propaganda effect. This may only be a pretext,
as political professionals know how to use language for their own advan-
tage. But this knowledge is simply routine. Therefore, a speaker could deny
sincerely the intention of performing a certain incriminating pattern which
we nevertheless have unveiled by interpretation. It is perhaps a weakness of
Grice's approach to put the whole problem of 'communication' in a frame
work of personal intentions. His approach seems to construct a level of con-
sciousness and personal control over intentions26 which doesn't fit reality,
neglecting as it does the role of socialization, especially in the field of polit-
ical institutions. Due to the importance of social structures in language use,
we need not condemn politicians as persons, nor expect to change them.
Our interpretations should be directed to those structures of language use,
as Fowler and Kress {1979 : 196) postulate in their programm of 'critical lin-
guistics':
 WERNER HOLLY
126
An activity of unveiling is necessary in this interpretation, or, to put it in
stronger terms, an activity of de-mystification. We do not say that authors
and speakers deliberateley obscure or mystify their aims, or that lan~uage
is generally an instrument of conscious conspiracy to conceal and distort.
We suspect that often people do not consciously recognize the purp_os~s
they encode in language ... Social structure provides. the ~e~our~es, ~n?i
viduals mediate their realization. So the resistance which cnt1cal hngmstlcs
offers to mystificatory tendencies in language is not resi.stance to langu~ge
itself, nor to individual users of language, but to the soaal processes which
make language work in communication as it does.
So it is not of interest whether Reagan really intended to mystify prop-
aganda patterns in his speech - something we could probably never find
out. But it is interesting to show that he actually does conceal propaganda
from which he profits. We may conclude that he didn't intend to communi-
cate the propaganda pattern in the Grician sense, i.e. overtly. It is anoth~r
matter whether he intended to 'non-communicate' it , i.e. to convey it
covertly. In other words: the act of covertly conveyin~ patter~s ma! be co~
formed unconsciously, just by routine, and even without mtention. It is
nevertheless an instance of 'non-communicating'. The 'non-communica-
tion' of so many meaning components seems to be a main reason for the
intuitive impression that politicians are not very trustworthy. Every hearer
knows by meaning conventions that there are more intentions - or at least
meaning components -than the overt ones,21 though it can't ultimately be
proved. The consequence is a general distrust of political ~anguage -~se,
which is moderated by a certain resignation towards the reality of politics.
The second technique of 'non-communication' discussed below, is less
usual, but even more harmful to a politician's credibility.
3.2 The "phantom-meaning" technique
Here the covert intention isn't persued on the basis of another one
which is overt, although sometimes that might appear to be the case. The
speaker could try to revert to the overt pattern, but in the "p~~ntom-m~a~
ing" technique, this is unadvisable because of the ge~e~al vali~ity of Gn~e s
cooperation principle, which allows a more sophisticated mterpretation
/ than a literal one. This should be elucidated with an example: If German
Social-Democratic party leader Willy Brandt calls the secretary general of
the Christian-Democrats Heiner GeiBler "the biggest instigator since Goeb-
bels" ,2s he no doubt makes a comparison between the two, although he
CREDIBILITY AND POLITICAL LANGUAGE 127
could argue that he only made a temporal specification by mentioning
Hitler's minister for propaganda. But the only plausible reason why he
should chose Goebbels and not some other person living at that time, is his
intention to compare both. Qtherwise the mentioning of Goebbels would
be irrelevant. The 'literal' interpretation which could be pretended doesn't
stand up to the test; the only reasonable understanding of since Goebbels is
'as big or almost as big an instigator as Goebbels', and the harmless tem-
poral version turns out to be a mere "phantom-meaning".
Whereas tte "running-board" technique is based upon a meaning com-
ponent which is uncontroversial and which counts independently, the
"phantom-meaning" technique is tricky, because the basic meaning compo-
nent is mere pretence, i.e. not intended at all. At least, it seems nonsensical
without the hidden version. For this reason, this technique is more suscepti-
ble to be judged as deception. The impression of untrustworthiness is more
precise and more immediate. The 'covert' meaning however is less hidden,
so the speaker can be more sure that he is understood in the way he wants.
Nevertheless there is the possibility of justifying the utterance, i.e. denying
the corresponding intention, which may be sufficient for one's own adhe-
rents and for fending off juridical prosecution. But there are other subtler
cases of "phantom-meaning" as well.
In the course of his "Address to the youth", Reagan refers to the Ger-
man and European separation and couples the reunification with the con-
cept of freedom - a standard topic since the fifties. He then continues:
But even if national unity cannot be achieved immediately, you, the youth
of Germany, you who are Germany's future, can show the power of demo-
cratic ideals by committing yourselves to the cause of freedom here in
Europe and everywhere.
The problem here is the relation between the principal and the subordinate
clause, namely the meaning of even if. The concessive relation which is
made explicit by this simply means that the non-achievement of national
unity in the near future is no reason for not showing the power of democra-
tic ideals (by committing oneself to the cause of freedom). So Reagan
encourages the youth to do just this. Later on, in the speech, this is
specified as positive and active attitude towards new technologies. But
there is another semantic relation which is not expressed literally or by
semantic implication, but rather suggested by a pragmatic conclusion: 'if
you will commit yourself to freedom, that will lead to national unity in the
more distant future'. Otherwise the triple allusion to 'time' (immediately,
128 WERNER HOLLY
youth, future) in this context would make no sense. The intended meaning
here is a very implicit consecutive relation between 'commitment to free-
dom' and 'national unity'. In this way, the engagement for national unity is
exploited, in the last analysis, for new technologies. But this is too crude to
be expressed clearly. So it is concealed in a way that doesn't allow proof of
such a crass intention, namely in a rather empty concessive relation that
turns out to be a mere "phantom-meaning".
This technique is used systematically by politicians when needs, expec-
tations and hopes are activated for propaganda purposes without clear-cut
commitments on the part of the politicians. Reagan's address is an excellent
example, full of vague promises given in a nearly religious style, coupled
very covertly with rather concrete demands for economic and scientific
efforts. Quick rational recognition or clear evidence of this connection is
not available, because the semantic differentiation between concessive and
consecutive relation is far too subtle.
A variant of this technique operates by inversion. Not literal, but 'non-
literal' meaning serves as a justification. Overstatements and generaliza-
tions can be qualified later by reffering to the context. In everyday lan-
guage, this is ju~t an ordinary way of specifying meaning, but in political
contexts, it may be assumed that the (too) far reaching interpretation defi-
nitely was intended and this is subsequently denied. Some examples from
the Reagan address:
Understand that there are no limits to how high each of you can climb.
Unlike your cousins on the other side of the wall, your future is in your
hands - you are free to follow your dreams to the stars ... .
My young friends, you cannot only control your lives, ... Remember that
in your hearts are the stars of your fate; remember that everything depends
on you.
Obviously Reagan risks or even intends that certain generalizations are
understood literally, in the knowledge that he has recourse to the fact that,
in this case, the right understanding must be non-literal. In doing this he
evades the responsibility of having raised exaggerated hopes.
4. Conditions for the use of political language
So far I have argued that the lack of trustworthiness even politicians
themselves sometimes deplore is due to the way they 'non-communicate'
important meaning components. I have described two main techniques for
CREDIBILITY AND POLITICAL LANGUAGE 129
concealing intentions and allowing delicate meanings to be conveyed. But
normally, there is no necessity to account for such meaning components.
Exept for a few spectacular cases, where the public opinion has been acti-
vated by the media or the opposition, 29 the addressees of political language
in the public have neither the motives nor the means to call politicians to
task for single utterances. At best, the general image of some politicians is
tarnished by their use of language, thus even influencing election results.
A look at the conditions of political language use in public shows that
these aren't comparable to everyday situations.30 Firstly, face-to-face situa-
tions are rare; almost every utterance which is heard by the public is a
mediated one. What seem to be face-to-face situations in the media, inter-
views or TV-discussions31 for instance, often turn out to be the mere staging
of "spontaneous" interactions. Critical intuition or detailed analysis reveal
their ritual character as being an excellent opportunity for refined prop-
aganda. And even if a citizen happens to encounter a politician, at an elec-
tion rally, during a campaign or his office hours, he still has to deal with the
considerable asymmetry present between the professional "communicator"
and the layman32 - a factor that influences radically the face-to-face situa-
tion, and particularly the question of responsibility.
Why would one take the trouble to veil intentions, if there is no need
to account for them? Three reasons: firstly, concealing intentions in politi-
cal language is not a matter of escaping general, not to mention judiciary
condemnation, as the intentions which are concealed are in no sense illegal.
But - as I have mentioned before - meaning components which aren't
recognized as intended may elude rational control more easily and have
more effect. Secondly, politicians routinely use language in a certain man-
ner so that there is a kind of rhetorical 'overkill'. The way of 'non-com-
munication' appears to be like an addiction which is difficult to give up.
Thirdly, the main pattern of political language, namely propaganda,
suggests the inconspicuous handling of intentions.
Propaganda _by definition is directed towards success as opposed to
agreement or mutual understanding- to use Habermas' distinction.33 It is
true that the Grician communicator also aims success, just as the 'non-com-
municator' also needs to be understood. 34 The point is that the speaker's
interests may be pursued regardless of the hearer's interests in the case of
'non-communication', whereas both have to be coordinated and brought to
a consensus in the case of Grician communication. The politician's orienta-
tion towards success not only leads to strategical actions, it is also removed
130 WERNER HOLLY CREDIBILITY AND POLITICAL LANGUAGE 131

from the hearer's focus as much as possible. For, there is no doubt that our 13.
idealized everyday concept of language conforms more to Grice's model of
communication. Despite our everyday experience that communication
rarely is so overt and easily managed, we postulate transparency in an 14.
idealistic manner, at least as a quality that can be brought about by mutual
15.
efforts - and mostly with regards to others.35 All attempts and tendencies
16.
to the opposite are condemned fundamentally in this idealistic view. Politi-
cians however, if sincere, will argue that a clear rational consensus of all 17.
Meggie (1979: 326-327) makes a distinction between 'objective' and 'subjective' presup-
positions and implications. He counts some of the pragmatic ones as objective: they are
determined by more general rule systems which generally correspond to certain types of
conversations, situations, if not actions.
Hormann (1976: 179-212) describes this procedure through the notion of 'Sinnkonstanz'.
See Harras (1983: 167).
This example is discussed by v. Polenz (1985: 308).
For the problem of heterogeneous audiences see Speier (1980: 275-281) and Kiihn (1983).

group members is impossible, as the situation is too heterogenuous, and 18. This concerns Searle's distinction between 'illocutionary' and 'perlocutionary effect"
(1969: 45-48)); for the notion of 'perlocution' also see Holly (1979).
they will maintain that political language thus has to be vague and multi-
19. Politicians are well aware of this. The secretary-general of the German Christian-Democ-
leveled. 36 Grouping interests so that political action is possible may require
rats (CDU), Heiner GeiB!er, formulated it nicely: "Words do have effects, especially if
some kinds of linguistic vagueness and veiling, but this is in tum to sacrifice they were pronounced by important people. And the words which have been uttered and
trustworthiness and credibility. have sunk into the heads of the listeners can't be taken back any more." (cit. from Perger
(1984: 21-22)).
20. Austin's definition for perlocutions (1962: 102, 118) calls perlocutionary effects non-con-
ventional which has often been cited; but this simply means that the hearer remains free
NOTES to fullfill the speaker's intentions; if he does so, this is not by individual, arbitrary deci-
sion, but by convention about possible effects. Of course. there is a range of variations,
1. "Heutige Welt-Kunst.I/Anders seyn// vnd anders scheinen:// Anders reden/ anders but they are still conventional.
meinen:// Alles loben/ alles tragen// Allen heucheln/ stets behagen/ Allem Winde Segel
21. Published by the Pressestelle der Staatskanzlei Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz.
geben;// Bos- vnd Guten dienstbar leben://Alles Thun vnd alles Tichten// BloB auff eignen
Nutzen richten;// Wer sich dessen wil befleissen// Kan Politisch heuer heissen." (cit. in 22. See for example v.Polenz (1985), Fowler and Kress (1979), Heringer, Ohlschliiger,
Szyrocki (1971: 83-84); see also Sternberger (1984: 30-31) who discusses several meanings StJ:ecker and Wimmer (1977).
of politisch in detail). 23. See Abromeit (1972: 16-17 and passim).
2. For further discussion see Falkenberg (1982). 24. Harras (1983: 159-163) describes the instrumentalization of overt intentions for achieving
3. Weinrich (1966: 13); Speier (1980: 261-261). Several aspects of credibility and trustwor- the success of non-avowable ones together with the distinction of illocutionary and per-
thiness are discussed by Gossmann (1970); see also Hennig (1968). locutionary acts: only the illocutionary act is performed according to the Grice-model.
But in our examples both patterns (REPORTING and PROPAGANDA) aren't perlocutionary;
4. Grice (1957) and (1969).
the dualism is too simple for describing complex actions and meanings.
5. For resumes see Meggie (1979) and Harras (1983); the latter discusses whether further
25. Edelman (1964), (1971), (1977); see also Dieckmann (1981: 255-279).
conditions are necessary; this question is not dealt with here. See also Apel (1981).
26. The consequences for the notion of 'action' are discussed in Holly, Kiihn and Piischel
6. Meggie (1979).
(1984) and (1985). For a rejection of reducing the concept of action to only 'purposive-
7. See for example Keller (1977: 16) and Harras (1983:149). rational' actions see Apel (1981: 98 and passim).
8. Dionysius Cato: "Language conceals and indicates the manners of people." (Disticha 27. But it is not the task of critical interpretation to dig out outlandish meaning components
Catonis IV, 20; cited from Weinrich 1966: 10)). the speaker may have to account for in accordance with semantic implications. There is,
9. See also Horman (1976). for example, no right to believe that Reagan means that weapons systems could be
replaced by understanding totalitarianism, although the following utterance permits this
10. Goldmann (1970); for a linguistic elaboration of a concept of complex action see Heringer conclusion: "Understanding the nature of totalitarianism will be worth as much to us as
(1978). any weapons system in preserving peace." We have to admit that Reagan's formulation is
11. See also Harras' example (1983: 161-162). not very precise. We aren't allowed to impute any meaning that the utterance could indi-
cate. The criterion is the evidence that the speaker may have intended what we impute to
12. See v. Polenz (1985: 298-327). him, because it fits the whole situation.
132 WERNER HOLLY
28. This example is discussed by Keller (1986).
29. In 1985, for example, German Social-Democrats started a campaign against Heiner
GeiBler who is known for playing the part of the blackguard of the Christian-Democrats
(Vorstand der SPD 1985); see also Perger (1984: 20-23).
30. See also Holly (1985).
31. Ecker, Landwehr, Settekom and Walther (1977), Schwitalla (1979), Hoffmann (1982);
Sucharowski (1985), Holly, Kiihn and Piischel (1986).
32. See Eroms (1974).
33. Habermas (1981, I: 127-151); (1983: 144-145); see also StrauB and Zifonun (1985).
34. Meggie (1979: 251); Apel (1981: %-105).
35. Dieckmann (1985).
36. This is approximately Bergdorfs (1985) argument.
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Hamilton, William G. 1808. Parliamentary Logick. London: Payne.
Harras, Gisela. 1983. Handlungssprache und Sprechhandlung. ( = Sammlung
Goschen 22.) Berlin and New York: de Gruyter.
Hennig, J. 1968. "Sprache und Glaubwiirdigkeit". Zeitschrift fur deutsche
Sprache 22: 112-121.
Heringer, Hans J. 1978. Practical Semantics. ( = Trends in Linguistics.
Studies and Monographs, 3.) The Hague, Paris and New York: Mouton.
Heringer, Hans J., Gunther Ohlschliiger, Bruno Strecker and Rainer Wim-
mer. 1977. Einfuhrung in die Praktische Semantik ( = Uni-Taschen-
bacher, 716.) Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer.
134 WERNER HOLLY CREDIBILITY AND POLITICAL LANGUAGE 135

Hoffmann, Rolf-Rudiger. 1982. Politische Fernsehinterviews: Eine Searle, John R. 1969. Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Lan-
empirische Analyse sprachlichen Handelns ( = Medien in Forschung + guage. Cambridge: University Press.
Unterricht, A.9.) Tubingen: Niemeyer. Speier, Hans. 1980. "The Communication of Hidden Meaning". In Prop-
Holly, Werner. 1979. "Zurn Begriff der Perlokution: Diskussion, Vor- aganda and Communication in World History. Vol. II: Emergence of
schHige und ein Textbeispiel". Deutsche Sprache 7: 1-27. Public Oppinion in the West, Harold D. Lasswell (ed.), Daniel Lerner
Holly, Werner. 1985. "Politische Kultur und Sprachkultur: Wie sich der and Hans Speier (eds), 261-300. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii.
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(ed.) 1985: 196-210. buch, 1032.) Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Holly, Werner, Peter Kuhn and Ulrich Puschel. 1984. "Fiir einen 'sinnvol- StrauB, Gerhard and Gisela Zifonun. 1985. "Sprachkultivierung als
len' Handlungsbegriff in der linguistischen Pragmatik". Zeitschrift fur politische Aufkliirung". In Wimmer (ed.) 1985: 211-222.
germanistische Linguistik 12: 275-312. Sucharowski, Wolfgang. (ed.). 1985. Gespriichsforschung im Vergleich.
Holly, Werner, Peter Kuhn and Ulrich Puschel. 1985. "Blitzstrahl im Analysen zur Bonner Runde nach der Hessenwahl. ( = Linguistische
Handlungschaos". Zeitschrift [Ur germanistische Linguistik 13: 74-83. Arbeiten, 158) Tubingen: Niemeyer.
Holly, Werner, Peter Kiihn and Ulrich Puschel. 1986. Politische Szyrocki, Marian. (ed.). 1971. Lyrik des Barock I. (=Deutsche Literatur,
Fernsehdiskussionen: Zur medienspezifischen Inszenierung von Propa- , 38) Reinbek: Rowohlt.
ganda als Diskussion (= Medien in Forschung + Unterricht, A. 18.) Vorstand der SPD. 1985. Die Methode GeifJler: Eine Dokumentation.
Tiibingen: Niemeyer. Bonn.
Hormann, Hans. 1976. Meinen und Verstehen. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. Weinrich, Harald. 1966. Linguistik der Luge. Heidelberg: Schneider.
Keller, Rudi. 1977. "Verstehen wir, was ein Sprecher meint, oder was ein Wimmer, Rainer. (ed.). 1985. Sprachkultur: Jahrbuch 1984 des Instituts fUr
Ausdruck bedeutet?". Sprachliches Handeln, Klaus Baumgartner (ed.), Deutsche Sprache (= Sprache der Gegenwart, 63.) Diisseldorf: Schwann.
1-27. Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer.
Keller, Rudi. 1986. "Interpretation und Sprachkritik". Sprache und
Literatur in Wissenschaft und Unterricht 17: 54-61.
Kiihn, Peter. 1983. "Der parlamentarische Zwischenruf als mehrfachadres-
sierte Sprachhandlung". In Sprache, Diskurs und Text: Akten des 17.
Linguistischen Kolloquiums Briissel 1982. Bd. 1, Rene Jongen, Sabine
De Knop, Peter H. Nelde and Marie- Paule Quix (eds), 239-251.
Tiibingen: Niemeyer.
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York: De Gruyter.
Perger, Werner A. 1984. "Bonner Dramaturgie". Kursbuch 77: 8-29.
von Polenz, Peter. 1985. Deutsche Satzsemantik: Grundbegriffe des Zwis-
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Heutiges Deutsch, I, 15.) Miinchen: Hueber.
 1968: The power of political jargon -
a "Club-2" discussion

Ruth Wodak
University of Vienna

Introduction

I shall try in the following paper to identify some mechanisms and

functions of political jargon by analysing two passages of a "Club-2" discus-
sion which took place on June 13th, 1978, on the tenth "Anniversary of the
1968 Student Movement", a discussion which was internationally acclaimed.
acclaimed.
Political groups need their own language and portray themselves via~
this language; they define their territory by means of their language; theyr
signal their ideology through certain slogans and stereotypes; their ideolog-
ical structure is joined together in a certain way and so is their argumenta-
tion. Dependent on rules and programs respectively, this use of language
may serve to produce provocation, or to incite reflection, or to effect the
emergence of a ghetto (see Polenz 1981: 90; Porken 1980; Jager 1970;
Steger 1986: 125ff.; Wodak/Feistritzer 1987; Feistritzer/Wodak 1987). Thus
there are subcultures whose intention it is to be understood and to recruit
new members; others form closed groups and so remain misunderstood (see
Schleunig 1980: 12ff.). The connection between language and experience
may be assumed to be a proven fact; since the investigations of L. Whorf we
are aware of the reflection of reality by means of language and vice versa
(see Wodak et al. 1986; Blattig/Hots/Wilkens 1980: 45 at seg.).
The Student Movement of 1968 was characterized by a very special
language, a considerable speech consciousness and a sharp instinct for lan-
guage. New lifestyles, forms of relationships, and a new world were
searched for as a reaction to the war-generation (the parents) and to the
138 RUTHWODAK
"old philosophy" ("jargon of essentiality'', "Jargon der Eigentlichkeit").
Contrary to the speechlessness of the parent generation and to their tabui-
sation of many areas, everything was now to be explained scientifically and
"opened up" .1 Hence concepts from sociology and from psychology were
enlisted as well as traditional theories from the "left" (dogmatic Marxism,
Marxism-Leninism). These theories were subjected to critical examination
by many. The "New Left" and the "Opposition Outside of Parlament"
(APO = AuBerparlamentarische Opposition) were born (see Dutschke
1981; Welzig 1985; Keller 1983; Bopp 1984 and other literature mentioned
there).
A new complacency was ushered in. That the sudden fascination often
occurred in such a totalitarian manner involving theoretical explanations of
society and psyche, may have been due to the peculiar function of "theory"
in those days. It showed in which direction to strike. An initiated "radical
minority" was there to demonstrate to the "unsuspecting" how to deal with
an almost hopeless conservativism, which had been preserved after the
break-up of all political culture during the Nazi regime and all through the
post-fascist petty-bourgeois environment of the Adenauer-era. The treat-
ment of the past, especially with the help of a jargon hermetically
enclosed, borrowed and copied from "pre-thinkers", rarely left a place for
such unfathomable things as feelings, fantasies, intuition. These were con-
sidered interfering factors in a uni-directional, purely logical development.
On the other hand, theory supplied all sorts of possibilities for later
legitimizing an action or analysis when it had been found to be wrong or to
lead up a blind alley. The theoretically well-equipped "brainwavers"
(Durchblicker), who thought all they had to do was lift their little finger to
alter existing conditions and thereby make them topple, would not and
could not accept responsibility when the limits of the calculated risk were
occasionally exceeded arid. all hell broke loose. It was possible to feel miles
above the ruling adult society and to remain an irresponsible child at the
same time. No doubt it is one of the merits of the Protest Movement, that
"childlike" attributes such as spontaneity, curiosity and innovativeness
were freed from the negative connotations of infantility and at the same
time revealed the unfortunate nature of adult maturity (Weigelt 1984: 109/
110).
It is not at all my intention here to provide either a socio-political
analysis or a historical description of the Student Movement (see e.g.
Kursbuch 1984). I intend rather to show by an explicit analysis of political
jargon contained in the above-mentioned talkshow, how a political group
and its protagonists act upon their surroundings by means of the power and
dynamics of their language. It would be of interest in this connection -
1968: THE POWER OF POLITICAL JARGON 139
seen from today's perspective - to make comparisons with a new social
movement, the ecological movement, some of whose parents had taken
part in the Student Movement. This comparision, however, has to be
neglected due to reasons of space (see Wodak 1986, 1987).2
While in 1968 everything was discussed "to the very end" (see below),
today3 it is often usual to get stuck in partly irrational and very vague senti-
mentality.
In 1968 discussions frequently became a kind of competition - more
aggressive than playful - to see who was able to produce even more criti-
cal and more clever arguments. There was a constant demand for "in-ques-
tioning" and "mediation". The probing question for the "political posi-
tion" and the "sociological reference" was accompanied by questioning the
personal attitude of each person as to being "bourgeois", a "conformist",
"adjusted", "a consumer-fascist". Some discussions became inquisitions
intended to catch out the other person as a "deviator" from the prevalent
theory. This served as a welcome opportunity to work out one's own
hatred of any theory projectively, while at the same time being able to
fight the opponent (Bopp 1984: 132).
At the "Club-2"-Meeting ("Club-2" see explanation and description
Section 3.) of June 13th, 1978 there were present, among others, two lead-
ers of the Student Movement of 1968: Rudi Dutschke and Daniel Cohn-
Bendit. Both were almost of mythical stature; both were certainly charis-
matic figures. Both are inseparably connected to the Student Movement in
the German-speaking world. Their social origins differ greatly, and they
experienced a very dissimilar socialisation: on the one hand we have a pro-
testant, petty-bourgeois, north-German environment (Rudi Dutschke); on
the other hand, a Jewish upper middle class environment in Frankfurt
(Cohn-Bendit). When analysing individual texts from this discussion, sev-
eral questions are of interest:
Do the two men succeed in expressing themselves intelligibly to every-
body?
Or does jargon possess its own dynamics here?
Does the presentation appear dynamic, or does it consist of rigid, static
stereotypes?
Are their strategies when arguing different from those of the political
"adversary" or are they like those always employed in "Club-2" discus-
sions (see also Lalouschek 1985; Gruber/Hujecek/Schicho 1983)?
And above at all, does jargon cover up every kind of individuality - or
do personal pecularities remain intelligible?
140 RUTHWODAK
- What kind of power does jargon then hold over a person? Does self-por-
trayal succeed? And if so, how?
Of course it will be necessary in this analysis to take into account the
fact that the program is transmitted live, group dynamic processes are
important for the discussion also (see also Danninger 1983). It is therefore
advisable to carry out a "Multi-Level-Analysis" which covers the colloquial
meaning and the effect which the live transmission of the meeting has for
the group-dynamics as well. Ultimately, an interpretation concerning the
personal history of each of the participants and of their political socialisa-
tion is necessary.
Before beginning with the text analyses, however, we shall precede
them with some theorectical remarks. We shall first have to define the con-
cepts of the analysis we are going to use. What, after all, is jargon, what is
a myth, which linguistic indicators are relevant?
1. Political jargon - myth - ideology - text
1.1 Ideology
In the following text we shall use "ideology" and "myth" synonymously
as described by Lemberg (1983) and Mannheim (1978). For both these
authors these terms mean "systems of ideas which constitute and pilot the
large powerblocks of our society." (Lemberg 1983: 41). This therefore dif-
fers from the general concept, which often assigns a negative connotation to
"ideology". Ideologies thus create and propagate a secondary reality which
one either has to believe in (totalitarian systems) or may believe in (democ-
ratic systems). (For further details see Wodak et al. 1985 and Menz in this
volume.) This new reality appears to be logically consistent and self-con-
tained; and it is manifest in its very own language. The indicators are to be
found on all the linguistic levels: in the lexicon, in the syntax, on the text-
and discourse level and even in the phonology (see Moosmilller in this vol-
ume). It is our intention here to deal mainly with the lexical and discourse
levels.
1968: 1HE POWER OF POLITICAL JARGON 141
1.2 Democracy and ideology- Bourdieu's concept
A few words should be added about the socalled competent citizen's
"freedom of choice and ability to choose", i.e. to choose between different
ideologies in non-totalitarian systems: political jargon (also other forms of
~ersuas~ve language, such as advertising for example, have exactly this qual-
ity to. fix empty f~rmulae, catchwords and stereotypes thereby excluding
any kmd of reflection. In the subconscious certain categories then become
established, often without the citizen even knowing what it is "really all
about", what it "really means". 4
The political opinion-forming processes of today therefore occur in
such a way that every democratically-minded person chooses between the
programs of groups of experts, experts in political dealings. Implicit ideas
concerning political life can thereby be conjectured on the basis of the var-
ious definitions used. This seems to cover all the potential possibilities; the
"realm of the politically conceivable" is fenced in (Bourdieu 1982: 720).
!~stead of having taken an active part in political viewfinding, only a (pas-
sive) opinion to previously articulated subjects is expected from the partici-
pants. Thus, when we talk about the interviewees' ability and readiness to
~hoose between ~iffer~nt positions, we presume something which, in real-
ity, does not exist! Smee spontaneous political discourse is discredited
(political disenchantment), the citizen is left with either the "language of
the experts" or the "silence of borrowed speech" (see Bourdieu 1982: 722).5
The citizen thus acquires certain ideologies; he internalises them without
understanding them and without having the language competence (the
"means of production of speech") for them.
1.3 Jargon
"Jargon" is a special language which is based grammatically on the
common language, but which contains special features in the lexical,
semantic and syntactic areas. The speakers employ jargon in order to
acquire prestige, but without this prestige being justified by the imparted
content of the form. 6 I do not wish to restrict the definition in this way.
Recent studies on "jargon, political language and special languages" have
shown that we need a sociolinguistic approach here as well. Jargon can be
defined as group languages with specific functions: the function of establish-
ing group identity, of consolidating the group vis-a-vis the external world,
 RUTHWODAK
142
of designating the group to outsiders, and, naturally, of communicat~ng
specific contents as well. Thus, the identical words may ~xecute a prest~~e
function while also representing a precise way of talkmg about spectf1c
ideologi~al contents (see Wodak/Feistritzer 1987 and literature cited there).
In our case we could say that the language of the 1968 movement may
represent contr~sting linguistic functions. Jargon may focus primarily on
the group - the prestige function - or it may merel~ be a very cleve~ and
effective tool for expressing political opinions. In pomt of fact, as will be
shown below, the two leaders analyzed here do use this ideological lan-
guage in the two different ways mentioned: Dutschke is seriously involved
in the discussion, less concerned about his image, more concerned about
important concents; Cohn-Bendit, on the other hand, is primarily
interested in signaling the group's (and his own) image, the terms are pre-
stigious and often without specific and precise co~t~nt, slog~ns and. catch-
words. This has to do with their different personalities and b1ograph1es.
Thus, in studying political jargon, we have to be aware of the many
latent and manifest functions at work. We must also be aware of the nega-
tive connotation of the term "jargon" which I do not wish to transport or
continue.
Only thus when the triviality of an expression is not imm~diately obvi-
ous can it be used effectively. The particular "flavour" of the Jargon-word,
however, may be eroded by increased use, and it may then become part of
the common vocabulary. Basically there are three possibilities:
1. The jargon-word receives an ideological meaning, an emotionally
meaningful content, and thus becomes a catchword (see Wodak
1987 for details).
2. With increased use, the jargon-word becomes a meaningless,
empty vogue-word.
3. The jargon-word may merely enter and enrich the vocabulary of
everyday-speech (see Roegele 1986; Nunn 1974; Amery 1970).
1.3 Further characteristics of jargon
The lexicon exhibits some entirely newly-coined words, although they
are mainly either modelled on existing words or formed from abbreviations
(e.g. "LASER"). Loan translations (e.g. "loanword") and loanwords from
other languages or language varieties are significant as well. . meaningful, it should also neutralise defence reactions the listener may
In the semantic field it is possible to produce a "new word" by changmg
1968: THE POWER OF POLITICAL JARGON 143
the meaning or by narrowing it to a more abstract or unusual significance
(e.g. "consciousness"). A frequent feature is the disguise of negative con-
tents by euphemisms ("budget-priced", "zero-growth", "underpriviledged"
etc.) (Bolinger 1982: 132).
Syntactic changes, too, form a borderline between jargon and common
speech (Bolinger 1982: 132). The most characteristic are the following:
Complexity of the Verbal and the Nominal Phrase;
Increased use of the Passive Voice;
- Use of double negatives;
- Emphasising forms;
Positive recapitulations;
Introductory, transitory and concluding phrases, which actually are
superfluous for text coherence.
Thus we find an obvious condensing and abbreviation of syntax in
political discourse . .rPlitical speeches, especially, acquire a "headline qual-
j~y". Certain nouns are repeatedly combined with interpretative adjectives.
These constructs soon become al1!!9st magical or hypnotic formulae.
Malevolent words may thus develop into harmless ones, and even combina-
tions of opposite meanings may occur within newly formed words (see Mar-
cuse 1979: 108-110). The "exchange of atomic blows" (atomarer Schlagab-
tausch) sounds more like a report about a boxing match than a threatening
atomic war. The "waste management park" (Entsorgungspark) as a name
for the final disposal of atomic waste is more reminiscent of a peaceful gar-
den than a questionable deposit of radio-active waste (see Brekle in this
volume).
The prevalent tendency to use abbreviations in political language
further emphasizes its stereotypical character. A hallmark of non-political
thinking is that hardly anybody still knows the original meaning of an
abbreviation (see Marcuse 1979: 113ff.).
On the textual level, finally, political jargon (written as well as spoken)
is characterised by certain strategies of argumentation and presentation. In
this respect I follow the "strategy concept" of KintschNan Dijk (1983) (see
Wodak et al. 1985 and Menz, in this volume).
Political speakers want their listeners to feel respect for them and to
accept their authority; this is why they make use of forms of speech which
impress the public as meaningful. But a speech should not only sound
have towards threatening or negative contents. Better yet, it should pro-
144 RUTHWODAK
duce a positive impression (e.g. "waste-management park" - Entsor-
gungspark). By using very abstract, undefined or very vague forms, three
goals are achieved: unpleasant facts are less obvious, ignorance of the
speaker is easier to hide and it is easier to deny a statement afterwards.
Finally, the manipulative aspect, too, plays an important part: by the delib-
erate use of catchwords, listeners are influenced on the emotional level and
thereby the speaker is enabled to appeal to a wide range of audiences by
the use of ideological dependent meanings. 7
In the following analysis of some individual texts of the "Club-2" dis-
cussion we are interested - as mentioned before - in how far jargon has
contributed to the presentation of self of political leaders. What, then, are
the functions of political jargon here? Do the two leaders use the language
of 1968 in different ways?
2. The institution "Club-2" and its significance
2.1 The setting
"Club-2" has been a regular feature of channel 2 of Austria's National
Broadcasting System since October 1976. Twice a week, in an open discus-
sion, a topical and/or contraversial topic of either social, political or scien-
tific interest is presented for discussion. An average of six persons takes
part and the participants are mainly, though not entirely, prominent per-
sons. They are a mixed group of experts, persons involved in the subject
discussed, proponents and opponents, and also "the man in the street". The
meeting is always chaired by a chairperson who acts as moderator and
whose influence on the proceedings is considerable. The discussion is
broadcast live and is open-ended.
The participants sit on comfortable upholstered easy chairs grouped
around a low table. This is meant to create a luxurious "fireside-talk"
atmosphere; soft drinks and biscuits are set out and smoking is permitted.
By combining topical themes with representatives of differing opin-
ions, a combination of information and entertainment results. This meets
two fundamental requirements. On the one hand, it provides a motivation
to watch, a motivation which "moves between the known - but tradition-
ally considered irreconcilable - poles of acquiring knowledge (informa-
tion, education) and of being entertained (relaxation, amusement)" (Kal-
verkamper 1979: 100). On the other hand, it furthers the very function of
1968: THE POWER OF POLITICAL JARGON 145
television, i.e. to inform, entertain and educate at the same time (Schneider
1979: 441 and see also Lalouschek 1985).
The expectations of the viewers are mainly of a sensational kind: scan-
dals are most popular. And if no actual row takes place, beated altercations
between the debating parties will suffice. But they are an absolute must: a
peaceful, harmonious "Club-2" is felt to be boring and uninteresting.
2.2 Presentation of self and image
For our "Club-2" analysis two more sociological concepts are of impor-
tance. The concept of "self-portrayal" within the framework of a story (see
Quasthoff 1980) and the concept of "image", which is consciously or sub-
consciously created and defended in contact with other people (see
Goffman 1976; Wodak 1986). Both, i.e. self-portrayal and the creation of a
positive image, are important in a public discussion or talk and are neces-
sarily pain-stakingly planned, especially by political figures (see Lalouschek
1985). As both self-portrayal and image concern the group identity, it is
precisely in these texts that jargon is to be expected. And what about ideol-
ogy? Does it leave its stamp upon personality?
3. The "Club-2" of June 13th, 1978
The topic of "Club-2" on June 13th, 1978 was the Student Movement
and the unrest of 1968. There was a relatively small group of participants,
consisting of Rudi Dutschke and Daniel Cohn-Bendit and two representa-
tives from the opposite side; Matthias Walden (a journalist of the Springer-
Verlag) and Kurt Sontheimer (a political scientist). Politically, Walden is
close to the conservative party (CDU), Sontheimer is a liberal. The chair-
man of the discussion was Gunther Nenning, a particularly involved and
interesting moderator (see Danninger 1983; Nowak 1984; Lalouschek
1985). There were three main topics:
1. Terrorism as a result of the Student Movement.
2. The question of whether and how the Student Movement failed.
3. Towards the end of the discussion, iiberalism became more and
more the central issue.
The discussion took approximately three hours and was terminated,
allegedly for technical reasons.
Already in the introductory phase, important elements of the following
146 RUTIIWODAK
discussion appear. Even the clothes worn by the participants demonstrate
to the naive and ignorant spectator where the boundaries lie and the seating
arrangement reinforces this impression. Dutschke and Cohn-Bendit sit next
to each other on a couch. They wear jeans and pullovers. Their counterparts
are seated to the right and left of them and - as was to be expected - they
have on suits. Nenning, who as chairman sits in the centre of the group,
soon reveals where his sympathies lie. This is most noticeable in his use of
the more intimate Du (Du is used between friends; Sie is the more formal
form) when addressing the representatives of the Student Movement and
the use of Sie for their opponents. It is odd that Cohn-Bendit does not
reciprocate with Du, although he does change from Herr ("Mister") Nen-
ning to "Nenning" in the course of the discussion and then changes fre-
quently between Sie and Du. Important image-forming factors are thus
established from the very beginning!
All participants in the discussion make use of the introductory phase to
steer the discussion in an intended direction. Nenning, though, reacts nega-
tively only towards the utterances of the opponents. Dutschke make use of
his very first turn for self-portrayal; he talks about himself in the third per-
son, which happens four more times during the entire discussion. This
might by interpreted as "playing up his own myth". Dutschke has thus
become, through an attempted assassination upon him, "his own myth".
And by talking about himself in the third person, he reinforces this impres-
sion. Furthermore, the image of the "outsider" is immediately accentuated.
Hence he describes his situation as that of a man expelled (and disposses-
sed) by being banned from pursuing his profession and thereby he presents
his image very cleverly: "the thinker of the Left, the socialist, the rational
analyst"! He talks about ideological contents, he wants to convince and per-
suade, the jargon here has a "content function". Cohn-Bendit similarity
makes use of his first turn to portray himself. He, too, presents himself as a
victim and an outsider. He is unemployed and does not seek employment.
He was given notice as a Kindergarten teacher. He tries to create an image
somewhat different from that of Dutschke: "the active fighter against con-
stant and repeated injustice". He, too, takes up the concept of being "ban-
ned from pursuing one's profession" formerly used by Dutschke. This strat-
egy is used by Cohn-Bendit several times during the discussion. He takes up
some of Dutschke's arguments, produces solidarity, and uses it to confirm
and reinforce Dutschke's statements. The "group-function" of jargon is
focussed on. The other participants do not act in this way; they proceed as
1968: TIIE POWER OF POLITICAL JARGON 147
individuals rather than as members of a group.
Sontheimer immediately points to the failure of the Movement. He
thus anticipates a strategy, i.e. his own argument of the program being
doomed from the beginning.
It is striking that Dutschke and Cohn-Bendit explain their present situ-
ation, which means they do not just adhere to the static stereotypes of 1968
exclusively; Walden and Sontheimer on the other hand, try to explain their
position at that time. Due to their solidarity Dutschke and Cohn-Bendit
also are at an advantage during the discussion. This is even apparent in
their behaviour e.g. they touch each other, use the same gestures._And, as
already mentioned, the chairman is on their side. These obvious advantages
probably provoke their opponents into an immediate, heated argument. It
makes them depict the entire Student Movement as a questionable affair.
4. Rudi Dutschke: "A socialist tries to find his role in society"
I chose, as a starting point for the examination of Dutschke's self-por-
trayal, a part of the discussion which contains some typical elements and
which, in spite of its briefness, should allow for some essential comments on
Dutschke's image-making and self-portrayal strategies. This part of the dis-
cussion centred around the question of the results and consequences of the
Student Movement. a
Text Nr. 1
N = Nenning; CB= Cohn-Bendit; D = Dutschke; W =Walden
1 N: There was in the ZIB II(= news report) just before ah
2 these words by Rudi Dutschke /points at him/
3 we aren't Utopians, nor visionaries
4 we really want a New World
5 build a new society
6 in this New World
7 had it existed, had it arrived -
8 what whould have happened to such types as Walden and Sontheimer
9 would they have had their freedom up opinion
9a CB: fully fully
10 D: can Mr. Walden prove from that time
11 N: a very vague question but it can (cannot)
12 D: that anywhere we had said or have said
13 you will go to a concentration camp --- /fold hands behind head/
14 you cannot prove that about Dutschke
148 RUTHWODAK 1968: TIIE POWER OF POLmCAL JARGON 149

15 nor of anybody else either 58 D: now we are getting down to concrete facts
16 the freedom of opinion was NEVER questioned 59 we have to see it concretely in a historical (perspective)
17 since democracy, especially as it is understood 60 which situation are you referring to now
18 the way socialists treat it /points with his hand/ 61 between 66 and 68
19 because without democracy, no socialism 62 or do you mean the period after the attempt on my life
20 no socialism without democracy that was the tenor ah 63 and other specific destructive processes
21 so that was not the problem for us 64 there has to be an exact differentiation now
22 the problem which you presented for us - then 65 W: I mean the time between 67 and 69
23 and still present today 66 and it was a customary word then
24 is such what is the role of a human being - 67 D: which word - give your example now
25 in a social function - 68 CB: fascist- - -
26 how does he realise that role 69 W: fascist fascistoid
27 and how does his role form HIM 70 CB: that is not the same thing
28 if I know your history - 71 that your are fasci [ stoid
29 I believe you too have come from the GDR - 71a W: that was
30 your GDR experiences probably differ from mine 72 CB: [that I would find justifiable even roday
31 I got out and I knew why I-why I got out 72a W: h h
32 and I knew I was kept from the University 73 CB: but that poses no problem for me
33 why I had to become an office apprentice and so on 74 W: but both were used
34 and for all that, was still kept from the University 75 D: and why-because the NDP got 11% of the votes in Schleswig-Holstein
35 and for all that found a way
36 quite the opposite of your way -
37 a political position where - a socialist tried * "Fascistoid" contrasts with "fascist". Fascistoid refers only to a certain kind of
to gain a firm point of view behaviour without any connotations regarding a particular system of ideas. The con-
38
to learn to walk upright /quickly/ troversy about these two terms cannot be discussed in this paper. I must refer to
39
who knows exactly or tries to know Dutschke (1981).
40
41 what happened in Prague -
42 was over there in Western Europe - the days of May /lifts arm/ 4.1 Text-level: argumentative strategies and self-representation
43 ah - that means the occupation and the days of May
44 cannot be separated
When looking at the chain of the argument (see Wodak/Schulz 1986)
45 but have a historical dimension in the Continent of Europe
46 N: well (now) it would be as well which is the basis of the above text, we are immediately struck by the many
47 D: and these are connections different topics mentioned within such a very short time. It begins with the
48 which I see differently from you question of freedom of opinion, turns to the role man plays in society and
49 W: well Mr. Dutschke we were at the time in your view to Dutschke's personal experiences. Then the problem of "historical con-
50 and these were the words used
nectedness" is commented on. A more exact analysis shows that Dutschke
51 either fascists or fascistoid* types
52 and that[did not exactly sound like tole [ranee
arrives at the argument of the historical dimension via several steps. At the
52a D: you can you can beginning, when Nenning posed the question regarding freedom of opinion
53 W: in the full meaning of[free opinion in a society which had not yet been realised, Dutschke could not yet bring
53a D: did you ever hear me up the aspect of the historical dimension.
54 revile you as a fascist
His theory stands at the end of this chain and is introduced step by step
55 and say, off with him to a concentration camp
56 W: I say - I said on your side by evidence and comparisons. It is clear that Dutschke is well-versed in the
57 the word fascist or fascistoid art of discussion and argumentation. It is just clear that this is not the first
150 RUTHWODAK
time that he produces these arghments. It is also striking and certainly typ-
ical of the activists of 1968 (and of males)9 to present abstract arguments
and to move repeatedly from the persdnal to the abstract. "Jargon" thus is
used as language of the 1968 ideology; with precise contents, without stres-
sing a prestigious function, primarily.
The question posed by Nenning about the freedom of opinion is settled
with a slogan (19/20) and does not occur again in this same form. After-
wards Dutschke introduces a new topic ("the role of humanity in society")
which only serves as a pseudo-argument, however. It is not carried any
farther. It is meant to be an introduction of a report on his own personal
experiences, which he now compares to those of Walden. This then
becomes a self-portrayal whose latent function is, of course, a polemical
confrontation with the conservative opposite side. From his personal his-
tory he progresses to the abstract world of thinking and so to the idea of the
historical dimension. From then on he is better able to react to the
reproaches which follow. By forcing Walden to adhere to a certain expres-
sion and to a certain point in time, he creates a situation which enables hirri
to produce a plausible explanation and thus to terminate this topic. What
does not quite fit into this concept is Cohn-Bendit's remark that he still con-
siders Walden to be "fascistoid", but Walden does not react to this remark,
this means that Cohn-Bendit has diverted the emotional confrontation to
himself, a distribution of the roles evident during this entire "Club-2" and a
clear sign of group roles.
The following discussion of concepts attests to the great speech con-
sciousness. Again we find the strategy of "the creation of a myth of one's
own". Dutschke talks about himself in the third person (14). This strategy
serves here to create a fiction of objectivity, an impression of a split-person-
ality. His present "I" talks about "the Dutschke" of the sixties. In line 37
this strategy is employed in a new form. The "I" becomes "a socialist".
Thus he manages to jump from his personal experiences to an experience,
an image of the group, which is then characterised by cliches and slogans.
This fiction of objectivity is also maintained by the form in which his per-
sonal experiences are reproduced. It is not the classical for111 of a story, but
a report, an enumeration of facts. This enumeration of personal experiences
therefore only serves superficially as !!elf-portrayal. In reality it has the
more important function of being an introduction for the following discus-
sion and for the presentation of his antagonism towards Walden.
In this passage we are also able to note a "code-switch". Dutschke uses
1968: THE POWER OF POLffiCAL JARGON 151
"got out" (31), and he purposely uses this concept, which has negative con-
notations, to depict his situation even more dramatically.
Furthermore, we find the strategy of "factualising" the opponent. In
line 22/23 he says to Walden "the problem which you presented for us ... "
seemingly calling Walden a problem only, not a human being. The use of
"which" even intensifies this impression. In some other part of the discus-
sion Dutschke uses the marxist concept of the "character-mask" (Charak-
termaske) to make the same point.
At the end Dutschke even supplies percentages to support his argu-
ment, thereby achieving objectivity through the use of concrete figures.
4.2 Lexical level
On the lexical level of this text the use of political slogans is especially
evident. These slogans, such as "freedom of opinion" (16) or "without
democracy no socialism - no socialism without democracy" (19/20) are in
no way confined to the Student Movement, but are also used with different
meanings by other groups.
To elaborate upon 19/20 I should like to quote from Dutschke's
autobiography:
In the present era it is no longer possible for a democracy to develop with-
out socialism, just as socialism without the inheritance and development of
the bourgeois revolution must - without democracy - be a negation of
the target to be reached. (Dutschke 1981: 40)
This is the elaborated version of the above-mentioned slogan and here we
find an excessive use of jargon on the lexical level.
In addition to these political slogans, a number of sociological terms
are used. Hence we find here an explicit intermingling of technical terms
and political jargon. Dutschke himself studied sociology in Berlin, but
sociological terminology was very popular and important anyway in the Stu-
dent Movement. The terms "role" and "social function" have become part
of everyday speech by now, so that these terms do not necessarily qualify as
typical jargon words today. In the context of Dutschke's language, though,
their use is, without doubt, his own, private language-use and must be con-
sidered jargon, which serves a specific function in the portrayal of himself.
Dutschke uses many foreign words but is an enemy of certain concepts
assumed to be typical for his generation. To explain this aversion, one of
Walden's strategies has to be mentioned: by using such typical expressions,
152 RUTHWODAK 1968: THE POWER OF POLITICAL JARGON 153

Walden tries to characterise Dutschke and Cohn-Bendit as people who are
bound by their jargon and unable to reflect freely. This is already apparent
when he replies to Cohn-Bendit's reproach against the Springer Press: "that
was the language of those years". Here, too, he tries to prove that a person
using "fascistoid" cannot, per se, be a tolerant person. Dutschke sees
through this generalising strategy and denies therefore, ever having used
this expression.
to him. Let us note, too, that the quarrel about the use and meaning of the
word "fascist" brings home the mechanics of political jargon. According to
each meaning, a different argumentative correlation, a different assurance,
a different world is revealed!
His self-portrayal thus serves mainly to define the boundaries with his
opponent who also comes from the GRD but must have had - as Dutschke
believes- a very different history and very different motives.

4.3 Syntactic level 5. Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the "active fighter: never say die"!

Dutschke talks very rhythmically; this is also manifest in the syntax. To examine the linguistic behaviour of Cohn-Bendit, I also choose a
The sentences are generally constructed according to a S - C - 0 pattern. rather long piece of text containing typical elements. The context of this
There are hardly any attributes and no unnecessary elements. NP and VP passage is the question of the Movement's failure, a theme which is cer-
consist mainly of one noun only, or of one verb. There are not very many tainly just as emotionally charged. Lines 1-5 show Cohn-Bendit's indecision
conjunctions and those used are very simple ones ("and", "if', "because"). when addressing Nenning, as already pointed out in the previous section.
Other rhetorical means typical of direct speech such as parallelisms (31-35),
pauses (28, 29) and stress {16, 44) are to be found. Text Nr. 2
N = Nenning; CB = Cohn-Bendit
4.4 Summary
1 CB: and then I'd also like to make another point, Mr. Nenning,
2 now really I find asked like that
Dutschke's self-portrayal is thus, as far as the text type is concerned, 3 "Mister" don't know why I keep saying "Mister"
rather a report and serves, as mentioned before, as preparation for an 4 N: its all the same just say "Mister" once -
abstract argument. Although he reports on very emotional events, he re- 5 then something else (that does) /quickly in an undertone/
presents them consistently, rationally and in a detached manner. Technical 6 CB: nope the problem the problem is
7 put like this historical development cannot
terms and slogans embellish his self-representation. Dutschke presents him-
8 not at all be re-executed
self as a practiced speaker and arguer who sees the past clearly and consis- 9 of course there are
tently, who can explain and understand it. On the surface he often seems 10 I would have said much more
emotionally unencumbered. The jargon here disguises feelings, is content- 11 everything I said in 1968-
oriented. This very fact is - in the terminology of group psychology - an 12 sounds awful in my ears[today
important function of jargon: a defense strategy, i.e. "rationalising" (see 12a N: mhm
13 CB: you know and that is my problem
Wodak 1986b). 14 we HAVE articulated a need - - by our opposition
Dutschke thus has mastered the past, his image as a skilled left-wing 15 - but we were - I was or we were that's silly
politician is undisputed. He also succeeds in presenting himself as logical, 16 let me first talk for myself
"cool" and rational, in making his point using clever strategies in the con- 17 I at least have the impression
18 I was not able at that time
troversy with Walden (67, 74): he remains rational, argues factually and
19 to put that into words
refrains from entering into "word-splitting contests" (fascist -fascistoid), 20 and there are many - - interviews with me
quite unlike Cohn-Bendit who argues with a great deal of polemic and emo- 21 where I shake my[head
tion and is thus particularly helpful to Dutschke by leaving the rational field 21a N: mhm
154 RUTHWODAK 1968: THE POWER OF POLlTICAL JARGON 155

22 CB: but THAT must not be taken as proof now 62 to produce ego-identity out of OURSELVES
23 that it has miscarried 63 but to depict power
24 but first it is a consequence 64 power we searched for in a world view
25 of an extreme criticism of our consciousness at that time 65 but which did not exist LIKE THIS -
26 THAT however did not happen at the height of the[breakthrough 66 and here I just mean I may say S()
26a N: mhm 67 that is - what was not real
27 CB: of the political and social[breakthrough 68 therefore I would still state Rudi's sentence
27a N: mhm 69 WE want to build a world -
28 that is the same /very low-voiced/ 70 the world has not seen before
29 CB: that is one point 71 THAT I would say is even more right
30 and the second is 72 and that with THIS world today
31 that is I mean funereal 73 the way it is staged before us by the powerful
32 to say IT HAS failed 74 we do not want to have anything to do with that-th~t is still correct
33 with the standard measures of politics
34 which we have just turned down 5 .1 Text level: argumentative strategies and self representation
35 if that be our standard - - -
35a N: (and with one's own)
36 CB: you were - - you did not reach[power the power The argumentative chain is very complex. This is due mainly (apart
36a N: yes from a complicated and incomplete syntax) to the constant change of the
37 CB: then I am right to say temporal level. In these 68 lines (where one line approximately corresponds
38 if it should also be said WHAT else has failed
to a unit of meaning) Cohn-Bendit changes eight time~ in all from the pre-
39 we had quite a long talk together before
40 Rudi and I
sent time to 1968 and vice versa.
41 and I have said well it is my impression The message contained in these lines may be summarised as follows:
42 as a generation we are an orphaned[generation "We have made mistakes, our idols have disappointed us, but the idea of
42a N: mhm power in a New World, a world which, as we know, does not exist in real-
43 CB: orphaned we are, because our myths our idols
ity, has remained!" What is not expressed but presupposed is this: "The
44 have crumbled in our hands - - -
45 many of us myself included or not that's not the point Movement cannot have failed, because it is still active. Its ideas still exist;
46 took Cuba as an example - took China as an example therefore, the Movement is still alive".
47 they are absolutely we know now by our experience - What becomes particularly clear through the inconsistent use of tense
48 N: even Vietnam is that Cohn-Bendit has not got over the past in the same way that
49 CB: Vietnam Cambodia as[ Dutschke has, at least on the surface. For Cohn-Bendit this time is still very
49a N: examples
50 CB: we just cannot in the least on the contrary
much alive, emotionally important, and this is revealed in the coherence, in
51 here again the distorted face - of the state -- comes to me the syntax and in the lexicon.
52 of the organised bureaucracy of the state The dialectical model (T - A - S) forms the basis Qf his argumentation.
53 which I am just fighting against
54 again comes to the fore -
Thesis: the inability then to put things into words leads today's
55 OUR strength today contrary to many - - unintelligibility (7-21)
56 is to be able to put THAT into words openly Antithesis: no failure (22-23)
57 to say if that is the problem - Synthesis: the ability to criticise (24-27)
58 than we can talk about it
59 we do not hesitate to see Thesis: if one takes power as criterion, then the Movement has
60 of coiirse we had projected hopes of the cultural revolution failed (30-37) ., I , '

61 the need not only Antithesis: it is not we who have failed bu~ ~ur ~dols (38-54)
156 RUTHWODAK
Synthesis: we have not failed because we have realised the failure of
our idols (55-59)
Thesis: we felt the need to acquire power (60-64)
Antithesis: this power did not exist (64-67)
Synthesis: the need for a New World still exists (66-74)
Cohn-Bendit also gets entangled in contradictions not necessarily cho-
sen consciously: the concept of "power" enters into different contexts with
different meanings.
Also striking is another strategy which he had already used during the
introductory phase: the "strategy of compassion". He used the cliche of the
"orphaned generation". With this cliche he wants to depict his generation
as being especially suffering and worthy of understanding and compassion.
This again is easily explained on the latent privat level. The descendants of
the "holocaust" really are orphans!
A further clever strategy consists in admitting a previous error and
thereby acquiring the right to present much more mature ideas. Cohn-Ben-
dit has "grown up", has improved, and now he understands history (14-35).
The reproduction of a personal talk serves as confirmation of his arguments
(39-41). This is, of course, a very well-known rhetorical strategy, with its
scenic presentation giving it an emphatic quality. It might be called "a
search for authenticity".
He often represents his personal experiences as group experiences (14,
15), though extracts himself immediately and then uses the collective "we"
in his conclusion (25). Solidarity of the individual with the group is also a
well-known rhetorical strategy.
A comparision of the strategies shows that Cohn-Bendit employs sig-
nificantly more psychological means and argues in a significantly more per-
sonal and emotional way than Dutschke does. This may be attributed to
their different life-stories, past as well as present. One must not forget that
Dutschke was a very sick man at the time, suffering from the aftermath of
an attempt on his life and he actually died a short time later. Cohn-Bendit,
on the other hand, calls himself an activist and fighter even today.
5.3 Syntactic level
The syntactic analysis is particularly difficult since his sentences are
often incomplete and ungrammatical. Contrary to Dutschke, a very compli-
1968: THE POWER OF POLmCAL JARGON 157
cated formation of sentences can be observed, often without a proper end-
ing, which is certainly due to the emotional involvement of the speaker. For
instance, there are, in lines 9-11, three different introductory phrases for a
sentence which only ends in line 12. The narration in line 39 begins right in
the middle of a sentence which remains incomplete. Stressed words, pauses
and repetitions attest to Cohn-Bendit's extreme emotional involvement.
Also typical of the jargon are the nominalisations found here. In the
phrase "projected hopes of the cultural revolution" he avoids, by the use of
a noun, naming a further subject, i.e. the person who is to realise the cul-
tural revolution. The mere mention of the catchword "cultural revolution"
certainly serves as a disguise.
Cohn-Bendit very frequently changes the level of style. This is how
forms like "distorted face of the organised bureaucracy of the state" (51-52)
and very colloquial expressions like "silly" next to such foreign words as
"articulate" occur.
5.2 Lexical level
Cohn-Bendit uses a lot of jargon on the lexical level. At the end of the
previously discussed Dutschke-text he does not hesitate to use "fascistoid",
and in Text 2 we also find a number of examples of lexical jargon:
- we have articulated a need by our opposition (14)
a consequence of a radical criticism of our consciousness at that
time (24/25)
- the distorted face of the organised bureaucracy of the state (51/52)
- projected hopes of the cultural revolution (60)
- ego-identity (62)
These examples show that psychological terms predominate in Cohn-
Bendit's speech (projected, ego-identity, articulate), and they point to his
knowledge of psychoanalytic literature.
Typical of the use of jargon is the fact that through its choice of words
and manner of putting things into words, more questions are actually posed
than answered. This is the case here, too. "Need" is such a vast concept
that the listener will wonder what is really meant here, and "projected" in
connection with "cultural revolution" also means little; it does, however,
effectively add prestige.
In conclusion it should be mentioned that Cohn-Bendit's language con-
158 RUTHWODAK
tains substantially more metaphors than Dutschke's (line 44: "crumbled in
our hands").
Cohn-Bendit is well able to present himself as a committed and active
fighter: mature, but also emotional. He sees through and understands his-
tory and the Movement is not finished yet, 1968 is, for him, still alive. His
commitment coupled with his being exceptionally extroverted result in a
very personal argumentation and self-portrayal, in spite of the use of jar-
gon. This can therefore not at all be considered a "detached, analytical"
report but rather an attempt to tell himself and the others a tale and to
explain it as well. And his fervour allows for the conclusion that he does
hope - possibly unconsciously - that by verbalisation he is going to make
this world his world, a real world. He represents the group, more precisely
than Dutschke. Jargon, thus, has another prior function here.
6. Summary
Although both self-portrayals thus show great differences in their func-
tion as well as in their form, we can, nevertheless, notice many things in
common; these occur on the argumentative (rhetorical strategies are con-
sciously applied) as well as on the lexical level (slogans). The images of
the "upright fighter" and of the "victim" appear in both self-portrayals. It is
easily explained why the emotional engagement is so different, when both
their biographies are considered. Both these charismatic figures thus do
succeed in presenting themselves in their uniqueness, although their politi-
cal group affiliation and group roles are certainly abvious and predominant.
The ideology of 1968 is strongly reflected in both presentations of self.
This is mainly in the form and context of the chosen strategies: strategies of
abstraction, of generalising, of factualisation, but also the enlistment of the
historical dimension and the dialectical method of argumentation. All this
and, of course, the pertinent lexicon characterise both these men as mem-
bers of the 1968 Movement. The influences of psychoanalysis, sociology,
and marxism are clearly evident. It is just as clear that theory matters, that
intellect as such is highly valued. The skill and enthusiasm of the discussion,
as well as the masterful handling of opponents are impressive. This is cer-
tainly somewhat different in the environmentalist-movement of today. As
mentioned before, intellectual discussion is less appreciated in this case;
what is considerably more important are unearthed symbols and myths,
emotional commitment at the expense of, let us say, dialectical argument or
1968: THE POWER OF POLITICAL JARGON 159
well thought through theoretical programmes.
In the explicit linguistic analysis of both these self-portrayals of
Dutschke and Cohn-Bendit one thing certainly became particularly evi-
dent: the function of political jargon when constructing a secondary reality.
We have thus experienced the "truth" about 1968 by looking at these events
through the eyes of both these student leaders.
NOTES
1. Bopp (1984) reports on the controversy between cognitive and emotional concepts. It is
this controversy which explains the attitude of many movements of today: they represent
a counteraction by considering feeling to be important and negating the rational. The
retrospective view of today, however, confirms that rock music and long hair, mass
demonstrations and collective disobedience, liberated sex and new life styles had a much
stronger and more provoking effect in 1968 than did the theoretical debate of the time
(Bopp 1984: 123). This indicates that such symbols have a very special meaning in the
ideology of a group. At the same time it is obvious that much of the jargon created at that
time has simply become a part of the ordinary daily language of today's intellectuals.
I should like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to those colleagues
who took part in a seminar on "Language and Politics" in the winter-term 1985/86. Many
an impulse to this paper originated there (see Wodak et al. 1985; Wodak 1986).
2. Concerning the concept of "social movement" see Rammstedt (1978). His comparison
can only be briefly mentioned here (see Wodak et al. 1985; Wodak 1986).
The appetite for theory at the end of the sixties was followed by the hunger for experience
of the seventies (Ruschky)-or was it rather a "hunger for (self-) confirmation"? At the
present time, a thirst for emotions seems to have arisen (Weigelt 1984: 117).
3. Weigelt (1984: 113) on this problem:
The erstwhile cognitively coloured concept of politics has shifted into a rather
more ego-centric direction. No longer is the theory of developing the revolutio-
nary blueprint of a new society at the centre of interest; now it is the individual
who is involved, who queries the immediatly satisfying effect of all the things he
does: be that a citizen's initiative or a seminar of sociologists, an alternative
project or just ordinary everyday life. Nothing functions any longer, as long as
it lacks individual motivation.
4. Lutz/Wodak (1987) were able to establish just such standardised prejudices, cliches,
stereotypes and slogans even in the daily news on the radio.
5. This is precisely the place where the borderline between technical terminology and jargon
becomes evident. Technical language is certainly important, but it is not only used by
experts and scientists, but also by politicians and by ideologists.
6. As to the differentiation of special language from others - such as slang or secret lan-
guages - see Polenz (1981), Leisi (1973), Bachem (1978).
7. We refrain here - due to lack of space - from discussing Marcuse's idea of "concept"
(Begri/f) as opposed to "cliches" and "jargon" (see Marcuse 1980: 104-106).
160 RUTHWODAK
8. The system of transliteration: . .
The transliteration of the video-recorded talks followed a system (mtended to be) easily
readable by laymen, but which should also satisfy some scientific requirements r~gard~ng
the transcription of spoken text. We therefore chose a quasi-orthographic transliteration
with the following particularities: . . . Danninger, Michael. 1983. "Imagebildung und -steuerung beim Club-2". In
- Brackets between two lines mean that two persons are talkmg simultaneously. This
may sometimes appear a little bewildering but it is imperative for an exact linguistic
analysis.
One to three hyphens specify shorter or longer pauses in the flow of speech.
- Underlined words mean that they are especially stressed.
Text within parentheses means that the passage could not be clearly underst~od ~ut
probably consisted of these words; dots within parentheses, though, replace unmtelhg-
ible words.
- Nonverbal acts were mentioned explicitly only when meaningful for the interpreta-
tion. Setting, clothing, gestures typical of the "Club-2" atmosphere are described in
Chapter 4 (see also Wodak et al. 1985; Wodak 1986).
9. See Wodak (1984), where typical "male" and "female" strategies are described.
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Gruber, Helmut, Erich Hujecek and Lisa Schicho. 1983. "Konfliktaus-
tragung und Konfliktstrategien in einer Fernsehdiskussion". In Wodak
(ed.). 1983: 123-146.
Gruber, Helmut and Ruth Wodak. (eds) . 1987. "Jetzt erst recht?! Sozio-
und textlinguistische Untersuchungen zur Medienberichterstattung im
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Jager, Siegfried. 1970. "Linke Worter. Eine Bemerkungen zur Sprache der
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162 RUTHWODAK 1968: THE POWER OF POLffiCAL JARGON 163

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 Phonological variation in parliamentary discussions
II

Sylvia Moosmiiller
University of Vienna

1. lntroductionl

Investigations of political language or the li;mguage of politicians pre-

dominantly concentrate on the lexical level, the semantic level and/or the
textlinguistic level (e.g. Dieckmann 1969; Betz 1977; Bergsdorf 1983; Ker-
brat-Orecchioni and Mouillaud 1984; Strau.B 1986). The oral speech
behaviour of politicans and its textual function, on the other hand, has not
yet been subjected to thorough investigation. Nevertheless the need for
such an investigation seems obvious, as sociolinguistic studies emphasize
the relationship between language behaviour and social assessment and
acceptance. Thus the use of standard language variants is most often
associated with intelligence, competence and status-related traits, whereas
dialect language variants are generally associated with sociability, social
attractiveness and trustworthiness (Dittmar et al. 1986; Schlobinski 1987;
Giles and Powesland 1975). On the whole, the same holds true for Vienna.
Results like these could have far-reaching consequences for the lan-
guage behaviour of politicians, as not only competence, but also personality
traits, e.g. trustworthiness and social attractiveness, take on increasing
importance in elections. This implies that a "flexible" language use, ranging
from standard to dialect, should be part of the politician's repertoire, if she/
he wants to address as many groups of electors as possible.
166 SYLVIA MOOSMULLER
2. Analysis of sociophonological variation
In addition to the traditional sociolinguistic categories of social class,
age and sex, the speech situation has been emphasized from the very begin-
ning of sociophonological investigation in Vienna (Dressler et al. 1972),
resulting in the analysis of variation on the text level (Wodak 1981; 1984).
If we take interaction in a certain situation to be a dynamic process with
constant and mutually related self- and foreign assessment, then this means
that any utterance at the same time has concrete social implications; i.e.
variable language behaviour is connected with concrete consequences for
the social position of the speaker. Thus, sociophonological analysis has to
concentrate on social perception, as any utterance - be it intended or not
- is subject to social evaluation.
In order to understand the status of phonological variation, Natural
Phonology (cf. e.g. Donegan and Stampe 1979; Dressler 1984, 1985) has
proved useful in analyzing language variation. Three main arguments sup-
port this view:
a. Contrary to traditional phonological theories, Natural Phonology
takes the speech situation into account; e.g. an informal speech
situation favours natural phonological backgrounding processes.
b. As it is the goal of phonology to serve communication, the per-
ception level has precedence over the production level (Dressler
1984). The same holds true for sociolinguistic analysis, as any
utterance is subject to social evaluation.
c. In Baudouin de Courtenay (1894), phonemes are defined as
intentions (cf. also Dressler 1984). In a speech situation, acer-
tain language variety is intended; the intended phoneme contains
an additional social intention (the concrete phonetic output can
of course diverge from the intention, phonologically, socially or
both).
The analysis of language variation in Austria and especially in Vienna2
is further complicated by the fact that the situation is one of a dichotomy
between dialect and standard {Dressler and Wodak 1983). This dichotomy is
mainly due to historical reasons, as the different Austrian dialects (belong-
ing - with the exception of the extreme west - to the Bavarian-Austrian
dialect group) developed independently of the standard language. This
resulted in the existence of two poles - the dialect and the standard - and
led to the introduction of the "two-competence-model" and the notion of
dialect input-switches (Leodolter 1975; Dressler and Wodak 1982). These
PHONOLOGICAL VARIATION IN PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSIONS 167
dialect input-switches co-exist independently and cannot be represented as
phonological processes. Sociolinguistically this means that dialect input-
switches are easily controllable on both the production and the perception
levels.
Thus, for the analysis of the interaction beween the dialect and the
standard two phonological systems are assumed, a dialect and a standard
one. These both have their own phonological processes, which are, as a
matter of fact, in most cases identical, as we of course do not have a situa-
tion of diglossia.
But considering the differences between the two phonological systems
in the first instance, we can distinguish between differences affecting
a. the prelexical processes, which constitute the phonemic inven-
tory and which result in input-switch-rules or in dialect adjust-
ment processes (processes depending on the phoneme inventory
of the other system) and
b. the postlexical processes, which fit the phonemes to the needs of
the speech tract (Dressler 1984: 33) and which result in the exis-
tence of different phonological processes (borrowing processes).
This phonological analysis helps to understand the status of the differ-
ent variables, why certain variables are stigmatized and others are not and
which function they have in interaction. These four categories - input-
switch-rules, dialect borrowing processes, dialect adjustment processes and
processes which are common to the dialect and the standard (Moosmiiller
1987) - form a hierarchy both in production and perception - dialect
input-switches being most stigmatized socially. Because of their special
status, dialect input-switches play an important role in social perception:
most often they are further marked by great phonetic distance, which is eas-
ily distinguishable and thus subject to social evaluation.
Furthermore if we consider that in Vienna the term "dialect" as a pre-
dominantly regional variety has been given up in favour of a primarily
sociological definition, being associated with the speech behaviour of the
lower social classes and therefore being more of a "sociolect" than a
"dialect" (Moosmiiller 1987), it becomes obvious that the dialect or dialect
forms are tabooed and largely avoided by speakers of the upper social clas-
ses. This connection between the low social prestige and the negative evalu-
ation of the dialect is responsible for the fact that the Viennese dialect is the
most disliked of all Austrian dialects and is even negatively evaluated by
Viennese dialect speakers themselves!
168 SYLVIA MOOSMULLER
3. Political speech in parliament
The connection between language evaluation and language use
becomes most obvious in the speech behaviour of politicians, who, for pro-
fessional reasons, not only want to be as positively evaluated as possible,
but for whom positive evaluation is a necessity. In spite of this, the speech
behaviour of many politicians is subject to vehement negative critique:3
. . . and especially the working class colouring in the speech behaviour of
many of the politicians from the eastern part of Austria produces an
uneducated rather than educated impression. (Male Viennese middle class
speaker)
And the connection between the politician's social background and
language evaluation is obvious. Politicians take this into account and try
more or less consciously to accommodate (Beebe and Giles 1984) their
speech behaviour to the group of people they want to address, as the fol-
lowing statement of a politician shows:
I think that for occupational reasons a relatively wide range develops,
because the politician learns to express himself adequately to whatever
group he wants to address. Certainly not perfectly; you probably won't
find a politician who is able to master every dialect variety, from Schon-
brunnerdeutSch for the aristocracy to the broadest dialect of Ottakring, a
certain language colouring is preserved from the social background, but I
can observe in my own speech behaviour that I choose a different language
according to whether it is a discussion on the streets or a discussion with
citizen's movements or a discussion with council house tenants. Not in the
sense that the language is separate from that normally used, but there are
other forms of expressions, other accentuations and, of course, another
dialect colouring. (cf. Appendix 2)
(Politician 1, middle class background)
This accomodation is practical as long as a small homogeneous group is
being addressed4, e.g. if the politician tries to make contact with common
people; contact is direct and the speech situation has the same dynamics as
between social unequals. But the great majority of the population have to
make up their minds according to what is conveyed by the electronic media;
extracts from parliamentary sessions, press conferences, talks etc.
Parliamentary sessions have a double function: on the one hand, cer-
tain topics should be discussed among the parliamentary parties; on the
other hand, the statements should also be rendered accessible to the public
(by means of the mass media, as the public audience in Parliament is nor-
PHONOLOGICAL VARIATION IN PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSIONS 169
mally very small). Although every politician has to take into account that
his talk or extracts of it may be broadcast by the electronic media, this con-
tact with the public is only indirect and politicians are perceived to be
among themselves. With regard to the public the speech situation is asym-
metrical (Eroms 1974), further inquiries are not possible and interruptory
exclamations are only made by politicians of the opposite parties, and often
are not very polite - but at least interesting from a linguistic point of view.
For instance, Politchamiileon ("political chameleon") would be a typical
exclamation, insulting the politician for being an opportunist.
A parliament talk most often starts with an ironical reference to the
previous speaker of the opposing party with the aim of making him and his
statement ridiculous and therefore politically irrelevant. Successful abuse of
the political opponent is honoured with applause. Some examples:
Mr. Speaker! Ladies and gentlemen! Firstly I would like to thank the
honourable member X- he has described the economic growth in Austria
as belonging to our party- and, in fact, he's right- we are the ones who
fought for it to be possible - and I thank him for this recognition. (cf.
Appendix 3)
(Politician 2, working class background)
Honourable members! The two honourable ministers have certainly
answered at great length, especially the honourable minister for social
security; the only problem is, they've said nothing. And if you even have
to bring the defunct Bundeskanzler DollfuB into the debate - didn't Met-
ternich say something about pension reform? - that means that you've
only got poor arguments. (cf. Appendix 4)
(Politician 3, middle class background)
Mr. Speaker! Honourable members! I'm very happy to agree to Mr.X's
demand that I should be nice to the honourable member Mr. Y, as he
announced and promised, a promise which he indeed kept, for he did con-
tribute a calm speech to the debate. He was even sensitive enough to ask
the minister for permission to use critical words. (cf. Appendix 5)
(Politician 4, working class background)
Introductions such as these have the function of raising the value of
one's own statement; obviously the politicians can pursue their interests
only at the cost of the opponents. The manner of discussion is not coopera-
tive, but competitive (Dittmar et al. 1986). Having successfully "liquidated"
the previous speaker, the politician starts with his own statement, which
may be interrupted by exclamations, which the speaker either responds to
or ignores.
170 SYLVIA MOOSMULLER
Thus, in a parliamentary talk, two levels of interaction can be distin-
guished:
a. a subject-related level, which refers to one's own statement and
is more or less thoroughly prepared, and
b. a private level, in which the politician reacts to the spontaneous
attacks of his opponents. As these reactions are completely spon-
taneous and cannot be prepared - in contrast to the introduc-
tory references - they are often also emotionally loaded.
In a discussion that is competitive rather than cooperative, spontane-
ous attacks have the function of disturbing the equilibrium of the speaker,
of making him insecure and of diminishing the value of his speech.
The situation in parliament is a very formal one and politicians of all
parliamentary groups make allowance for this b~ largely ~voiding.~i~lect ~n
their speeches. Comparing the language behaviour of eight politician~ m
interviewss and in parliament (table 1), the difference between the two situ-
ations is obvious, although social background6 differences exist as well.
Nevertheless, these social background differences refer predominantly to
the interview, where politicians with a working class social backgroun~ use
all dialect input-switches, dialect borrowing processes and the dialect
adjustment process to a significantly greater extent than politici~ns with a
middle class or lower middle class background. But there are no differences
in the application of the natural phonological processes, which are common
to the dialect and the standard. Natural backgrounding processes which
impair perception and favour ease of articulation are typical of the relative
informality of the interview situation and thus are applied by members of
all social classes. In parliamentary speech, on the other hand, dialect input-
switches and dialect borrowing processes are not applied; and some of them
are even used less by politicians with working class social background
("hypercorrection"). But, compared with the interview, some o~~h~ natural
phonological backgrounding processes are suppressed by all pobtlcians, due
to the formality of the situation.
Although the use of dialect forms is minimal in parliament anyway, the
distribution of these few forms is not random. Analyzing phonological vari-
ation on the text level, dialect occurs only on the private level, i.e. after
interruptory exclamations.
Politician 2 after an exclamation:7
!SQ:ntsl ?lc'le:s jEtsDO ?12n1 ?A:g2n3n '?A:nDrO:GD3n!
Schaun Sie, ich les' jetzt da lhren eigenen Antrag, den
PHONOLOGICAL VARIATION IN PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSIONS 171
!'kE:n2nts '?A: nED ~aEmb02 sI UnD2'SrAm 1 'BIANGo!
kennen Sie auch nicht, scheinbar. Sie unterschreiben blanko,
!v0s12r3 seGRe'DE2r3'AOs02bA:Dn 1 UnD'visn 1Et AmOe!
was lhre Sekretiire ausarbeiten und wissen nicht einmal,
!vOs 'DrlnSDED ?OesosI:'visn 1 ?AOx nED vOsI 's0b2!
was drinsteht, also Sie wissen auch nicht, was Sie selber
!Unt2'Sri:bm 1 hAm 1!
unterschrieben haben. (cf. Appendix 6)
When we compare this brief and emotionally very loaded passage with
this person's speech, an extremely qigh oq::urrence of stigmatized dialect
forms can be observed (input-switches and borrowing processes). Besides
the input-switch /A/ < - - > /0/, he realizes forms such as !kE:n2nts
'?A:nED! ("you don't even know") instead of !kEn3ns '?AOxnlcD!, the
latter being a probable form of colloquial Viennese standard which would
be adequate in a situation such as this. Thus for social perception the fol-
lowing very salient input-switches occur: (a) /AOx/ < - - >/A:/, which is not
to be confused with Viennese monophthongization, which would result in
!Qx! and could be a possible form in colloquial Viennese standard in
unstressed position8 and (b) Inlet/ < - - > /neD/ ("not"). These forms are
marked by phonetic distance and thus easily perceptible and socially assess-
able. The same is true of !nEt AmOe! ("even not") and !nED vOsI 's0b2!
(" ... not what you on your own") with the possible realization forms !nlct
AmAl! and !nlct vAsI 'sElb2! in colloquial Viennese standard. After this
interruption he continues his talk in Viennese standard:
!Un'DO SDe:Drl:n3n dAs Also dAs SOn
B3'SBrOxN1 vU2d3!
Und da steht drinnen daft also das schon besprochen wurde
!SOn ?AnlEsllc dE2dlskU'sjO:n d3s'BUnd3stsUSUs3s!
schon anliif3lich der Diskussion des Bundeszuschusses
!fY2DI t'2'SDA:DllcD3!
fur die Verstaatlichte. (cf. Appendix 7)
With only one single dialect input-switch (italicized) as transition. All
other possible dialect forms are not realized and even natural phonological
processes are suppressed, e.g. regressive nasal assimilation and absopition
of consonants in !dAs SOn B3SBrOxN 1! ("it's already been discussed")
 SYLVIA MOOSMULLER
172
(the italicizing indicates the suppression of the process in these cases).
Of course, these textually caused switches from standard to dialect can-
not be considered independently of the politicians' social background and
must be seen in connection with the necessity to react spontaneously to the
diversion from the prepared text. But, interestingly enough, this pattern
does not hold if the politician reacts to the interruption of a woman, irres-
pective of the sex of the speaker:
Politician 5, female, lower middle class background, reacting to the inter-
ruption of a woman:
!frQ ko'le:gln d3s Is 'kAn3'falS3'tsA:l DI!
Frau Ko/legin, das ist keine falsche Zahl - die
!AODo's0nd2StOE2 ?lnd2 'h0:3 fOn 'tse:mBro'tsEnt
dlhQm!
Autosondersteuer in der Rohe von zehn Prozent, die haben
!'sl 'A.Ng3fY2t!
Sie eingefahrt. (cf. Appendix 8)
There are only a few dialect input-switches here and those which are
realized occur only in unstressed position, thus being less salient for social
perception. But o~ the whole, she uses colloquial Viennese standard. Not
so in the reaction to the exclamation of a man:
Politician 5:
!D3s hob! 'nED 'ksOGDas 3s An3 EnDA:gnUN Is!
Das habe ich nicht gesagt, dajJ es eine Enteignung ist.
(cf. Appendix 9)
Here the same politician uses dialect input-switches not only in unstres-
sed, but also in stressed position: /dAs/ < - - > /Des/ ("this"), I Al < - - > /0/,
/le/ < - - > /i:/ ("I"), Inlet/ < - - > /neD/ ("not") and she applies the dialect
borrowing process, which reduces the prefix ge- in gesagt ("said"), resulting
in !ksOGD!. This pattern can also be observed in the talk of another politi-
cian:
Politician 6, male, middle class background, in reaction to the exclamation
of a woman:
!'gne:dlg3 'fRQ ?le ?0Es2R3 mlc ?Qxnlct YB2 D3n
'AnSDAnD!
Gniidige Frau! !ch iiujJere mich auch nicht uber den Anstand
PHONOLOGICAL VARIATION IN PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSIONS 173
!YB2 Den 'sl: t2'fy:gN le 'GIQB DOs 'sOEDn 1 vl2!
uber den Sie verfiigen, ich gla~be das sollten wir
(applause)
!?Q:s2 'AxD 1Asn1 mAn3 'DA:m3!
aujJer Acht [assen, meine Dame. (cf. Appendix 10)
Besides the ambigous sexist implication of this reply, this politician
applies only one dialect borrowing process (italicized), whereas elsewhere
he uses the standard. The input-switch /Al< - - > /0/ in !DOS! is not itali-
cized, because this is a hypercorrectly applied dial~ct form and not part of
the dialect which would have !D3s!. Due to this hypercorrect application,
this form is typically middle-class and thus not stigmatized. This is a good
example of the "arbitrariness" of social evaluation: a hypercorrectly applied
dialectal input-switch is not tabooed, because in this case it is only used by
middle class speakers. This shows further that a form is evaluated according
to the social status of its user!
Again, the same politician reacts differently to the exclamation of a
man:
Politician 6:
!sElp 'sI: sOEDn1 D3s 'DU2n hE2ko'le:g3!
Selbst Sie sollten das tun, Herr Kollege! (cf. Appendix 11)
Notice that here he uses the dialect form !D3s! for "this", whereas
above he applied the colloquial standard form. The input-switch /u:/ < - - >
/U2/ is also very salient and extremely seldom used by speakers of the mid-
dle class.
The above examples show that in reaction-to men, politicians of both
sexes very often use dialect forms, in reaction to women they do not.9
Although politicians have to react spontaneously and although these reac-
tions are emotionally loaded, sex-specific differences do exist. It is well-
known from sociolinguistic investigations that increased emotionality pro-
vokes a less controlled speech behaviour. But a less controlled speech
behaviour need not coincide with an increased use of dialect forms. This
would only be true of persons who were socialised in the dialect; otherwise, a
less controlled speech behaviour results primarily in an increased application
of natural phonological processes. Besides, politicians are rhetorically trained
and therefore they should be able to react spontaneously and quickly to, for
example, unexpected questions of journalists and to control their emotions.
174 SYLVIA MOOSMULLER PHONOLOGICAL VARIATION IN PARLIAMENTA_RY DISCUSSIONS 175

Thus they cannot be directly compared with persons who are not used to parties, but also the Socialist Party, which at least pretends to address
speaking in public. working class people, and thus dialect speakers, avoid using the dialect,
It can be concluded from these sex-specific differences in reactions that knowing that this would not be appreciated by their voters.
the tendency to use dialect is not only due to emotionality or controllability
b. As to the private level which is not really meant for the public -
of the situation, for in this case sex-specific reaction patterns should not
but can of course be transmitted by electronic media too - politicians seem
occur. In an emotionally loaded situation a person can lose control irrespec-
to diff~rentiate, not only according to their social background, but also
tive of the sex of the partner. Besides, this would be rather marked by an
accordmg to whom they react to. Here dialect has a clear function: the
increased application of natural phonological processes, but not necessarily
rhetorically trained politician and/or the politician with a middle class
by the application of dialect forms. The reaction which politician 5 shows
background does not "slip back" into the dialect unconsciously, but she/he
towards the man, for example, is as emotionally loaded as her reaction to
uses the dialect to emphasize the difference in political seriousness."
the woman - insofar as emotionality can be measured at all. Nevertheless,
she uses more dialect with the male partner. As politicians can control ~ This is affirmed by the fact that politicians behave differently in
dialect in reaction to women, the use of dialect in these situations has a re~ction to women. We have to consider here that politicians, being predo-
clear textual function, to the extent that dialect is used to devalue the oppo- mmantly male, verbally advocate equal rights and status for women, but in
nent's statement. The use of dialect, being associated with low social status reality still cling to old traditional norms. And, among other things, accord-
and low intelligence, in such a formal situation as the parliamentary one, ing to traditional social norms women must be treated politely; as dialect is
suggests the inference that the opponent's objections are in reality irrelev- associated with aggressiveness and brutality, it does not seem very polite to
ant, not even worth being considered and being answered in. a deliberate use_dialect in attacking a woman. She is attacked anyway, and in a very
and controlled speech behaviour. Again, as in the introductory section, the sexist manner too, as the example of politician 6 shows, but the surface
opponent is intended to be "liquidated", with the difference that the liqui- politeness is preserved.
dation is shifted from the subject-related level, which needs preparation, to d. On the whole, politicians do not seem to take the public into
the sociophonological level. account when calculating the effects of their speech behaviour. This is cer-
tainly due to the asymmetry of the speech situation, as the politician is not
4. Conclusion directly aware of his possible public audience; the audience of political
oppon~nts and of political friends is certainly in the foreground and largely
a. Speech behaviour in parliament is predominantly influenced by determmes the mode of discussion. Besides, reactions of the public have
the situation. Due to the formality of the situation, politicians use the stan- not yet been investigated.
dard variety almost throughout their speeches. This is facilitated by the fact
that the texts are prepared. Thus, in parliamentary sessions, social
background differences do not appear, at least on the segmental level. As
already stated, the Viennese dialect is very negatively evaluated, provokes
associations such as e.g. aggressiveness, low social status and intelligence,
but also sociability (not honesty, though!). Therefore this evaluation not
only holds for Viennese dialect speakers, but for the speakers of the other
regional dialects in Austria too, and from extracts of some speeches broad-
cast on TV or radio, it becomes obvious that politicians of all parties avoid
dialect in parliamentary sessions. Thus not only the traditional conservative
176 SYLVIA MOOSMULLER PHONOLOGICAL VARIATION IN PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSIONS 177

Table J. Investigated variables in the interview (1) and in parliament (2) (in percentages 11. reduction of the prefix "ge-" : e.g. gesagt !ksokt! ("said")

Dialect adjustment process

WC LMC MC 12. Ienition of front plosives: !Bro'Ble:m! ("problem")

!DAS3!("bag")
1 2 1 2 1 2
Processes common to both the dialect and the standard
1. 87.74 18.03 67.25 47.59 75.58 40.09 13. regressive nasal assimilation: e.g. !AMfAN3n! ("to begin" )
2. 69.67 1.21 10.78 4.54 16.92 12.77 14. progressive nasal assimilation: e.g. !hABm 1! ("to have")
3. 66.00 0.00 8.28 8.37 21 .51 2.22 15. deletion of the consonant after progressive nasal assimilation: e .g. !hA :m 1!
4. 33.15 0.00 14.10 8.89 10.46 7.69 ("to have")
5. 74.99 0.00 20.00 5.55 31.25 5.00 16. spirantization of the bilabial Ienis plosiv b - - >jJ: e.g. !AB2! ("but")
6. 31.11 0.00 7.14 0.00 0.00 0.00 17. lenition of the velar plosive: e.g. !GvE13! ("source")
7. 8.68 9.65 0.00 0.00 6.19 0.00
8. 69.23 18.56 52.08 29.97 70.61 43.27
9. 78.52 13.63 44.16 19.08 50.26 31.47
10. 36.26 0.87 1.56 3.99 14.50 5.09 NOTES
11. 20.38 0.00 1.56 2.94 1.45 0.00
12. 92.78 74.54 31.33 79.38 62.04 88.44 1. This is a project on "Standard Austrian German" (P5126), financed by the "Fonds zur
13. 86.77 95.31 95.45 93.36 90.79 88.68 Forderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung" and headed by Univ.-Prof.Dr. W.U. Dress-
14. 86.71 98.87 93.58 97.38 89.79 94.25 ler and Univ.-Prof.Dr. P. Wiesinger. The tapes of the parliamentary discussions were
15. 45.10 13.56 41.21 26.20 49.53 30.20 provided by the "6sterreichische Phonothek"; in particular I should like to thank Mr.
16. 63.23 31.98 50.35 20.83 69.53 60.50 O .E. Brillmann for his kind assistance.
17. 87.45 77.50 47.22 30.00 64.30 70.95 2. For the moment the investigation is restricted to the area of Vienna.
3. It has to be considered, though, that these statements come mainly from informants
belonging to the upper social classes.
WC: Politicians with working class background
4. Although the dialect competence of standard speakers is poorer than the standard com-
LMC: Politicians with lower middle class background
petence of dialect speakers.
MC: Politicians with middle class background
5. In addition to the analysis of the speech behaviour of politicians in Parliament, informal
INVESTIGATED PROCESSES: interviews were carried out with the politicians.
6. As it is not possible to distinguish politicians according to social classes, their social
Dialect input switches background was used as the decisive criterion.
1. /A/ , - - > /0/ e .g. /vAsEr/ <- - > /vOsEr/ ("water")
2. /le, die, mlc, sic/ <- - > /i:, Di:, mi:, si:/ ("I, yourself, myself, himself') 7. For technical reasons the following phonetic symbols had to be redefined:
3. Inlet/ <- - > /neD/ ("not") [= ! ? ? Q, lfl, IJ nl' m1, N1
4. /aEn/ <- - > /a:/ ("a") ]= !< c I], <J, ~ B, D, G
5. /vlr, mlr/ <-- >/ma/ ("we, me") re= A lJ N re 6
6. /slnd/ <- - > /san/ ("are")
o= Q DJ M 111 o
7. /y, o/, - - >/i, e/ e.g. /So:n/ <- - > /Se:n/ ("beautiful")
a= A a 2 J S
a 3
8. /1st/ <- - > /is/ ("is" )
All open vowels are symbolised by the respective capital letters.
Dialect borrowing processes The dialect forms are italicized. Some passages and the names had to be omitted in order
to guarantee anonymity.
9. vocalization of l: e .g. /sOlcE/ - - > !s0ec3! (" such")
10. vocalization of l : e.g. /fi:I/ - - > !fy:!("much")
178 SYLVIA MOOSMULLER
8. Stress, timing and intonation contours are not considered here, cf. Moosmiiller (1988).
9. Of course I do not argue for a larger expansion of all negative, male associated attributes.
The fact that discussion style in parliament and among political parties is not at all
cooperative requires that this issue should be considered anew.
REFERENCES
Baudouin de Courtenay, J. 1894. Versuch einer Theorie phonetischer Alter-
nationen. Ein Capitel aus der Psychophonetik. Strasbourg: Triibner.
Beebe, L.M. and H. Giles. 1984. "Speech accomodation theories: a discus-
sion in terms of second language acquisition". International Journal of
the Sociology of Language 46: 5-33.
Bergsdorf, W. 1983. Herrschaft und Sprache. Studie zur politischen Ter-
minologie der Bundesrepublik Deutsch/and. Pfullingen: Neske.
Betz, W. 1977. Verii.ndert Sprache die Welt? Semantik, Politik und Manipu-
lation. Zurich: Edition Interform.
Dieckmann, W. 1969. Sprache in der Politik. Einfahrung in die Pragmatik
und Semantik der politischen Sprache. Heidelberg: Winter ..
Dittmar, N., P. Schlobinski and I. Wachs. 1986. Berlinisch. Studien zum
Lexikon, zur Spracheinstellung und zum Stilrepertoire. Berlin: Amo
Spitz.
Donegan, P.J. and D. Stampe. 1979. "The study of natural phonology". In
Current Approaches to Phonological Theory, D. Dinnsen (ed.), 126-174.
Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press.
Dressler, W.U. 1984. "Explaining natural phonology". Phonology Year-
book 1: 29-50.
Dressler, W.U. 1985. Morphonology. The Dynamics of Derivation. Ann
Arbor: Karoma.
Dressler, W.U. et al. 1972. "Phonologische Schnellsprechregeln in der
Wiener Umgangssprache". Wiener Linguistische Gazette 1: 1-29.
Dressler, W.U. and R. Wodak. 1982. "Sociophonological methods in the
study of sociolinguistic variation in Viennese German". Language in
Society 11: 339-370.
Dressler, W.U. and R. Wodak. 1983. "Soziolinguistische Uberlegungen
zum 'Gsterreichischen Worterbuch"'. In Parallela, M. Dardano et al.
(ed.), 247-263. Tiibingen: Narr.
Eroms, H.W. 1974. "Zur Analyse politischer Sprache". Linguistik und
Didaktik 17: 1-16.
PHONOLOGICAL VARIATION IN PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSIONS 179
Giles, H. and P. Powesland. 1975. Speech Style and Social Evaluation. Lon-
don: Academic Press.
Kerbrat-Orecchioni, C. and M. Mouillaud. 1984. Le discours politique.
Lyon: Presses Universitaires.
Leodolter, R. 1975. Das Sprachverhalten von Angeklagten bei Gericht.
Kronberg: Skriptor.
Moosmiiller, S. 1987. Soziophonologische Variation im gegenwiirtigen
Wiener Deutsch. Stuttgart: Steiner.
Moosmiiller, S. 1988. "Sociophonology". In Variation and Convergence, P.
Auer and A. di Luzio (eds), 76-93. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Schlobinski, P. 1987. Stadtsprache in Berlin. Eine soziolinguistische Unter-
suchung. Berlin: de Gruyter.
StrauB, G. 1986. Der politische Wortschatz (= Forschungsbericht des
Instituts fur deutsche Sprache, 60). Tiibingen: Narr.
Wodak, R. 1981. Das Wort in der Gruppe. Linguistische Studien zur
therapeutischen Kommunikation. Wien: Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Wodak, R. 1984. Hilflose Nii.he? Mutter und TOchter erzii.hlen. Eine psycho-
und soziolinguistische Untersuchung. Wien: Deuticke.
APPENDICES
Appendix 1
. . . und gerade ein GroBteil der aus Ostosterreich stammenden Politiker wirkt durch
diese unterschichtige Fiirbung eher primitiv als gebildet.
Appendix 2
Ich glaube, daB beruflich bedingt eine relativ breite Palette zusamme~kommt un~ zwar
weil der Politiker lernt, sich adiiquat der Gruppe, die er ansprechen will, auszudrucken.
Sieber nicht bis zur Perfektion, Sie werden wahrscheinlich keinen finden, der vom
Schonbrunnerdeutsch fiir Aristokratenzirkel bis hin zum breitesten Ottakringerisch
letztlich alles beherrscht; von der Herkunft, von den sozialen Umstiinden her bleibt
immer eine gewisse Sprachfiirbung erhalten, aber ~ch be~bacht~ an ~ir s~lber: ~~B ~an
natiirlich in einer Diskussion auf der StraBe, in emer D1skuss1on m1t Burgenmt1at1ven
oder in einer Diskussion mit Mietern einer Gemeindewohnung jeweils eine andere
Sprache wiihlt. Nicht in dem Sinn, daB sie separat ist von der iiblichen, aber man hat
andere Ausdrucksformen, andere Betonungen und natiirlich auch eine andere
Dialektfiirbung.
180 SYLVIA MOOSMULLER
Appendix3
Herr Priisident! Meine sehr verehrten Darnen und Herren! Zuerst machte ich dem
Herrn Abgeordneten X herzlich danken. Herr X hat niimlich den Aufschwung der
Wirtschaft, den es in Osterreich gibt, als unseren bezeichnet. Und in der Tat, er hat
recht. Wir waren es, die dafiir gekiimpft haben, daB er moglich wird und ich danke ihm
fiir diese Anerkennung. (applause)
Appendix4
Meine sehr verehrten Darnen und Herren! Die beiden Herrn Minister haben zwar tang
geantwortet, vor allem der Herr Sozialminister, nur !eider haben sie nichts gesagt. Und
wenn man also sogar den (applause) wenn man also sogar den Herrn Bundeskanzler
DollfuB bemiihen muBte - bitte hat der Herr Metternich offenbar nichts zur Pensions-
reform gesagt - dann bedeutet das, daB man also schwache Argumentation hat.
(applause)
Appendix5
Herr Priisident! Hohes Haus! lch komme gem der Aufforderung des Kollegen X
nach, daB ich lieb sein soil zum Kollegen Y. Nachdem er, wie angekiindigt und ver-
sprochen es auch gehalten hat und einen ruhigen Debattenbeitrag geliefert hat. Er war
sogar so lieb, den Minister um Erlaubnis um kritische Worte zu fragen.
Appendix6
Look here, I'm reading your own motion, you don't seem to know your own motion -
you sign whatever your secretaries work out for you and you don't even know what's in
it - so you don't even know what you've signed!
Appendix7
It says in it that it's already been discussed - at the time of the discussion about
assistance for the nationalized industries.
Appendix 8
Mrs. X, that's not a false figure - the special automobile tax at the rate of ten per cent
was introduced by your party.
Appendix9
I didn't say that - that it was an expropriation.
Appendix 10
Madam - I'm not making any comments about your morals either - I don't think, my
dear lady, we should take them into consideration.
Appendixll
Even you should do this, my dear colleague!
Social prejudice as a resource of power:
towards the functional ambivalence of stereotypes
Uta M. Quasthoff
University of Bielefeld
0. Introduction
How do nice inoffensive everyday stereotypes like Italians are good
singers relate to the verbal and visual contents of something like the
Starmer? Are they related at all, as is claimed by social psychology and lin-
guistics, which assign the concept of stereotype to both types of beliefs or
utterances respectively? Common sense, however, tells us that the two
really don't have anything to do with each other: We all share beliefs like
the one about the Italians, and we all despise antisemitic remarks like the
ones found in the Sturmer!
Clearly the problem cannot be solved in terms of the question "which
is right? Science or common sense?" A better way to put the underlying
question is to ask: "If both cases are expressions of stereotypes, how can
theoretical reasoning account for the decisive differences which are seen by
common sense and which therefore constitute a fact in themselves?"
The following article - generally speaking - deals with this question.
I will approach this problem in terms of a description of the functjQ_:Q_l!!
~~iva!ence of ste~types. In other words, an analysis of the cognitive,
innerpsychic and social functions of stereotypes will reveal that all of these
functions are Janus-like:
They fulfill necessary needs and are thus to be evaluated positively;
and they are responsible for the destruction of societies and are thus to be
evaluated negatively. They are a resource of power in that power more
often than not is responsible for the transformation of positive functions
into negative ones.
182 UTA M. QUASTHOFF
1. Problems of defmition
Before offering a definition myself, I will proceed to discuss the most
common criteria used by different authors to define the term "stereotype".
The term was introduced by Lippmann (1922), who used it in a rather
broad sense but already included the aspects that stereotypes are evaluative
or irration2_1 in nature and that they govern expectation~.. He also implied
that stereotypes are a kind of ment~ste~, "pictures in our heads". In
other words, stereotypes aren:Dtidentifiable with overt expressions (lin-
guistic in nature or not), and the collection of stereotypes held by an indi-
vidual is never a random selection.
Successive research defines stereotypes as_~eliefs (_~arding et al. 1969:
4; Allport 1954; Katz and Braly 1967), judg~el_!!s,.(Duiker and Frijda 1960:
115), mental images (Eichhorn et al. 1969: 495) or conceptual systems (Vin-
acke 1974). Among the special features used to distinguish stereotypes fi:om
other mental representations the following are the most common ones:
Stereotypes are categories which ~E.!&~!leral~~-and oy~rsim lif (Konig
1967: 336; Bogardus 1950: 286), they are contrary to the ~cts or do !1_2t
contain more than a '~):cernel of tm1~" (Hofstafter 1%7:207; Harding et al.
1969: 4; Katz and Braly 1935: 181), they are emotionally ev~ative..(Heintz
1957: 34; Duijker and Frijda 1960: 1ls; Allport 1958: 184; La Violette and
Silvert 1951: 259), and they are characterized by persistence and rigidity, in
other words, they are resistant to change in societies as well as !E indivi<l,u-
als (La Violette and Silveri 1951: 259). Some authors (Woff1969) treat the
high degree of "sharedness" in a society as an essential feature of
stereotypes; some others emphasize the connection with linguistic expres-
sions (Schaff 1980); while others constitute a linguistic variant of the con-
cept which identifies the stereotype with the verbal expression of a certain
belief about a social group or about an individual as a member of a social
group (Quasthoff 1973: 28). The most extensive definition is provided by
Schaff (1980: 86f.). A linguistically oriented definition was given by Quast-
hoff (1973: 28), whose purpose was to test the descriptive lmd explanatory
means of linguistics in application to a sociopsychological research object:
Ein Stereotyp ist der verbale Ausdruck einer auf soziale Gruppen oder
einzelne Personen als deren Mitglieder gerichteten Oberzeugung. Es hat die
I logische Form eines Urteils, das in ungerechtfertigt vereinfachender und
11 generalisierender Weise, mit emotional wertender Tendenz, einer Klasse
von Personen bestimmte Verhaltensweisen zu- oder abspricht. Linguis-
tisch ist es als Satz beschreibbar.
SOCIAL PREJUDICE AS A RESOURCE OF POWER 183
In order to make stereotypes a legitimate object of linguistic descrip-
tion, stereotypical beliefs must be expressed verbally as opposed to being
expressed visually - in the form of cartoons, for instance - or in direct,
non-verbal action. Thus the definition given above is clearly designed to
constitute a linguistic concept "stereotype". Other disciplines will not con-
fine the meaning of the term to a linguistic expression (cf. Schaff 1980:
74f.).
Identifying a stereotype with the verbal expression of a stereotypic
belief does not imply that it has to be verbalized explicitly. The semantic
analysis of stereotypes on the empirical basis of their use in different kinds
of discourse (Quasthoff 1973, 1978, 1980, 1984) has shown that it is e~n
I!_l_~ _!m_ical_f<:>L!tiem to remain implicit (see below). To the extent that
their inferability is a condition of the text coherence they can nevertheless
be said to be expressed verbally. This inferability, on the other hand, is due
to the fact that stereotypes typically are elements of common knowledge,
shared in a particular culture. In view of this aspect and in addition to the
definition given above, the high degree of sharedness (Wolf 1969) should
be included as a definitional feature (Quasthoff 1978).
The definitional quality that the grammatical unit of the linguistic
description of stereotypes is the sentence does not mean that stereotypes
empirically have to appear in the form of complete sentences. It solely
implies that the semantic unit of a stereotype is a proposition, i.e. reference
and predicati"Oil;a!fopposed to a certain form of refereri.~~s such. This lat-
ter position seems to be implied by definitions which view stereotypes as
special kinds of categories (Young 1957: 500) or associate them with a
word. Schaff, however, who emphasizes the important role of words as trig-
gers and carriers of stereotypical judgments, objects to the identification of
stereotypes with the linguistic unit of a word and explicitly accepts the
definitional feature given above (Schaff 1980: 74).
Among the related concepts "attitude" is the most important one to be
delimited from "stereotype". In comparison to the various definitions of
stereotype there is a higher degree of uniformity in the use of the term "at-
titude". Most applications of the notion follow Allport's (1967: 8) defini-
tion:
An attitude is a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through
experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual's
response to all objects and situations to which it is related.
At least the dispositional quality of an attitude as a state of readiness can be
184 UTA M. QUASTHOFF
taken as a fixed meaning component of the term, which appears also within
sociolinguistic frameworks (Fasold 1984: 147). Another constant feature is
the evaluative quality which allows the reduction of attitudes to a value on
one-dimensional scales with poles such as good-bad, friendly-unfriendly, or
favorable-unfavorable. This quality permits a clear distinction of attitudes
from stereotypes as expressions of beliefs. Allport (1954) associates
attitudes and beliefs with the two prototypical expressions "I don't like X"
vs. "X are Y". He states that psychologically the stereotypical belief serves
as a rationalization of the (unfriendly) attitude which accordingly is
psychologically
,-- more basic (cf. also Hartley and Hartley 1952).
~:Prejudice~' is defined by most authors as a normally negative attitude
towards a social group (Berelson and Steiner 1964: 495; Cox 1959: 393;
Mitcheli 1968~ 1_36):Others, however, see prejudice as composed of two
components: attitude and belief (Allport 1954). In view of the close
psychological connection between these two and in the attempt to capture
as much of the non-technical uses of the word "prejudice" as possible, the
latter position will be adopted here. As opposed to stereotype, which for
the purpose of linguistic access has been defined as the verbal expression of
a certain type of belief, prejudice is clearly a mental state, composed of -
normally negative - attitudes towards social groups and matching
stereotypical beliefs.
2. Functions of prejudice
Attempts to explain the phenomenon by analyzing the functions which
are performed by prejudice have centered around three types of explana-
tions: Stereotypes and attitudes fulfill (1) cognitive, (2) innerpsychic, and
(3) social needs. All of these functions are interdependent.
2.1 Cognitive functions
The cognitive function of stereotypical thinking acknowledges the fact
that the human_mind has to simplify tQ a certain degree in categorizing.and
forming _expectations about the wo_!!d. This aspect was already mentioned
by Lippmann (1922). It should receive additional attention in view of more
recent developments in cognitive psychology and Artificial Intelligence.
These disciplines use Bartlett's (1932) concept of "schema" and related
notions to investigate the way in which information processing makes use of
SOCIAL PREJUDICE AS A RESOURCE OF POWER 185
structural expectations guided by typicality. According to this view, the per-
ception and comprehension of all kinds of information is an active process
by which the information processing system (the human mind or an
automatic system) inserts incoming information into the structural "slots"
of schemata. In other words, domains of structured knowledge of the world
are the basis of expectations and thus govern the processing of information.
The functions of schemata have been widely demonstrated in experi-
ments of text comprehension where it could be shown that text-type-
specific structural expections are decisive for comprehension and recall of
textual information (van Dijk and Kintsch 1978; Rumelhart 1977; Bower,
Black and Turner 1979). Artificial Intelligence has provided operationaliza-
tions of schematic knowledge of different subtypes, e.g. scripts (Schank and
Abelson 1977) and frames (Minsky 1975). Frames are especially interesting
with respect to stereotypes in that they provide descriptions of knowledge
about categories including so called "defaults". Defaults are assumptions
about "normal" or "typical" properties of a certain concept which are
assumed to hold until some contrasting information is processed. Accord-
ingly, systems will associate "can fly" with birds until they find out that they
are dealing with penguins (cf. e.g. Habel 1986).
Connections to stereotypic simplifications and overgeneralizations are
obvious. Consequently, the notion of schema is now used in research on
stereotypes (Schaff 1980) where traditionally one talked about the function
of cognitive economy (Lippmann 1922) or orientation (Quasthoff 1973:
124f.).
Based on the view that attitude formation has to do with certain "cog-
nitive styles" in information processing, results of relevant research in
Social Cognition are being used to explain stereotypic thinking: Streufert
and Streufert (1978) offer the variable "cognitive complexity", i.e. a multi-
dimensionality in information processing as influential in person percep-
tions:
Multi-dimensional differentiators view the described person as both
"good" and "bad". For example, he might be viewed as "intelligent and
industrious" at work, and "impulsive, critical, stubborn and envious" when
he deals with his wife and children. (Streufert and Streufert 1978: 255)
Influenced by results like the one described above, Schonbach (1981) uses
the causal mediator "associative flexibility" to explain the covariation
between the variables level of education and degree of hostile attitudes
towards immigrant workers in Germany. "Associative flexibility" is closely
 186 UTA M. QUASTHOFF
related to "cognitive complexity" in that it stands for "a basic capacity and
motivation to shift perspectives in responding to cognitive stimulation"
(SchOnbach 1981: 113).
----f. ' To sum up: To a certain degree, the cognitive process of oversimplify-
ing and overgeneralizing by the use of schemata is a normal and necessary
way of information processing. On the other hand, the above-mentioned
studies show the negative influence of oversimplifying in person perception
and social cognition in general. So where is the boundary between a (cogni-
tively necessary) schema and a (socially dangerous) prejudice?
2.2 Innerpsychic functions
While explanations of stereotypic thinking based on the schematic
simplifications of information processing deal with the cognitive aspect of
the problem, theories which offer innerpsychic functions as an explanation
for prejudice are concerned with the affective parts of this complicated phe-
nomenon. It follows from the definitions given in 1. above that cognitive
explanations can perhaps serve as a necessary, but never as a sufficient con-
dition for the emergence of prejudice, since affective qualities are decisive
features of the phenomenon.
Among the attempts to find innerpsychic explanations, the theory of
the "authoritarian personality" (Adorno et al. 1950) certainly plays a domi-
nant role. This approach is based on psychoanalytic reasoning as well as on
empirical findings of the Californian study and successive investigations
(Freyhold 1971). It offers the notion of ethnocentrism (borrowed from
Sumner 1906) to refer to a syndrome of personality traits as the explanatory
core of the model. This concept reveals that prejudice is viewed in terms of
a centeredness towards one's own group, whereas other theories tend to
give explanations by reference to the respective outgroups and their stereo-
typic images.
Thus a logical implication of ethnocentrism as an explanation for pre-
judice and stereotypes should be a high correlation of hostile attitudes
towards different outgroups. Such a tendency has been demonstrated by
several studies (Adorno et al. 1950; Berelson and Steiner 1964; Allport
1954). In particular, an experiment conducted by Hartley and Hartley
(1955: 464f.) has been taken as relevant evidence. Using the Bogardus
scale, the authors included three nonsense names in their list of 35 ethnic
groups and found a correlation of .80 in hostile attitudes towards real and
SOCIAL PREJUDICE AS A RESOURCE OF POWER 187
fictitious outgroups. There are other studies, however, which give rise to a
certain scepticism at least with respect to the general high correlation of
hostile attitudes towards Blacks and Jews (Becker and Wolf 1971: 521;
Stember 1961: 2). On closer inspection, eveq the various empirical results
of the Californian study itself do not confirm. a simple concept of ethnocen-
trism in the sense that an individual who shows hostility towards one group
necessarily has high scores with respect to all the other groups (cf. Quas-
thoff 1973: 102f.). Antisemitism especially plays a special role and is mea-
sured by the use of a particular instrument, the so-called A-scale (as
opposed to the E-scale for ethnocentrism).
An important characteristic of the theory of the authoritarian personal-
ity is the connection between ethnocentrism and a tendency towards fascist
thinking which is claimed by the theory and measured with the use of the
"F-scale". (For a detailed description and criticism of the methodology of
the Adorno-study see Quasthoff 1973, Chapter 5.1).
The following is a very short summary of tbe main positions to be
found within the attempts to explain prejudice in terms of innerpsychic
functions (cf. Allport 1954; Mitscherlich and Mitscherlich 1967) and/or cer-
tain personality syndromes as advocated by Adorno et al.:
- Stereotypes are rationalizations of attitudes (see 1).
- Anything strange is perceived as a threat by the authoritarian per-
sonality.
- Aggression towards powerful, oppressive personalities or groups is
forbidden by the innerpsychic control of the authoritarian personal-
ity. Instead the aggression is directed towards groups or individuals
which are perceived as weak in comparison with the authoritarian
individual (scapegoating).
- Forbidden desires are projected on outgroups. (Traits like brutality
and sexual abnormality in fact seem to be recurrent attributions of
all kinds of outgroups discriminated against by the majority).
- The connection between frustration and aggression can explain the
origin of aggression, which is directed towards outgroups and
rationalized by projection and stereotypes.
2.3 Social functions
The description of social functions explicitly or implicitly rely heavily
on Sumner's (1906) ingroup-outgroup-model of cultral organization.
188 UTA M. QUASTHOFF
Stereotypes are used to mark distance towards outgroups and stress ingroup
solidarity. In this sense the social function of prejudice is stated by all the
authors who deal with functional explanations at all (e.g. Schaff 1980;
Fasold 1984: 158). Again this social function is interrelated with other kinds
of functions: A special need for social identity is certainly dependent on
psychological variables such as low self-esteem as hypothesized by Schon-
bach (1981: 173). Low self-esteem in turn can be viewed as part of the
authoritarian personality syndrome and as such is the consequence of par-
ticular child-rearing techniques.
All the functional descriptions presented above can explain mental dis-
positions or at the most stereotypic thinking. Obviously additional factors
are responsible for the transformation of dispositions into actual (verbal or
other) hostile behavior.
3. The functional ambivalence of stereotypes between necessary and
dangerous functions
The result of the functional description of stereotypes which is most
relevant for our purposes is a follows: In all the different functional
domains - the cognitive, the innerpsychic and the social - stereotypic
thinking to a certain degree performs necessary and indispensable func-
tions.
Cognitive psychology has shown in numerous experiments that percep-
tion, storing, retrieval and (verbal) encoding of information in general is
made possible by schemata. In other words, it is guided by expectations of
typicality, i.e. it is stereotypic in a certain sense of the word. But in which
sense? Is there a qualitative difference between a schema and a stereotype
or is the difference simply a matter of degree?
Traditional research on stereotype and social prejudice would presum-
ably answer the question in favor of a qualitative difference by reference to
the rigidity and persistence which are definitional criteria of stereotypes
(see Section 1. above). Schemata, one could argue, are revised on the basis
of contrary information. If the information to be processed does not fit the
schema, then the schema is modified or substituted by a more suitable one.
If information to be processed does not fit the stereotype, the stereotype is
retained and the information is classified as deviant (Quasthoff 1973, 1987).
But is this really a qualitative difference? It has been widely observed
that the stereotypic way of dealing with contradictory information is what
SOCIAL PREmDICE AS A RESOURCE OF POWER 189
one might call the "logic of exception". The logical contradiction between
the universal character of the stereotype (Allx are y) and "empirical coun-
terevidence" (Allx are y, z is an X, but z is not y) is solved by redefining the
"counterevidence" into an exception and thus preserving the validity of the
stereotype and the contradicting information at the same time. Take Ita-
lians are good singers: If I meet Sergio who hates singing and never hits the
right note, this does not alter the fact that Italians in general are still good
singers and Sergio is just an exception.
It is clear that this "logic of exception" relies on the concept of typical-
ity which immunizes the stereotype against counterevidence. Typicality,
however, is also the basis of the structural expectations which form a
schema. Do I change my "schema", more precisely, my frame of a bird
which includes the default "can fly", when somebody tells me that there are
birds which cannot fly? I will probably insist that "the typical" bird can fly
and that penguins are, if not exceptions, at least "atypical birds". This basic
semantic processing device has been taken up by prototype semantics
(Rosch 1978; Quasthoff and Hartmann 1982), which argues for a holistic
concept of meaning (as opposed to a componential one), built around the
most typical representatives of a conceptual class. So even in the domain of
essential features of concepts information processing works with assump-
tions of typicality, retains the schema in dealing with contrary information
and proceeds "unlogically". Thus it seems to be impossible to define a crite-
ria} qualitative difference between schematic and stereotypic information
processing.
Accordingly, if there is a difference at all-which seems to be self-evi-
dent in our common sense view - it has to be a matter of degree. The con-
cept of "cognitive style" (Streufert and Streufert 1978) actually refers to the
fact that there are obviously degrees of diffferentiation, at least in proces-
sing social information. SchOnbach (1981), as has been mentioned above, is
able to provide empirical evidence which supports the assumption of a com-
parable cognitive variable as an explanation for prejudiced thinking. In
other words, there seem to be gradual differences in the schematic rigidity
of information processing which can be seen as being responsible for the
fact that certain beliefs as opposed to others are perceived as prejudiced.
The psychoanalytic view on the innerpsychic fu,nctions of stereotype
and prejudice considers the phenomenon in connection with certain kinds
of defense mechanisms of the individual. Sublimation is one of the
mechanisms by which the ego can manage to defend itself against forbidden
190 UTA M. QUASTHOFF
desires. This way of dealing with "the deepest" levels of personality forma-
tion is a relatively "rational" one, one which requires a relatively strong
ego, which is able to accept forbidden and socially stigmatized needs to a
certain degree as part of itself. Another - "irrational" - kind of defense
mechanism is projection, a radical trick by which the ego manages to estab-
lish the outmost separation between itself and that which is dealt with as a
threat to the ego: The forbidden desires are projected on other- "strange"
- people, people who are perceived as weak in a given society so that no
threat is to be feared from them.
In light of this interpretation of projection as an underlying mechanism
of prejudiced thinking, an empirical observation which is often made
reveals itself as a "logical" part of this mechanism: The fact that the targets
of stereotypical thinking are normally outgroups whose strangeness, whose
"being the others" can either be easily perceived (e.g. Blacks in the United
States) or has to be emphasized by special perceptual markings (the yellow
star, the physiological "characteristics" of Jews as established by caricatures
of the Sturmer) becomes understandable as the psychological mechanism
used to establish the utmost distance between the self and the object of
defense.
Now it would seem that in the domain of innerpsychic functions of
stereotypes, we have a clear qualitative difference between stereotypic and
non-stereotypic psychological structures: the "rational" and the "irrational"
kinds of defense mechanisms. This, however, would be an illegitimate
simplification, incompatible with empirical evidence as well as with
psychoanalytic theory. Adorno et al. (1950) clearly state that "irrational"
"psychological" reasoning is part of the belief system of any human being,
and that it is a matter of degree if "irrational" defense mechanisms play a
negative role with respect to high scores on the E-scale.
So again there is no clearcut qualitative difference between a psychic
disposition for stereotypical thinking and a more "enlightened" type of per-
sonality. And again the question arises: "What accounts for the difference,
which is nontheless a decisive difference?"
In the case of social function it can also be shown that it is a matter of
degree if the normal way of societal organization is distorted into an aggres-
sive relation~hip between groups. It seems to be a sociological universal
that societies are structured not only in terms of a descriptive order which
is imposed on societal formations by sociological theorizing, but also and
primarily in the views of the members themselves. Moreover, the sociolog-
SOCIAL PREJUDICE AS A RESOURCE OF POWER 191
ical view which is adopted here implies that whatever social structuring is
observable by sociological decription has to be established by the members
of societies in their everyday activities.
One of the devices which members use to mark social differences, to
differentiate "us" from "them" is the use of stereotypical attributions with
respect to one's own group and the respective outgroups ("auto-" and "het-
ero-stereotypes"). These stereotypical attributions fulfill a double function
within this social patterning: Firstly, they are shared by the other members
of the ingroup and thus establish or strengthen the ingroup solidarity,
define the co-members as "belonging to us". Secondly, they mark the dif-
ference between "us" and "them" by attributing traits to "them" which are
different from the way "we are".
To this extent the mechanism seems to be a normal and necessary, if
not universal, way of structuring social life. One could argue, then, that the
distortion of this positive function into a negative one is dependent on the
kind of stereotypical attribution in respect of the relevant outgroups. In
other words, only if these stereotypes are consistently negative and aggres-
sive in nature is the decisive threshold to intergroup hostility, war, extinc-
tion ... passed. It can be assumed, however, that the degree of aggressive-
ness of the respective stereotypes is in itself a function of the degree to
which in a societal formation the need to mark the ingroup-outgroup-differ-
ence is perceived or followed.
There are some claims in the literature as to the reasons for an increase
of this need. There is, for example. evidence for a connection between the
fact or the threat of downward social mobility for a considerable part of the
society and the increase of prejudice against minorities (e.g. Berelson and
Steiner 1964: 513f.). This finding certainly is interpretable in terms of a con-
nection between a social fact and a psychological mechanism. Putting it
loosely, the social threat causes fear in a considerable number of the mem-
bers in a given society and thus is responsible for the psychological reaction
to fear which in turn becomes a social fact in itself.
So one of the answers to the question why necessary functions of
stereotypes are increased to a degree where they are distorted into negative
ones certainly lies in an interplay between the cognitive, the innerpsychic
and the social functions such that they are mutually enforced. There are
most certainly many more answers to this question, for instance, the special
phenomena of group psychology. The complexity of the phenomenon can-
not be grasped in one article. Let me therefore select only one of the
192 UTA M. QUASTHOFF
assumed answers for discussion in the next section, one which can serve as
a plausible explanation for the negative distortion of the functions in all the
three domains differentiated above, and one which seems to be a candidate
for the most influential factor in this dangerous process.
4. A possible explanation
Cognitive schemata are collective in nature. They could not fulfill their
function in simplifying information processing if they had not been proven
effective over and over again and can thus be assumed intersubjectively
valid.
Defense mechanisms in the innerpsychic household are devices of the
ego designed to follow orders and restrictions which have been imposed by
the super-ego in the process of ontogenetic development. The super-ego is
the internalization of society's norms, values, laws by the individual. In
other words, adjustment to (assumed) collectivity and convention is the
goal of the defense mechanisms, which are responsible for prejudice.
The ingroup-outgroup-differentiation by the stereotypic attributions is
dysfunctional, as has been shown above, and is obsolete, if not collectively
shared in the ingroup.
So the answer to the question of whether stereotypic beliefs can be
pereceived as collective beliefs, as shared knowledge by the members of
society, seems to provide an explanation for the functional distortion of
stereotypes. Stereotypical simplifications in information processing will not
be used by a "normal" processor if they are not schematic, in other words,
if they have to be perceived as idiosyncratic. Stereotypical projection will
not be used if it puts the individual into an outsider position within his/her
own reference group, since non-conformity requires a strength of the ego
which is precisely what is lacking in these personalities. Aggressive
stereotypes against outgroups will not ne used as a device to establish
ingroup solidarity if these stereotypes cannot be perceived as shared in the
ingroup, because this is a necessary condition for their functioning.
So the question arises, what is it that makes stereotypes appear as col-
lective knowledge. (Note that it is a matter of how they appear, not what
they are!). Public opinion in the sense of published opinion is certainly one
of the main devices used in our time to establish collectivity of beliefs. It is
especially important because - as we all know - the mass media not only
inform about the degree of collectivity of beliefs, but can also be used to
SOCIAL PREJUDICE AS A RESOURCE OF POWER 193
manipulate in the sense that a collectivity is suggested - and thus estab-
lished - which was not existent in the first place.
But public opinion in the sense of collective knowledge, is not identical
with published opinion. It is relative to certain reference groups and need
not be shared by "society as a whole", "the culture", "the nation" ... And,
what is more important, it presumably develops its influence primarily
when its collectivity is already established while publication serves as a
means to establish this collectivity. In other words, only if stereotypical
beliefs appear self-evident, and thus to be implicit assumptions in everyday
communication, are collectivity and sharedness fully established. A linguis-
tic analysis of communicative data of different times would be able to pro-
vide evidence for this collective status of different sets of stereotypical
knowledge. It thus becomes an important means in research on prejudice
(cf., e.g., Quasthoff 1978, 1985; van Dijk 1985; di Luzio and Auer 1986).
The decisive steps on the way to establish this kind of collectivity, however,
are certainly taken by the publishing and thus the legitimizing of stereotyp-
ical thinking.
So the consequence of this theoretical discussion is rather more practi-
cal or political than scientific in nature: Let us all be on the watch for the
slightest indications that such a process is under way. The publishing of
stereotypes will be used as a resource of power to gradually establish collec-
tivity of stereotypical thinking as a means for preserving power.
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 Mediating racism
The role of the media in the reproduction of racism

Teun A. van Dijk

University of Amsterdam

1. Introduction

One of the most serious social problems in Western Europe is the

growing racism or ethnicism against immigrants from Mediterranean coun-
tries and former colonies. Despite local differences in the targets or types of
racism, similar prejudices and discrimination by (White) autochthonous
groups and institutions are directed against Turkish or North-African 'guest
workers', or against Black immigrants from African, Asian or Caribbean
countries (Castles 1984; European Parliament 1986). Although there are
historical roots for this development, culminating most notably in the Nazi
holocaust of the Jews, racism has become more widespread since World
War II, especially in the 1970s and the 1980s.
The context of this problem is well-known: Labor shortages in the
postwar economic development of most countries in Western Europe led at
first to the employment of workers from Spain, Portugal and Italy, and
later from Turkey, Morocco, and other Mediterranean countries. At the
same time, the independence of the former colonies of England, France,
Belgium and the Netherlands, spawned widespread emigration to the met-
ropolitan centers. As long as there was enough work, the immigration of
foreign workers from Southern Europe received relatively little attention.
The 'guest workers' were often simply ignored, housed in shabby pensions
and, above all, they were expected to eventually return to their own coun-
tries (Hammar 1985). Whereas this was indeed the case for large groups of
Italian and Spanish workers, those groups who took their place in the late
1960s and early 1970s, such as the Turkish workers, turned out to be willing

200 TEUN A. VAN DIJK
to stay, despite growing unemployment. For the citizens of former colonies,
immigration had a more permanent character from the outset. It was ini-
tially facilitated by the fact that most of them carried metropolitan
passports, although several countries, especially Britain, soon passed laws
that barred unlimited immigration of their overseas, that is Black, citizens.
The socio-economic situation of the new citizens has been extensively
documented in research: They are predominantly employed (if they find
work) in menial and dirty jobs; they occupy the worst housing in the inner
cities, and they generally suffer from minority status in all social contexts
(see e.g. Castles 1984; Hammar 1985, for references). For most Western
Europeans, this immigration brought about first and sometimes close
encoum~rs with members of substantial groups of different racial or ethnic
backgrounds. By large segments of the autochthonous population this
presence of so many 'aliens' was met by increasing feelings of uneasiness,
growing ethnic prejudices and widespread discrimination in many contexts:
in the neighborhood, on the street, in shops, on busses, at work, in the wel-
fare agency or in the media (Essed 1984)
These negative attitudes, however, were not simply spo~taneous reac-
tions of the White population at large, nor merely caused by the economic
recession of the 1970s. After all, most people never had any direct contacts
with minority group members, nor were they threatened by them in
employment, housing, or other social domains. In many respects, the (bad)
example was given by the ruling elite groups, especially by the respective
governments. We mentioned that in the 1960s the British governments
(both Tory and Labour), took measures to stop the 'flow' of immigrants
from the now independent countries of its former empire (Barker 1981;
Husband 1982; Miles and Phizacklea 1979; Mullard 1985; Sivanandan
1982). Similar actions followed and became even stricter in the next two
decades, also in other European countries (Hammar 1985). The implicit
message to the autochthonous population was clear: These people do not
belong here, and their presence may cause problems.
In this context racist parties were allow~cfto be founded that gave even
more explicit expression to these opinions: Foreigners should return to
where they came from because colors or cultures should not be mixed (Bil-
lig 1978; Hoffmann and Even 1984). Again, these are not merely popular
movements: They were sustained by elite or intellectual pre-formulation
(Barker 1981; Seidel 1985). In more moderate terms, such attitudes were
shared by the more respectable parties (Reeves 1983), and by the public at
- -- - --- - - - -
MEDIATING RACISM 201
large. This is one of the reasons why these racist parties were never forbid-
den. The overt political rhetoric against such parties was an ideal strategy of
positive, liberal self-presentation. Thus racist groups played the role of
scapegoats for more widespread and structural racism, and as useful idiots
of the more respectable parties. Despite these professed differences, how-
ever, a widespread consensus was being established: Further immigration
should be barred, present minorities should adapt themselves as quickly as
possible, cause no problems, and be content with their actual situation and
with what the authorities would do for them.
The question this chapter would like to address is how the hostile cog-
nitions and actions that structurally define the racism of the White domi-
nant ingroup could become shared so widely and effectively in the first
place. Apart from occasional personal observations and experiences in pub-
lic places, especially in the cities, most White people do not have daily deal-
ings with minority group members. Therefore, we must assume that racism
is being expressed and persuasively communicated throughout the ingroup
in a multitude of social contexts. Majority group members speak or write
about minorities in everyday conversations, in the news media, in
textbooks, lessons, comics, TV-programs, films, parliamentary debates,
institutional decision making, reports, scholarly discourse, or courtroom
dialogues (Smitherman-Donaldson and van Dijk 1987).
In our research of the last eight years about this type of discursive re-
production of racism in society, we have focused primarily on everyday talk
(van Dijk 1984; 1987a). From the analysis of more than 170 interviews, con-
ducted both in Amsterdam and in San Diego, it appeared however that
people often refer to the media when expressing or defending ethnic opin-
ions (see also Hartmann and Husband 1974). Specific topics of discussion
seem to originate in the media, rather than in everyday talk. On the basis of
our analysis of the Dutch media carried out in 1980 (van Dijk 1983), and
reporting the first results of a replication and extension of this earlier work
carried out in 1985 and 1986, this paper discusses in more general terms the
I
role of the media in this complex process of the reproduction of racism (see
also UNESCO 1974; 1977).
Much of what we have described above not only holds true for Western
Europe, but also applies to the situation in Australia and Northern
America, and especially in the U.S.A., where racism is rooted in centuries
of the enslavement of Blacks, the elimination of AmeriCanindians, and the
exploitation of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans or other Latinos (see, e.g., Bowser
202 TEUN A. VAN DUK
and Hunt 1983; Katz 1976; Wellman 1977, for racism in general; and Wil-
son and Gutierrez 1985, for racism and the media).
2. Discourse and the reproduction of racism
Before we discuss the role of the media in more detail, a few more gen-
eral observations are in order about the role of language, discourse and
communication in the (re-)production of ethnicism and racism. In order to
understand these processes of reproduction, we should first realize that
racism in general is to be analyzed primarily within the structural
framework of historical, political, socio-economic and cultural power rela-
tions in society (Mullard 1985). White groups dominate ethnically or
racially different groups by the exercise of various types of physical, social
or symbolic control. In the present European context, this means that
minority groups are systematically, although often indirectly and subtly,
denied equal rights, that is, equal access to material or cultural resources,
and equal opportunities in housing, work, health care or education.I The
practices that realize these forms of discrimination are not incidental or
individualistic. They are systematic, group-based, institutionalized and
show a surprising degree of similarity across national boundaries.
There exists a body of generally shared beliefs on which such dis-
criminatory actions are based, and which provides the tacit legitimation of
the power exercised by the dominant ingroup. However, this ideologically
framed system of ethnic prejudices and its societal functions must be
acquired. Part of this social learning is based on observation, imitation, par-
ticipation in social interaction, and on an inferential framework that fea-
tures rationalizations such as 'Everybody does it'. Especially for racist prac-
tices against ethnic minority groups, such experiental learning is not
enough. In the context of complex industrial societies, and when other
information is lacking, social information processing is largely based on dis-
course and communication (Mueller 1973; van Dijk 1987a).
People make strategic inferences from these kinds of discourse, build
mental models of ethnic situations and generalize these to general negative
attitude schemata or prejudices that embody the basic opinions about rele-
vant minority groups (van Dijk 1984; 1985b; 1987a).
However, the various types of discourse and communication are not
equally involved in this type of social information processing. Everyday
storytelling requires personal experiences, or stories heard from others, and
MEDIATING RACISM 203
many White citizens do not have such experiences, let alone negative ones.
And when no ethnic minority groups were salient during our childhood, as
is the case for most adults in Western Europe, socialization discourse is
only minimally about ethnic minorities (although it may be about other out-
groups, defined in terms of gender, class, religion or occupation). Children
did and do acquire ethnic or racial proto-schemata based on such discourse
and on the basis of children's stories and movies (Klein 1986; Milner 1983).
When they grow up, however, they need further information in order to
interpret the present ethnic situation.
Most elite types of discourse, such as political and legal discourse or
scholarly reports, are directly accessible only to a small segment of the
ingroup. Mass circulation and sharing among the ingroup of ethnic pre-
judices and ideologies presuppose mass communication, that is, expression
or (re-)production in the mass media. Therefore, we assume that the
(news) media play a very specific role in the distribution and acceptance of
ethnic ideologies.
To understand this role of the ~ews media, we should summarize a few
of its general properties as they have been made explicit in recent research
(Bagdikian 1983; Fishman 1980; Gans 1979; Tuchman 1978; van Dijk
1987b). The news media do not passively describe or record news events in f
the world, but actively (re-)construct them, mostly on the basis of many I
types of source discourses. Corporate interests, news values, institutional
routines, professional ideologies and news schema formats play an impor-
tant role in this transformation. These factors favor preferential access of .
powerful persons, institutions and nations to the media, more stories about
these power elites, special focus on negative, conflictual or dramatic events,
and generally a White, Western, male, and middle class perspective on
news events. Most readers tend to adopt this definition of news events and
news discourse (Graber 1984; Robinson and Levy 1986).
These properties of news processing tend to lead to a reproduction and
legitimation of the ideology of the political, socio-economic and cultural
elites (Hall et al. 1980; Mueller 1973). On the other hand, the specific
institutional and professional functions and goals of the media and the jour-
nalists also allow and require a semi-autonomous role in the (re-)produc-
tion of news events and the manufacture of a social consensus. It is also this
'symbolic power' of the media that helps explain its role in the reproduction
of racism.
204 TEUN A. VAN DUK
3. Ethnic minorities and the news media
Against the background of this structural framework of class position
and professional routines, goals and values, we also understand the specific
orientation of journalists upon the definition of ethnic reality as provided
by the elite (van Dijk 1987d). This is why in news about ethnic minorities it
is usually the White institution, such as the government, the city council or
the police, that is accounted for and quoted, and much less the representa-
tives of the minority groups themselves (Downing 1980; Fowler 1987; Wil-
son and Gutierrez 1985).
To this general ideological orientation towards the power elites ethnic
group membership also adds an ethnic or racial dimension: White jour-
nalists primarily write as White ingroup members, and hence represent
ethnic minority groups in terms of 'them' and not as part of 'us'. Since
ethnic minorities are also predominantly working class, are less organized
in powerful institutions, and have little political influence, the two dimen-
sions of race and class combined produce social cognitions and therefore
social practices among journalists that tend to ignore these outgroups or to
represent them in a consistently negative framework.
Generally, controlled ignorance about outgroups, combined with
group self-interest, favors the development of stereotypes and prejudices
(Hamilton 198lb; Tajfel 1981). The same is true for the media. This ten-
dency is further reinforced by two other factors: According to dominant
(Western) news values (Galtung and Ruge 1965), the media favor stories
about negative events, and such stories are generally recalled better, espe-
cially in the case of outgroup members (Rothbart, Evans and Fulero 1978;
1
Rothbart 1981). This means that there is a complex ideological framework
in which intergroup perception, prejudices, White group dominance, cogni-
tive strategies as well as journalistic news values all contribute to the nega-
tive representation of ethnic minorities in the press.
The same structural framework defines the tendency of the reading or
viewing public to accept this kind of negative representation, so that critical
feedback or resistance does not prevent the successfulness of the communi-
cation and reproduction processes. That is, in Western Europe there are as
yet no dominant counter-ideologies or anti-racist forces that are strong
enough to have regular access to the media in order to counterbalance the
prevailing definitions of the ethnic situation. Anti-racist positions are often
ignored or censored, or their coverage by the media is limited to preferably
MEDIATING RACISM 205
violent demonstration and action (Murray 1986; Seidel 1987a; 1987b). This
has been a general tendency in the account of counter-ideologies and action
in the media (see, e.g., Halloran, Elliott and Murdock 1970).
Barred from public communication, and hence from persuasive,
counter-prevailing power, minority groups are forced into forms of resis-
tance that may attract public attention through media accounts, e.g., dis-
obedience, disruption, or destruction. These will capture the attention of
journalists precisely because they are consistent with both news values
(negativity, violence, deviance) and with ethnic prejudices (minorities are
deviant, violent). Hence the widespread media attention to what they
define as violence, riots and crimes and which they specifically associate
with ethnic or other minorities, e.g. drugs or mugging (see Cohen 1980;
Cohen and Young 1981; Hall, et al. 1978; 1980, for details of such media
portrayals relating 'deviance' and minorities).
This picture of the production conditions and the contents of the media
representation of the ethnic situation is even more complex, however. In
the present social situation in Western Europe and the U.S.A., the nega-
tive representation of minorities is not without constraints. As a result of
the Civil Rights movement, there are norms and laws that officially prohibit
overt discrimination, also in the realm of public discourse. These may more
specifically be formulated in the statutes of media organizations. In addi-
tion, journalistic ideology features opinions that hold that news should be
true, fair, balanced and non-partisan, focusing on facts instead of opinions.
This also holds true for many journalists in their accounts of ethnic events,
even when in practice more fundamental ethnic stereotypes and prejudices
will unwittingly 'bias' their account of such events. Finally, when
minorities, or White anti-racists, have become substantial in number and
have found access to more powerful positions, their counter-action (if only
by cancelling subscriptions or by writing letters to the editor) may hurt the
media organization. In other words, there are contradictions within the
media organizations as well as resistance from minority groups that may
condition mitigation or change.
Hence, discursive discrimination, at least in the more respected media,
has shown a tendency of becoming more subtle and indirect, displaying
coherence with the more general liberal ideologies of the cultural elite in
society (see e.g. Barker 1981, and McConohay 1983, for these forms of
'new', 'symbolic' or otherwise more subtle and indirect racism; and van
Dijk 1987d for a discussion of the relation between elite racism and the
206 TEUN A. VAN DIJK
media). Note, however, that there are only gradual differences between the
more liberal ethnic attitudes, and those of the cultural elite of the conserva-
tive and more overtly racist New Right (Seidel 1987a; 1987b).
4. Properties of news about ethnic minority groups
Against the background of the theoretical framework sketched above,
the rest of this chapter gives a brief characterization of the representation of
'ethnic events' in news reports in some Western countries, such as the UK,
the USA, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Netherlands. On the
basis of a review of some relevant research, we have organized this descrip-
tion in terms of a systematic but informal discourse analysis of news reports
(see van Dijk 1986; 1987b, and Hartley 1982, for details on news struc-
tures). In turn, we will respectively pay attention to presentation in Section
4.1; thematic structure in Section 4.2; local meanings in Section 4.3; and
style and rhetoric in Section 4.4 (for details about methods, see also the
contributions to van Dijk, 1985a). Because of a lack of relevant data, other
structures of news discourse, such as the role of news schemata, will not be
considered here. We will focus mainly on news in the press.
4.1 Presentation
By the 'presentation' of news, we mean the structure of occurrence and
visual properties that influence its chances of perception and attention, such
as frequency, location in the paper or program, location on the page, size,
(size of) headlines, the use of photos, pictures, drawings or cartoons, and
the type of media text (news, background article, editorial, opinion article,
column, etc.).
Frequency and size
From his study of actors in U.S. television networks and magazines,
Gans (1978) concludes that whereas nearly 70% of news space or time is
dedicated to the elites or to "violators of laws and mores", only some 7% is
dedicated to Civil Rights leaders at the end of the 1960s. A decade later
even this low percentage dwindled to practically zero. On the other hand,
when Blacks - among other 'unknowns' - are assumed to be associated
with crime, violence, or riots, they get much more attention (see also
MEDIATING RACISM 207
Schary 1969; Knopf 1975). In the 1960s nearly a quarter of all stories about
Blacks are about racial disturbances. When, a decade later, no riots occur,
Blacks virtually disappear from magazine and TV news (see also Graber
1984).
In a study of crime news (Graber 1980) found that crime and justice
account for about 20% to 30% of all topics mentioned in the press, and for
a steady 12% on the national networks. However, half of this crime news is
about 'street crime', and this is the type of crime media users tend to
remember best. For our discussion it is interesting to find that whereas in
70% of the crime stories (and in agreement with FBI statistics) suspects are
Whites (of all ages), and about 20% Black, media users reverse these fig-
ures and "recall" that more than 60% of the crimes are committed by
Blacks and 7% by Whites. This shows that specific attention to crime,
together with the ethnic identification of suspects and prevailing ethnic pre-
judices, produces a clear attribution effect among the readers: they identify
young male Blacks as the major criminals and ghettos as its main location
(see also Duncan 1976).
In Great Britain, much of the early work on race, racism and the media
was conducted and inspired by Hartmann and Husband and associates (see
e.g. Hartmann and Husband 1974). In their content analysis of the British
national press in the 1960s, Hartmann, Husband and Clark (1974) found
that the amount of (British) race related material fluctuated between 0.55%
and 0.78 % of the editorial space, that is, between a mean of 0.8 and 1.3
news items per day. Critcher, Parker and Sondhi (1977) replicated this
study for the provincial press, and found somewhat higher figures (up to
4%) for the Midland press. Troyna (1981) found for the 1976-1978 period
that the British local and national press published about 1.3 items per copy
on race. Also the TV news studies of the Glasgow University Media Group
(1976, 1980) report frequency percentages for crime, disaster and human
interest that are ten times higher than stories on 'race'.
In their study of "foreigners" in the German press of the city of
Bielefeld, Ruhrmann and Kollmer (1984) found between 1000 and 1500
articles on this topic in two and a half years, that is, between 1.3 and 2.0
items per day in two local newspapers. From a broader study of the Ger-
man p\"ess (Merten, et al. 1986), we may calculate an average of about two
stories per newspaper or magazine issue about foreign workers and
refugees.
In our first (1981) study of one month of coverage of minorities in the
208 TEUN A. VAN DUK
Dutch press (van Dijk 1983), we found an average of 1.8 article per day,
but if we only count articles in which minorities are thematic actors (and not
just briefly mentioned), this average drops to below one article daily. In our
replication of 1985-1986, which studied some 1700 articles of seven national
dailies during six months, we found an average of 1.3 story per day. As is
true for the U.S., English and German press, quality (and national) news-
papers usually publish more about minorities.
From these various studies we may conclude that the frequency or
amount of reporting about ethnic minority groups in the Western media is
regular but not impressive. The (quality) press mostly publishes more than
the magazines and television. The average frequencies vacillate around
one percent or about one story per day. Although some studies suggest that
this figure may depend on the numbers of minorities in the country or city,
we must conclude that on the whole, the percentage of minorities in the
country does not lead to a proportionate increase in stories about them. In
the U.S.A., where minorities total five times as high as in Western Euro-
pean countries, the average frequencies and space of media stories are
more or less the same.
Similar remarks hold true for the size and the location of media stories
about minorities. The various studies discussed above suggest averages in
the range of 125 cni2 and 200 cm2 Merten et al. (1986) report an average of
about 150 cm2 , whfoh according to earlier data is about twice as large as an
average news report. Also, their headlines are usually larger than for other
news reports. Although as to their size stories about minorities may be
more prominent than the average newspaper report, most of them appear
on the inside pages, unless they are about crime, violence and especially
'riots'.
Despite these conclusions, it should be added that for media users the
impression of the amount of ethnic news need not reflect these figures. We
have also suggested that selective attention and memorization, especially
for negative (crime, or problem) stories, is such that autochthonous people
may think that they read or hear about 'them' all the time. This means that
frequency and size of minority coverage only tell part of the story. Much
more important is the question what is written about ethnic groups.
groups.
MEDIATING RACISM 209
4.2 Topics and thematic structure
The study of discourse meaning or content may take place at the local
level of words and sentences, and on the global level of topics or themes,
which we define in terms of semantic macrostructures (van Dijk 1980).
Topics express the most important information in the text, and form a
hierarchical thematic structure, which also underlies the summary of a text.
In news reports, such a summary is expressed in the lead, whereas (in prin-
ciple) the highest proposition of the thematic structure is expressed in the
headline. Transformations, however, are quite normal: Headlines may be
'biased' by expressing lower level topics. This may signal the personal or
institutional relevance assignment of the journalist (for details, see van Dijk
1987b). Psychological research has shown that macrostructures like topics
and titles are important in the effective interpretation, storage and recall of
information (van Dijk and Kintsch 1983). People usually recall topical
information best.
Unfortunately, most studies of news about minorities do not exactly
define the notion of topic. Mostly, what are called 'topics', 'themes', or
'subjects' are labels of topic classes, e.g. immigration, education or dis-
crimination. In each of these classes, we may find text topics of a proposi-
tional format as we define them, e.g. 'Many Tamil refugees enter the coun-
try', or 'Employment office discriminates against foreign women'. To facili-
tate our review of the literature we use the same notions as the authors,
however; from the examples it may be clear whether propositional topics or
one-concept subjects are meant.
Hartmann, Husband and Clark (1974) provide an extensive analysis of
what they call 'topics', e.g. immigration, race relations, housing, education,
employment, and crime. They found that most articles (18.8%) were about
immigration, followed immediately by the general topic of race relations
(18.6%), and a long way behind, the subject of crime (9.0%) (percentages
calculated by us on the basis of their absolute numbers). Topics such as
housing, education, health, or racial harmony score much lower (below
3.4%), whereas discrimination scores come in between (6.7%). The immig-
ration topic was further differentiated in sub-topics such as control, refused
entry and illegal entry. This suggests that the major news topics were of the
following schematic type: 'Government (political party, border police) acts
to stop (should stop) (illegal) entry'. That is, the news reports probably did
not deal with the rights of British Commonwealth citizens to enter Great
210 TEUN A. VAN DUK
Britain, but rather with their 'wrongs'.
For the British regional press, the figures are somewhat different. Here
crime and human interest precede race relations and immigration, with
about a third of all minority stories (Critcher, Parler and Sondhi 1977). All
other topics score only a few percent. Most crime stories are about violent
crime, as is also the case in the U.S. (Graber 1980). The other topics are
also related to negative concepts, such as overcrowding in housing or edu-
cation, or to notions that may spawn resentment, such as special provisions
for minorities.
Ten years later (1976-1978), immigration, crime, human interest and
race relations are still prominently on the list of major subjects (Troyna
1981), accounting for nearly 40% of all items in the local and national press.
However, a new issue now heads the list, viz. the National Front. Note,
however, that it is not so much the racist policies of the National Front
which are being discussed, but rather its role as a political force which
maybe elected into office and the reactions of the other parties to the NF.
Similar reporting takes place in regard to the major racist party (Centrum-
partij) in the Netherlands. Just as in the 1960s, immigration is discussed as
a problem of control, as an election issue, or consists of reports about illegal
entry and the numbers of immigrants involved.
Minority news in the Netherlands in the early 1980s shows a slightly
different thematic picture, although here crime and drugs also heads the
list, with more than a quarter of all reports. Housing and social affairs
together reach the same proportion. Discrimination and immigration are
also high on the list, and even appear to be the main issues in the 1985 data
(when many Third World refugees came to Western Europe). In these lat-
ter data, crime has dropped to third position.
Also in the Netherlands, most of these topics are dealt with in terms of
'problems', and from the point of view of the authorities. Thus, housing is
not a topic that deals with the problems minorities have in getting decent
housing, or with discrimination of landlords, but features reports about
squatting, police action, and difficulties created for the authorities. The
same is true for topics such as immigration, education, employment or cul-
tural differences. Crime is often associated with drug dealing or use by male
Black Surinamese, in the same way as mugging in the U .K. was associated
with young Blacks (Hall, et al. 1978). Social affairs are mostly dealt with in
terms of special programs or subsidies 'given' by the authorities. Discrimi-
nation is a frequent topic in the Dutch press, but this is predominantly the
MEDIATING RACISM 211
case in individualistic terms (typically: a bouncer of a disco not allowing
Blacks), not in the structural terms of a racist society. The concept of 'ra-
cism' is generally avoided in such cases, or preferably mentioned between
quotes when used by minority groups or anti-racists in 'accusation' con-
texts. Subjects that are interesting for minority group members, such as
(good) education, health care, and political organization, occurred much
less in the press of the 1980s.
The German regional press also had crime at the top of the subject list,
closely followed by subjects like residence status, politics, identity and inte-
gration (Ruhrmann and Kollmer 1984). Many articles deal with the_ immig-
rant status of Turkish workers. The authors also found, however, that more
than half of all items mention problems experienced by immigrants, primar-
ily residence and work permits, education and communication problems,
but much less employment and housing problems. Generally, the attribu-
tion of blame for the various immigration problems is distributed evenly
between articles that are positive and those that are negative about foreig-
ners. Merten, et al. (1986) report similar topics for the German press as a
whole, with human interest accounting for nearly half of all articles on
foreign workers, followed a long way behind by social issues, culture and
politics. The latter topic, however, is most prominent when people seeking
asylum are discussed.
Thematic structures
After the more quantitative account of topics, a more qualitative
analysis is necessary. We have seen that the same topic class, e.g. immigra-
tion, may include topics of very different kinds, according to the predicates,
actors and actor roles involved.
Our data from the 1981 study (van Dijk 1983), show that such (propos-
itional) topics, which theoretically are unique for each report, also allow
further abstraction and generalization. Thus, we find topics such as:
minorities are criminal; minorities use drugs; minorities need help;
minorities protest against government policies, on the one hand, and Dutch
authorities help minorities; Dutch government restricts immigration, and a
Dutch person or institution discriminates against minorities, on the other
hand. On a higher level of abstraction, such topics may further be
generalized, for example as follows: Minorities cause problems; minorities
are not (never) satisfied; Dutch authorities help minorities; and some
212 TEUN A. VAN DUK
Dutch people discriminate against minorities. In 1985 and 1986 we esse~
tially find the same topics. However, there is also a development: The topic
of (legal) resistance of minorities becomes more important, whereas the
authorities are more often portrayed as wanting to improve race relations.
With the increasing immigration of refugees, the topic of a government that
restricts entry of more foreigners remains one of the most prominent, how-
ever.
This thematic analysis is consistent with the general conclusions of the
British studies reviewed above. Thus, under the main topics we have men-
tioned they find subtopics such as the following:
a. Immigration i. Numbers entering/leaving Britain
ii. Government controls (should control) entry
iii. British passport holders (do not) have right of entry
iv. Coloreds are refused entry to Britain
v. Immigrants enter Britain illegally
vi. Immigration is an election issue.
b. Race Relations i. General comments on race relations
ii. Positive steps to improve race relations
iii. Anti-colored speeches or statements on race relations.
c. Crime i. Coloreds involved in crime (general)
ii. Coloreds involved in drugs scene
m. Coloreds involved in illegal immigration.
From these and other reconstructed themes that dominate the por-
trayal of race in the Britsh press, we may derive the following more general
themes: (i) There are (too) many (colored) minorities coming to Britain;
(ii) The government must control entry of (colored) immigrants; (iii) Race
relations are bad in Britain; (iv) Minorities are involved in crime; (v)
Minorities are discriminated against and abused.
From these general topics found in the respective studies in Western
Europe, the most general topic that emerges is that minorities have or
create problems. Whether in immigration, employment, housing or educa-
tion, or even in discrimination, minorities are generally represented as
creating difficulties for 'us', if not in terms of deviance or illegality. Prob-
lems are seldom described from the point of view of minorities, and their
rights (e.g. of entry, housing or education) are seldom discussed. And if
racist parties are topic, they rather are portrayed as creating difficulties for
mainstream politics than in terms of an expression of racism in society. It is
not surprising, therefore, that topics such as 'white hostility' are rare. For
MEDIATING RACISM 213
British media coverage of the 1980s, for which we lack systematic data, we
may add the dominant topic of the 'race riots', which are covered in terms
of violence, rather than as forms of protest and resistance.
Similarly, anti-racism of both Black and White groups is also portrayed
in negative terms, viz. as the 'enemy within', especially in the conservative
press (Murray 1986; see also Tumber 1982; CARF Media Project 1985).
The same may be observed in the Dutch press, as well as in the French right
wing media (Bonnafous and Fiala 1984). This 'reversal' tactics of the elite
are especially noteworthy for the media, as we have found ourselves for the
press reactions against our first study of racism in the press (van Dijk 1983).
Hollingworth (1986) found that the racism of the conservative media elite
in Britain is not limited to press reports, but also shows in remarks made in
the editorial office.
The topics in the German press are similar to those in the Netherlands
and Britain (Ruhrmann and Kollmer 1984; Merten, et al. 1984). Here the
e~phasis is on the use or abuse by foreigners (mostly Turkish) of German
resources (welfare, employment, housing, education). Another thematic
dimension of all these topics is that which is called 'Uberfremdung' in Ger-
man (literally: over-alienation), which has also dominated the political and
media discussion in France (Mots 1984), Switzerland (Ebel and Fiala 1983),
Sweden (Hedman 1985), and other Western European countries.
4.3 Actor roles
What role do minorities play in news reports and their topics? For the
dominant negative topics, such as illegal entry, protests or crime, this role
is clear: they are active, responsible agents, and not victims (e.g., of White
aggression) (Graber 1980). The same is true for the other topics, such as
employment, housing or education, where minorities are perceived as caus-
ing problems, if only by their presence. Ruhrmann and Kollmer (1984)
found that in more than 50% of the cases, these roles of foreigners are val-
ued negatively by the press itself, by public opinion or by the government.
The role of the autochthonous actors is ambiguous. Our Dutch data
first suggest that the authorities especially are always prominent and fre-
quent actors, also in news about minorities. Their role is usually active:
they control immigration, prevent and prosecute crime, and provide assis-
tance in employment, housing or education. They are expected to analyze
and solve problems and to develop the best policies to 'control' the 'minor-
214 TEUN A. VAN DUK
ity problem'. This role is portrayed mostly in neutral or positive terms,
although some newspapers may be critical of incidental government deci-
sions to expel individual foreigners, typically mothers and their children.
General immigration and ethnic relation policies are seldom criticized in
fundamental terms. Ruhrmann and Kollmer (1984) showed for Germany
that the government and public opinion are most often (about 80%) men-
tioned as the actors from which action is expected or demanded, or to
which recommendations are addressed.
Other autochtonous groups are represented in a variety of roles.
When supportive of immigration and immigrants, or when acting as anti-
racists, they are portrayed as active but negative agents (Murray 1986;
Seidel 1987a; 1987b). But since they are ingroup members, their actions of
protest, dissent and demonstration are implicitly viewed as racial treason,
and dealt with in even more negative terms than those of the outgroup
members. On the other hand, we have seen that racist parties or dis-
criminating individuals are also portrayed as negative active agents, but
again this coverage is incidental, and does not take place in an anti-racist
framework. Rather, such extremists may be seen as - sometimes under-
standably - reacting against the presence of immi11;rants. Racist parties are
illegitimate, while at the same time embarrassing competitors in the politi-
cal arena.
At the local level of syntactic organization, this role distribution has
been systematically investigated by Fowler and his associates (Fowler, et al.
1979; Fowler 1987). They show that the action structure of sentences, as
expressed by word order, grammatical relations (subject, object, etc.),
actives and passives, in news about disturbances, also signals that minority
groups play the role of prominent (first, subject position) agents especially
in negative contexts. The police in that case will be put in a less direct pas-
sive phrase or remain implicit altogether.
Who is speaking?
One important clue about the perspective taken on the ethnic affairs
by the media comes from an analysis of speaker roles. When and how often
are minorities quoted or referred to as speakers, as people who voice facts
and opinions? Downing (1980) found that minority group members, just
like Black African leaders, are less quoted than White spokespersons, also
in accounts of events that directly concern them. Similarly, in our 1981 and
MEDIATING RACISM 215
1985 Dutch data, although minorities may be more frequent actors, they
are speaking much less than Dutch (elite, institutional) actors.
This bias in the distribution of speaking roles has several structural and
cognitive causes. First, as dominated groups, minorities in Western Europe
are less organized, and therefore have less organized access to the media,
e.g. by press conferences, press releases, or designated spokespersons. Sec-
ondly, journalists are at the same time less inclined to actively search for or
listen to minority sources, for the same organizational reasons. Thirdly,
such sources are considered to be less 'objective' and hence less credible,
which also shows in the predominant use of doubt and distance particles,
and the more explicit use of quotation marks when they are allowed to
speak. As 'interested party' they are seldom or cautiously quoted when
they accuse Dutch people or organizations (e.g. the police) of discrimina-
tion or racism. This is much less the case when the opinions of the
lauthorities are mentioned, for instance when these deny discriminatory
acts. Fourthly, practically all journalists in Western Europe are white, and
have no personal nor professional relationships with minority groups. Due
to their subtle or more open prejudices, or to the usual problems of inter-
cultural communication, white journalists will feel much less comfortable
when talking to (interviewing) Black spokespersons, and will therefore also
tend to avoid them as sources. Fifthly, the converse reinforces this ten-
dency: since most credible sources, that is, the authorities, politicians,
educators, professionals or scholars, are white, and since most institutions
are white, their chance of being used as sources is higher for the opposite
' reasons as those mentioned above for the lack of minority speakers and
opinions.
U.S. research shows the same tendency. In general, but especially
when ethnic or racial conflicts arise, the version of events provided by the
authorities, most notably the police, prevails. Gutierrez (1978) showed that
not only do Chicanos tend to be represented stereotypically by the Califor-
nian press, but also that their point of view of the conflicts in which immig-
rant workers are involved is subordinated to that of the Anglo officials.
This has also been a permanent observation about the press accounts of
Black 'riots' in the 1960s and before (Fisher and Lowenstein 1967; Knopf
1975). And the same holds until today for the coverage of the 'riots' in the
British cities during the 1980s (Downing 1985; Murray 1986; Sivanandan
1986; Tumber 1982).
216 TEUN A. VAN DIJK
4.4 Local meaning, style and perspective
The informal thematic and role analysis given above already suggests a
number of implications for the study of style and perspective, although few
studies pay attention to such qualitative dimensions of news discourse. How
do the prominently negative topics appear at the local level of word mean-
ing or style? Lack of specific data (and lack of space) force us to make only
a few observations about this aspect of news discourse.
News about minorities is often rather evaluative (Ruhrmann and Koll-
mer 1984). Although the (Dutch) press very seldom uses racial slurs, fre-
quent use of the style register connected with the concept of 'problem' may
also convey negative representations of minorities. This is particularly true
for the more aggressive and deviant dimension of this register, such as the
frequent use of words such as 'threat' or 'violence'.
Identifying descriptions in the Dutch press vacillate between popular
usage ("foreigners") and more academic and political terminology ("ethnic
minorities"), in addition to reference to groups in terms of their origin. A
similar ambiguity may be found in the usage of terms such as "guest work-
ers" ("Gastarbeiter", in German), and "foreign workers", respectively.
The term "Blacks" is more often used to denote Afro-Americans or Blacks
in Africa than for .Black minority groups in the Netherlands, where even
the elites still occasionally use the term "negro". As a political term for all
people "of color" it is only used by minority groups and White anti-racists.
Unlike in Britain and the U.S.A., and maybe as a consequence of Nazi
abuses of the term, the word 'race' is seldom used in the Dutch and Ger-
man press, although "racial discrimination" is not uncommon in the Dutch
press. "Racism" is often used only in quotes, which indicates the distance of
the press from anti-racist opinions or a denial of racism in the country. In
German, the standard term has become "Auslanderfeindlichkeit" (hostility
against foreigners).
The British media still use the term "race" very prominently in their
coverage. Hartmann, Husband and Clark (1974) found in their analysis of
headlines that for the representation of minorities in Britain, the concepts
of "race", "immigrant" or "color", as well as descriptions of origin, were
used in nearly 50% of the headings. In other words, the ethnic groups were
generally defined and identified, already in the (situation defining and topi-
cal) headlines, as belonging to another radical, ethnic, or national group.
From the start their special status as immigrants of color is underlined,
MEDIATING RACISM 217
despite their British citizenship or despite the fact that many of them have
lived in Britain for many years or all their lives. References to "White"
groups are rare, even when the news reports are about White hostility and
discrimination.
The same authors also found that nearly a third of all headlines feature
negative words of different classes: first, words that denote conflict or dis-
agreement (hate, row, fight, crisis, etc.), followed by words that denote
control (stop, cut, curb, ban, censor, etc.), words that denote violence
(murder, kill, riot, shoot, burn, massacre, used especially for events over-
seas), and those that are associated with legal process, crime or illegal acts
(prison, jail, police, arrest, illegal entry, theft, etc.). Again, most of these
concepts and words are used in association with ethnic groups, and much
less in relation to White hostility or racism, unless occurring in the U.S. For
the British media the preferred words in the headlines come from the lexi-
cal classes of restriction and conflict, in combination with race, color or
immigrant, whereas the use of ethnic names is more frequent for the
description of groups in foreign news.
In other words, despite the vast variety in origins, immigrants or
minorities are treated as one undifferentiated group. This tendency has
been shown to be related to ethnic prejudice and intergroup perception,
generally (see, e.g. Tajfel 1981). Overall, the notion of "race" is used in
30% of the headlines in combination with conflict or violence words. This is
of course particularly (though not exclusively) true for the tabloids, which
usually score twice as high as the liberal or conservative quality press.
Although these analyses and figures are based on media content in the
1960s, there is little reason to assume that the situation in the British press
in the 1980s is significantly different.
Our analysis of some 1700 headlines, published between August 1985
and February 1986 in the Dutch press (for details, see van Dijk 1987e), first
shows that the major topics of the news also appear in the headlines:
immigration, discrimination and crime account for 40% of all headlines.
Half of the headlines identify ethnic authors, especially various refugee
groups (Tamils, Iranians), as well as Turks, Moroccans and Surinamese.
Syntactic analysis shows that although minorities occupy 25% of the first,
subject positions, they only are agents in 7% of the headlines. And if they
are agents, then they are mostly found in negative roles. Therefore,
minorities are mainly headlined as experiencers or patients of actions of
others, usually the Dutch authorities. Just as in the British press, we find
218 TEUN A. VAN DUK
notions such as 'restrict', 'expel', 'curb', 'refuse', or 'arrest' , as well as
notions from the 'protest' , 'problems' and 'illegality' registers.
Also from these observations at the local semantic and stylistic levels
we may conclude that ethnic or racial groups, or race relations in a multi-
ethnic society, are consistently associated with problems, conflict, difficul-
ties, if not with violence and illegality. It does not greatly matter in such
cases whether the authorities or the police are portrayed as performing an
action that might, as such, be evaluated negatively, such as 'curb', 'expel' or
'arrest'. Rather, as soon as such words are associated with a context of
ethnic or racial affairs, they tend to attach rather to the minority group than
to the autochthonous organization. It is less the precise context than the
vague association that is relevant for the cognitive consequences of inter-
pretation in this case. Extant prejudices will make readers tend to attribute
negative properties or acts of the whole situation to one focused actor: the
(Black) immigrant or minority group member (see, e.g., Duncan 1976;
Hewstone and Jaspars 1981; Hamilton 1981a and the other contributions in
Hamilton 198la).
5. Contexts and conclusions
The properties of news reports about minority issues are systematically
related to various characteristics of the social and cognitive contexts of
news, that is, with production by journalists and uses by readers and view-
ers. Data from content analyses in different countries show, first, that the
attention paid to ethnic groups in the media is very limited, unless minority
groups are associated with violence, illegality, crime, or 'strange' cultural
behavior, that is, with deviance of many kinds. News reports tend to be
about topics that are often instances of prevailing ethnic stereotypes or pre-
judices. If not as a threat to our culture, society or personal safety,
minorities are stereotypically portrayed as 'problem people', as causing
trouble (riots, demonstrations, protests) or as having problems (work,
housing, language or education). The causes or the context of such prob-
lems are seldom analyzed in the press, and hardly ever explained in terms
of White racism.
Secondly, minorities appear less often as major agents, unless again
they are suspected or accused of such negative acts. The production condi-
tions that determine this type of coverage have briefly been mentioned:
there are (very) few minority journalists; minorities are less organized, and
MEDIATING RACISM 219
therefore have less chances to provide the necessary framework for routine
news gathering; the news values of journalists tend to exclude socio-cultural
outgroups both as topics and as reliable sources; and finally, ethnic pre-
judices cause journalists to consider minority groups as less credible. These
various conditions provide a context in which minority news events and
their actors generally have less and less prominent coverage in the media.
Thirdly, the overall negative thematic content and biased stylistic
associations result in part from the same conditions. News values (e.g.,
negativity) , and ethnic prejudices of editors and reporters, both provide a
framework in which ethnic groups and the whole ethnic situation are per-
ceived and represented in a biased way. Immigration is not seen as a normal
or natural phenomenon, or as a right of passport holders or dependants to
enter the country. Rather, it is construed as a permanent threat, as a con-
flict between us and them, between those who want to get in and do not
belong here, and those of 'us' who belong here. The same holds true for
race relations in general, and for the respective social domains in which
minorities are perceived to cause problems, difficulties and conflict: hous-
ing, work, social services, education and culture in general. The problems
minorities are thought to cause may be represented 'mildly' as those
created by their very presence and numbers: They are a burden on the
socio-economic framework, and there are simply too many who want
decent work, housing or education.
Yet, for at least some of the media, these problems are represented
more negatively: Minorities play a deviant role, they are disruptive, they
(actively) take our houses and jobs, they cheat on welfare, they violate the
norms and the rules, they do not (want to) adapt, they protest and
demonstrate, and most importantly, especially in the conservative popular
press, they are a threat to our personal safety, because many of them are
assumed to be criminals. Often such media messages remain implicit and
indirect. Most newspapers, especially in the Netherlands, will not blatantly
state that minorities are criminal, but special attention, focus and selection
of crime stories establish such associations in a more subtle way.
Such prejudices, which are also shared by large segments of the media
public, favor attention to, and memory and selection of those stories that
are consistent with such opinions (Howard and Rothbart 1980; Rothbart
1981). At the same time, deviance and disruption are consistent with preva-
lent news values. That is, if minorities are portrayed in the press at all,
stories that feature such opinions, even implicitly, tend to be published
220 TEUN A. VAN DIJK
more often than normal, neutral and of course positive news stories about
our fellow citizens. Finally, the typical sources for this kind of news, viz. the
authorities, and especially the national or local government, the police, the
courts or state agencies such as employment or welfare offices, have prefe-
rential access to the media, because of their elite status, power, high credi-
bility and because of systematic links with newsbeat routines. That is, their
versions of the 'facts' will get routine attention, and they are represented as
neutral or positive actors, so that, by contrast, more negative images about
minorities will result.
Even more revealing are the kind of topics the press does not focus on.
Problems experienced by ethnic groups tend to be neglected: Racism, pre-
judice and discrimination, immigrant status, employment and work condi-
tions, education, health, culture and politics of minorities are virtually
absent in the majority media. This is not surprising when we observe that
minorities are seldom used as credible sources, and that very few journalists
come from minority groups (Greenberg and Mazingo 1976; Husband 1975).
Fourthly, journalists are like other middle class, dominant group mem-
bers, and express, enact, legitimize and hence reproduce the dominant and
consensual ideological framework of their class and ethnic group. Yet, on
the other hand the media in general and news production in particular play
a central role in the very production mechanisms of ethnic attitudes and
racism. They may not always explicitly tell the public exactly what to think,
nor do all media users always agree with explicit or implicit ethnic opinions
expressed in the media. Yet, variety of opinion among the public, and even
the occasional dissent of a relatively small group, are not necessarily
incoherent with the general ethnic framework as it is expressed and con-
veyed by the media. A large part of the public consensus can only have
come about through mass mediated communication and information. Only
a relatively small part of the public is in fact or potentially victim of criminal
acts by minority group members. Yet, our analysis of much everyday talk
shows that many people are not only increasingly afraid of crime and vio-
lence, but explicitly associate this with minority group members, and refer
to the media to substantiate their prejudices (van Dijk 1987a). It is espe-
cially the (conservative, popular) press that pays such prominent attention
to minority crime, and to crime in general.
We have begun this inquiry by identifying racism as the structural
societal framework that enables and reproduces dominant group power.
Ultimately, all white people profit from this kind of power appropriated by
MEDIATING RACISM 221
their group as a whole. However, the leading power elite is particularly
interested in remaining in control of the power structure, both within their
own group, and with respect to the immigrant or ethnic outgroups. We
have argued elsewhere that it is plausible that the elite, through the media,
in fact provides the pre-formulations of many prejudices in society (van
Dijk 1987d). For power to be exercised, legitimized and reproduced, it
must also be expressed and persuasively conveyed in discourse and com-
munication (Mueller 1973). In modern industrial societies, this communica-
tion is no longer only local and interpersonal, but mass mediated. There-
fore, besides everyday discourse in socialization and conversation, and with
educational discourse, the mass media play a crucial role in the persuasive
reproduction of dominant ideologies in general, and of ethnic ideologies in
particular. We have seen that this role is not passive, but active. The media
not only express, reflect or disseminate ethnic opinions, but actively
mediate them, both among the various power elites themselves, as well as
between the elites and the public. They autonomously (re-)interpret, (re-)-
construct and (re-)present them, and therefore contribute themselves to
their production, and hence to the construction of the ethnic consensus that
underlies the racist ideologies and practices of our society.
NOTE
A more detailed version of this paper has appeared in van Dijk (1987c). This book also features
a chapter with an illustrative analysis of the press coverage of the immigration of Tamil refugees
to the Netherlands. A more extensive study, provisionally entitled, Racism and the Press, is in
preparation.
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Manipulation strategies in newspapers:
a program for critical linguistics
Florian Menz
University of Vienna
1. Introductiofi
lti December 1984 there were vehement disputes in Austria concerning
the construction of a hydroelectric power-plant on the Danube River at
Hl:l.itiburg, south of Vienna. The government intended to construct a
power-plant at a disputed location (a national conservation area was plan-
ned there). But demonstrators occupied the area and tried to prevent the
clearing of large parts of the Au Forest (primeval flood forest), in the
course of which there were conflicts between the police and the environ-
mentalists, which sometimes turned into violence. In this dispute the media,
espeeially the printed media, played an important role. Most influential was
the Neue Kronenzeitung (abbreviated as KR in the following) which sided
completely with the Au-protectors/occupiers and which strongly supported
a referendum which was under way in order to preserve the Au Forests.
How the support manifested itself in the language, which strategies were
employed by the KR and which myths it created for this purpose will be
analyzed in this paper.
First of all, however, a theoretical framework has to be established
within which such a critical analysis is possible and worth-while. For this
purpose it seems useful to employ existing concepts such as Critical Sociol-
ogy (Habermas 1971a; 1971b; 19732) and Critical Linguistics (Steiner 1985),
which however must be complemented by an additional component (Sec-
tion 2).
After these theoretical considerations, the role of the KR in Austria
and its position in the Austrian media will be discussed briefly, in order to
228 FLORIAN MENZ
make clear its importance in the conflict of Hainburg (Section 3).
The last part of the paper consists of a two-part-analysis of the report-
ing of the KR. First, the creation of new "trivial myths" will be discussed,
and strategies of ideological linguistic use made explicit and accessible to
everyone (Section 4). Secondly, the possibilities of linguistics will be
demonstrated on the basis of the example of a gloss of a well-known Aust-
rian columnist, possibilities which are realized by the use of certain analyti-
cal methods in the analysis of ideological language (Section 5).
2. "Critical linguistics": an extended model
As a reaction to the stamp which American behaviourism and Popper's
positivism has left on the last two decades, a sometimes heated discussion
has arisen regarding the subject and fundamental methodological problems
in the social sciences, a field to which, in my opinion, applied linguistics
also belongs. In the German-speaking world the discussion was settled in
the so-called Positivismusstreit der deutschen Soziologie ("dispute in the
German social sciences") (Popper 1957-1958; 1965; Adorno et al. 1969;
Albert and Topitsch 1971; Baier 1969). Starting with Adorno and Hork-
heimer, Habermas in particular (1967; 1968; 19732 ; 1971a; 1971b; 1976)
criticized the dangers of a purely positivistic science and its proneness to
ruling ideologies. A science which limits itself to the description and "ob-
jective" representation of facts neglects an important aspect, namely the
aspect that science is practiced by scientists, that is to say by -people with
opinions, concepts, interests and ideologies of their own. Habetmas out-
lines a scientific theoretical framework within which one can pursue critical
social sciences and hence also critical linguistics (Habermas 19732; 1976;
1981; 1985).
He develops a model which, compared with Popper's framework,
includes two essential new dimensions: a critical science, should it want to
legitimize itself, must first of all be self-reflective and, secondly, it must con-
sider the historical life-context in which linguistic and social interactions
take place. By self-reflection Habermas means an attitude: the scholar must
consider the social importance of his own actions, i.e. he must reflect. The
social and linguistic scholar is himself also part of that system which he
analyzes; hence he must be conscious of the fact that scientific research is
not "valuefree", it does not take place in a vacuum, in an invory tower, so
to speak, it is shaped by interests, and also by the scholar's own interests 1
(Habermas 19732: 234ff.). Thus it is absolutely necessary that the scholar
should declare and substantiate his interests (Burger 1979: 13ff.).
MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 229
If this were a matter of course in every field, it would represent great
progress in academic discussion and in the way a science views itself.
Dittmar (1982) shows, by means of the example of linguistics in Ger-
many, how science itself becomes ideology if it loses its self-reflective charac-
ter. It develops "immunization strategies" against the criticism of other ten-
dencies by preventing the possibility of proving or rejecting a theory.
Through these immunization strategies a theory becomes unimpeachable
and no longer challengeable; that is to say, it acquires an essential property
which is characteristic of ideologies: ideologies are without history, ap-
parently given by nature (cf. Wodak et al. 1986). This leads us to the
second essential dimension of a critical science: it must be conscious of
the fact that the social rules and the social context which it analyzes are his-
torically grown and not given by nature. They are derived from a life-con-
text and must be interpreted within their historical development (Kuhn
1967; Barthes 1964). If the social sciences observe these two constitutive
premises, another function arises: a "traditional science" (Horkheimer
1937) becomes a "critical science", more precisely a science which is critical
of ideology. In the anglophone realm the term "critical linguistics" appears
for the first time in Fowler et al. (1979) and in Kress and Hodge (1979). The
task of (applied) linguistics is, therefore, to reveal the underlying system of
beliefs, the "structure of faith" (Wodak et al. 1986). If this succeeds, a given
text (written or oral) may be shown to serve or reflect the interests of a
group of people or a social class. Schematically, the process of critical lin-
guistics can be represented as shown in Figure 1.
Critical linguistics
self-reflective "historical"
Critical of ideology
Reveiltion of:
Ruling structures
Interests of powerful groups
Concealments
Figure I
230 FLORIAN MENZ MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 231
Steiner (1985) explains this model of critical linguistics in detail
specifying some of its components and develops a linguistic theory of action
which is based on rhetoric, and which includes psychological as well as Instrumental action Social action
sociological parameters and categories. He is concerned with finding
categories other than those found in the mentalist-empiricist controversy, in
order to explain speech acts and to combine them with linguistic analyses:
\
Strategical action
"The concern of critical linguistics is to relate language to its users, and to Communicative action

~-linguimc
seek some principled way of bringing out the ideologies inherent in their
communications." (Steiner 1985: 218}
Hence, at this point, the models of Habermas and Steiner complement .
one another perfectly. Habermas (1976), starting out from a theory of uni- (Habermas, 1976: 223)
versal pragmatics, tries to embed linguistics in a general social theory of
action. Steiner (1985), starting from a theory of action, i.e. from a dynamic
model, defines the field of linguistics independently. The inter-relationship Sociological models Psychological models
between these two frameworks can be schematically illustrated (Figure 2).
This model, however, requires an additional component. Steiner, (1. the materials on which one (motivation
works
apart from sociological aspects (e.g. social control) also takes into account
psychological parameters (goal-directed action, motivation, planning, 2. instruments planning
execution, evaluation etc.), but he neglects the unconscious rrzO!Wations for 3. worker/agent execution
an action. But it is. exactly these which play an important role in a deeper
4. working operations evaluation)
understanding of human speech acts, because they are not subject to con-
scious control (Wodak 1981; 1983; 1984; 1986; Menz 1984; Wodak et al. 5. the end for which one works (Steiner 1985: 223)
1985). Hence, unconscious motivations, which manifest themselves linguisti- 6. the product)
cally, must be included in the analysis.
(Steiner 1985: 219)
A completed model for the linguistic analysis of ideological linguistic
use2 could-in a simplified way-look as illustrated in figure 3.3
In the following textual analysis, therefore, we have two goals: first to
find out by which linguistic means an influential daily paper tries to achieve Figure 2
certain aims (e.g. socio-political ones, those of the publishers, etc.) and sec-
ondly, which unconscious motivations of the editors may additionally

~~~.
merge with these consciously applied strategies of ideological linguistic use,
goals and motivations which are contrary to the aims in the foreground.
ground.
conscious unconscious

Figure3
232 FLORIAN MENZ
3. The importance of the "Neue Kronenzeitung" in Austria
Once it was the largest newspaper in Austria, and also the most important
one. Large, not in format, but in circulation. Popular, not because of sen-
sational headlines, but because it was done with good will. Because it had
its heart in the right place. Because it was courageous. Because it was
never boring. Because it always knew how to choose the most interesting
news from the infinite number of events in the world. Because it was dif-
ferent from other papers. Perhaps even better than most of them. Because
it knew what its reader's concerns were.
( ... )
We are free and independent. We write according to the dictates of our
own conscience and the well-being of our readers. The Kronenzeitung will
be what it has always been: a paper with a heart!
(Dragon 1983: 175f.; translation by the author)
With this opening message in the first issue of the KR, on April 11th
1959, the editors tried to establish the position of the resuscitated tabloid
paper. It was founded by two men, Hans Dichand and Kurt Falk, who have
been the exclusive owners of the paper ever since.
The KR is considered to be an independent daily paper whose editorial
line is a sum of the opinions of all the editors. By virtue of a very provoca-
tive, sometimes even aggressive strategy, the KR soon succeeded in becom-
ing the daily with the largest circulation in Austria. It arranged competi-
tions, introduced self-service stands, created its own marketing; it retained
its small A4 format and eventually it expanded its sales area (which initially
was primarily centred on the east of Austria including the federal capital of
Vienna) to other federal provinces with local editing offices.
In 1983 the KR announced a circulation of 973,765 copies4 and 2.37
million readers, which corresponds to a readership of 38.2%; that is to say,
of the total population of about 7 million Austrians more than one out of
three reads the KR. In Vienna the readership ratio even reaches 53%.
As far as the target readership is concerned, the KR is at the top of all
occupational groups except executives and officials, as well as at the top of
all educational categories except high school graduates and university-edu-
cated persons. The KR also has a dominant position across all age groups.
In national and international comparison the KR with 2.3 million read-
ers daily reaches a larger proportion of the population than any other paper
in Western Europe. And also in absolute terms, its 8th position puts it very
far in front. This relative and absolute dominance explains the importance
of the KR in the conflict about the hydroelectric power-plant at Hainburg
MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 233
on the Danube. Again and again the KR was said to have had close con-
tacts with the Austrian Federation of Labor because of its history (Muzik
1984: 189ff.). Through its Hainburg campaign the KR, according to Ml1Zik,
wanted to make clear its independence from the socialists. Therefore the
historical development of the KR, which plays an important factor in its
motivations, must be taken into account.
4. Trivial myths as means of ideologizing
Since the KR is Austria's largest tabloid paper, it was essential for the
development of the disputes between demonstrators and policemen that the
paper sided completely with the Greens and the environmentalists. Indeed,
this clear partisanship was partly responsible for their success.
The real motivations for its point of view - apart from the interest in
preserving a nature area and its independence. from the Socialist govern-
ment - could never be precisely discovered. It has, however, been
repeatedly rumored that the paper was primarily concerned with gaining
new young readers for whom this topic (environmental protection) had
positive connotations.s
In the following pages I would like to show, through a qualitative
analysis, the strategies the KR employs in order to pursue its aim - and,
above all, the new myths it creates to reach this goal. Myth has the function
of binding together social groups in order to represent their interests and to
create a common basis of identification. The task of critical linguistics, how-
ever, is to reveal such myths and to expose them (Moss 1985; Barthes
1964). For this purpose, the framework of critical linguistics, as outlined
above, seems to me especially appropriate. The exposure of ideological lin-
guistic use does not automatically eliminate the effect of ideologies and
myths, but in making them explicit it is possible to make them visible to
everybody and thus to encourage a conscious, i.e. critical, debate about
them.
Barthes (1964) called the critical investigation of myths "mythology"
and in his book Mythologien described its task as follows:
The revelation which it [mythology] achieves, is hence a political action.
Based upon the idea of responsibility of language, it postulates exactly in
itself freedom. It is certain that in this sense mythology is an affirmation of
the world, not as it exists, but as it creates itself.
(Barthes 1964: 148; translation by the author)
234 FLORIAN MENZ
We will analyze ideologies and myths as structures of faith (cf. Wodak
et al. 1986). These structures guide a society or a group and, combined with
political symbols (cf. below "tree", "Christmas", "new human being"), and
with power (because of the broad circulation of the KR), describe and jus-
tify their own claims. In the creation of new myths (cf. Section 4.3) lan-
guage becomes emotionally charged and patterns of identification are
offered which replace common-sense and rational thinking. Examples of
such "triggering elements" (Chilton 1985) which induce emotions, which
are typical of Austria and which the KR uses and applies, are the "Christ-
mas tree", "sacralized and anthropomorphized nature", "Austria as the
island of the blessed", etc. These will be discussed in detail below (Sections
4.3 and 5.). With reference to Barthes' "responsibility of language" I would
like to present the following analysis regarding the function of ideological
language and myths.
4.1 The strategy of "black and white depiction"
This is the most important strategy6 used by the KR in its reporting.
Linguistically this is shown by indicators such as the use of antithetic pro-
nouns (we/the others), by the haziness of central concepts (for example, the
"chaotic instructions from the Department of the Interior" referred to in
one of the following quotations), by the labelling of the polarized groups.
This strategy, however, is employed by the KR in various ways. Large
groups are not condemned globally; the composition of the paper's reader-
ship would mean that this would annoy many readers. Therefore, images
of an enemy have to be consciously created without, however, coming into
conflict with the laws governing the media.
For this purpose the KR aligns itself with the "common man" who rep-
resents the majority of its readers. This solidarity, however, may well be a
fictitious one, because the interests of a powerful newspaper are sharply
distinguished from those of the "powerless", the individual citizens. How-
ever, it is precisely this potentially discernible conflict of interests that must
be obscured if the KR wants to succeed.
In terms of this identification strategy neither the policemen nor the
timber-workers nor, of course, the demonstrators (who the KR sides with)
are to be blamed for the escalations, but rather executives, leading officials
of the trade-unions and politicians. The KR is certainly right to make this
distinction; but its ideology becomes suspect when the paper presents itself
MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 235
as powerless and denies its own function and power to influence the conflict
and fails to reflect upon its own role. One commentator expresses this in
the paper's editorial: "And thus arises the dangerous contrast between
"them up there" and "us down here" which in a true democracy should
never happen." (18., 2, E. Trost)7 (author's italics).
The pronoun us shows clearly which role the KR takes upon itself, how
it tries, by simple rhetorical means, to create the impression of unanimity
and agreement among all groups concerned including itself.
This strategy ("almost all" against "a few") also involves an attempt to
absolve policemen and officers from their responsibilities and to win them
over to its side. In fact, the reporting implies, they were just following
orders; if they had been free, they would have sided with the others. Poten-
tial opponents (police, timber workers etc.) and actual readers are hence
included for the newspaper's own purposes:
Hundreds of policemen who fought according to the last instruction, acted
under orders. (11., 8, H.P. Hasenohrl)
( ... )
Presumably against their will many young cadets from the police academy
also had to participate. (11., 8, H.P. Hasenohrl)
On Monday evening several commanders of police stations explained to an
editor of the "Krone" that they disapproved of the tough intervention
against the environmentalists, but that the violent intervention had been
ordered by a higher authority. ( 11., 8)
Well, the policemen's lot is not an enviable one, either. ( ... ) They are all
just carrying out orders. The blame lies elsewhere. (12., 41)
And there are also those officials and police officers who explained to the
editors of the "Krone" that they felt desperate about the sometimes chao-
tic instructions from the Department of the Interior; the whole thing dam-
ages the reputation of the police force. (13., 7)
This strategy implies that the KR tries to get law and order on its own
side. The legal argument was very complicated, and beyond the scope of
this article. However, it is certain that the government and the constructors
of the power-plant were in the right from a strictly legal point of view. This
is countered by claiming that the representatives of the law, i.e. police and
officials, are on the KR's side; and this is achieved by reporting in such a
way as to create the impression that the policemen have performed their
duty against their will.
Many more examples could be cited. I would just like to mention one
more fact which shows that manipulation occurs not only text-inherently,
but also through the choice and presentation of information:
236 FLORIAN MENZ
I have the feeling I am on the wrong side, admitted one of the policemen
on the telephone to an editor of the "Krone". It was not the only call in
which even high-ranked executives confessed their uneasiness about their
intervention. (16 .. 11)
In the Presse, a conservative, business-oriented Austrian daily paper,
which firmly supported the constructors of the power-plant, we find the fol-
lowing passage: "A policeman defined it precisely: 'The demonstrators are
already laughing at us, especially now after the threat, because nothing
really happened'." (PR, 18., 1)
This is obviously the exact opposite of the statements cited by the KR.
It may well be that policemen performed their duties at Hainburg unwil-
lingly. However, the way their views are presented by the KR (and also by
the Presse) contains clear ideological features which show that the reporting
has another function in addition to the overt one.
4.2 "Mythical groups of reference"
In order to pursue their scapegoating strategy without running into
conflict with the laws concerning the media, the KR employs an additional
strategy: the newspaper refers, as can be seen from the above examples, to
undefined anonymous groups. Edelman (1977: 30) calls this "reference to
mythical groups". He refers to groups which are not really tangible as, for
example, statistics (the "average man" who does not really exist), phrases
about the silent majority and so on. In the case of Hainburg the KR almost
exclusively reports anonymous statements which are in accord with its
ideas. The verification of such reports is impossible; mythical groups of ref-
erence are created which serve to legitimize the views of the newspaper. It
looks as if, from an endless number of possible reports, a few have been
selected by the editors as representative:
"I am happy for every official who does not have to go there", confessed a
high-ranked official( ... ) (16., 11)
( ... ) in the editor's office of the Kronenzeitung the telephones began to
ring incessantly. Several policemen where on the lines, ranging.from minor
supervisors to high-ranking officials. With desperation in their voices they
told us what they thought and felt about the marching orders to Hainburg.
(16., 11, H. Walter)
These are not at all the obscure legal conceptions of some "blinkered
environmentalists", but the concurring opinions of all lawyers who dealt
with this matter. (17., 9)
MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 237
Some of their supreme commanders sitting in the well-heated headquarters
of the Department of the Interior, were extremely annoyed about the fact
that no decision had been arrived at. [This refers to the attempt at eviction
on Monday, 12th Dec.]. (18., 8, H. Walter)
Verbatim quotation from the SPO-headquarters in Lowelstraf3e in Vie-
nna: "If the policemen had not acted forcefully, the angry workers would
be down in the Au Forest by now. And exactly the same is true if the
police are ordered back. Then it will come to a battle between workers and
students." (20., 3)
Neither names nor real processes are mentioned at all; they only speak
of "high-ranked officials", "all the lawyers", "some supreme commanders",
etc. Even "verbatim quotations" appear without identification.
4.3 Strategies of emotionalization
A fundamental characteristic of ideological language is the emotionali-
zation of facts (Wodak 1984; Wodak et al. 1985; 1986). Through
emotionalization, common-sense and rational argument are more or less
eliminated; independent thinking becomes superfluous. Frames are
offered; prefabricated patterns come into play and assume an independent
existence. The mythical language relieves the author of the responsibility
for his own thinking; it serves as an emotional crutch which one can lean on
without exerting one's own effort.
Linguistically, this is evidenced by the use of metaphors, cliches,
stereotypes and especially by the creation of handy trivial myths which
serve as a frame for the emotionalization. Three new myths can be distin-
guished in the reporting of the KR:
the myth of nature
a very special Christmas mysticism
the myth of a new human being.
The mythologizing of nature occurs primarily through its
anthropomorphization and its sacralization. Nature (the trees) is
humanized and is then treated and mistreated as a human being. In this way
emotions and feelings are created which far exceed the usual norms. At the
same time nature is also elevated to the status of a deity, sacrifices are
made; hence, nature is exalted in a dual way: everything which is "done" to
it, is at the same time also a crime against mankind (anthropomorphism)
and even a sacrilege against the deity (sacrilization).
 FLORIAN MENZ
238
As a gift to nature trees are planted on the clearing ~ite. (23., 9) . .
Christmas in the Au Forest. Camp-fires crackle with devout conviction.
(24., 13}
Ideals are deep in the heart. And trees do not cry. (24., 13} . almost falls), the tent (stable) instead of the hospital (the inn), policemen as
On the bare stumps of the felled trees directly under and next to the bndge
over the Danube River, environmentalists place thousands of candles.
(27., 7) . "frame": the poor, pitiable child in the crib on whom the ruling class plays
They made a pilgrimage on foot into the Au Forest with torches and can-
dles in their hands. The dams on each side of the soccer-field became plat-
forms. (ib.) . "( ... ) and when a light breeze caused the people to feel chilly, they thought
Fog came down and covered the crowd like the dome of a c~thedral. (1b.)
The destruction of the life-community in which and from which we human
beings live, means in the last analysis nothing less than the murder of man-
kind as a whole.
(quotation of Prof. K. Lorenz in KR 27 ., 7)
Expressions such as "gift", "cry" and so on, generally have the feature
[+human], i.e. they can only be used in relation to human beings. In t~is
case they are intentionally applied to other areas (nature, trees) to which
the feature [+human] has been transferred. This goes beyond the usual
application of metaphors, because these characteristics are not used as a
symbolic, metaphorical comparison, but as the apparent reality. . "This is our Christmas present for nature" (an environmentalist who was
The same appears in the (even more numerous) group of expressions
which should clearly be classified as sacral: "devout", "burning candles",
"pilgrimage", "dome of a cathedral" , "Christmas" etc. Nature loses its
status as an object (Raschauer and Hollinger 1984) and becomes a
humanized being to which social, even religious injustice is done. --
Christmas Eve (the conflict occurred from mid-December on) is also
an object for mythologizing. Here it comes to a fusion between historical
events and actual ones, between religious rites (Austria is traditionally a
Catholic country) and the mysticism of nature which in part is separated
and exists independently of the actual events.
A particularly apt example of a new trivial myth is written on Christ-
mas Day by a commentator on the second page:
Mary thought she could still risk going into the Au Forest. Hence, she and
Joseph went there by bus to stay for several nights. On bloody Wednesdays
Mary, too, had to run. Once she stumbled and would probably have fallen
if Joseph had not caught her. This and all the excitement probably caused
the premature birth. Until the ambulance arrived to take Mary to t~e
Hainburg hospital, young people stood around the woman and the ba?~ m
the tent, protecting them. Policemen brought blankets and a physician
among the environmentalists performed the services of a midwife. (25., 2,
E . Trost)
MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 239
The "Christmas story 1984" is based on parallels of the biblical story:
the premature birth, the protecting young people (cattle and donkeys?),
Joseph, the loyal and conscientious husband (he catches her when she
good shepherds. These "triggering elements" (Chilton 1985) create a whole
such a dirty trick.
Another passage by the same author two days later is very similar:
perhaps of the shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem." (27., 2, E. Trost)
Another "trigger" is the obvious image of the Christmas tree and the
Christmas gifts:
"Here we have enough living Christmas trees. The fact that they still exist,
is the nicest gift .. . " (23. , 8)
Many people brought Christmas trees for the Au-occupiers. (24., 6)
A tiny Christmas tree glimmers unassumingly. A few orn&ments glitter,
the candles have been extinguished by the wind. But this doesn't matter.
(24., 13)
Au-trees have been adorned with Christmas decorations. (27., 7)
planting new trees). (23., 9)
Memories of bright eyes of children, of innocence, untroubled joy, rest
from the hectic daily life, peace and similar associations are stirred up,
ideas which most Austrians associate with Christmas and the symbol of the
Christmas tree. All these associations are seriously disturbed as one holds
out in the Au against the enemy. This common enemy and, above all, the
limitations and privations suffered (voluntarily) by them , give all the people
concerned their own identity.
The third myth, the image of the new human being, pervades all the
writing. The KR "discovers" the young people: they are not pampered and
spoiled; on the contrary, they are "in an unbelievable way able t.o endure
strain" (Staberl in the KR on 23. 12. 1984, 10). The discovery of the new
community of the young people (against the powerful), their ability to
endure strain possibly serves, as we said above, to win over new young
readers for the paper.
The "Christmas peace" will be used as an opportunity, after days and
weeks of tension, of hunger and of holding out under most adverse condi-
tions, to take a hot bath again( .. . ). (23., 8)
To talk together, to eat together, to believe together. Community is not just
idle talk for the people in the Au Forest. Here it was experienced day after
240 FLORIAN MENZ
day. (24., 12)
The warmth which the young people are looking for cannot be measured in
kilowatt hours, but in contacts between poeple'. (quotation of Prof. R.
Riedl on 24., 12)
Then I thought: now you cannot leave for sure. Everybody counts. (quota-
tion of an environmentalist on 24., 13)
But everybody felt the warmth of the community. Everybody saw his
neighbour as his friend and felt bound to him because he had undergone
the strains of this night. (27., 2, E. Trost)
At least this group of young people is able to endure strain to an even unbe-
lievable degree( ... ). (23., 10, Staberl)
The fact that, after all, a deep mistrust of these young people and their
unpredictability exists, is shown by this last quotation: the positive qualities
are limited to only one group of young people.
Hence, the KR very successfully applies a broad variety of rhetorical
devices and strategies. As a result, partly at least as a result of its work, the
power-plant of Hainburg will not be built as it was originally planned.
5. An example of miscarried ideologizing
In the preceding section I attempted to explain the devices the KR
employs in order to demonstrate its point of view, namely the use of certain
strategies of ideological language (black-and-white depiction, scapegoating,
mythical groups of reference), the creation of certain trivial myths and the
use of a very emotionally charged language (anthropomorphizing and sac-
ralization of Nature, Christmas mysticism, the "new human being"). In this
section I would like to present an example of miscarried ideologizing ac-
cording to the line of the paper and to show what a linguistic analysis can
contribute to the relevation of ideologies. For this purpose, as already men-
tioned above (Section 2), one must not only consider a manifest textual
level but also include a latent level in the interpretation (cf. multi-level-
mod~l of Wodak 1981 and Wodak et al. 1986). Unconscious motivations
especially express themselves on this latent level, because they cannot be
very well controlled by the speaker or writter - particularly in the hectic
atmosphere of an editorial office - and hence they flow unconsciously into
the (written or oral) text.
On the basis of an accurate textual analysis, however, one can become
aware of this level and thus it can be made "to speak". The text is included
as an appendix.
The column is characterized by a strong ambivalence and by clear con-
MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 241
tradictions between the manifest and the latent level. On the manifest level
of the surface structure "Staber}" - completely according to the general
line of the KR - sides with the occupiers of the Au Forest of Hainburg and
apparently defends them:
On the other hand, however, we must also give credit to the demonstrators
in that they have contributed to the creation of a benificent consciousness
regarding the general scepticism as far as official decisions are concerned
( ... )(lines 15-18).
In a more in-depth analysis of the latent level. however, contradictions
become obvious which can be revealed with the aid of the following indi-
cators.
On the macrostructural level. the beginning and the end of this article
(the budget disaster, the shut-down of a factory, the referendum against a
conference centre) have nothing to do with Hainburg; rather they are
hobby-horses of "Staberl". Here he establishes apparently causal relation-
ships between events which have nothing to do with one another.
The conjunction while indicates this adversative-causal relationship of
independent events, also because of (in the second to the last paragraph)
has a causal meaning and creates associations referring ro a relationship.
This combination of non-sequiturs by logical connectors is a typical
characteristic of ideological language (Moss 1985). The ambivalences on
the micro-structural level distinguish themselves through the use
of stereotype expressions
of mediating adjectives
of "treacherous" nouns
through the relativizing with attenuating particles
through the relativizing by using the subjunctive.
The stereotype expression itself serves as a structure for the evocating
of certain myths and cliches. Moss (1985) speaks, in this context. of "cul-
ture triggers" (cf. also Section 4.3 "Christmas mysticism") and says:
Its invocation [of such stereotypes] acts as a culture-trigger to the audience
and facilitates the drawing of conclusions in a more familiar frame of refer-
ence. (Moss 1985: 49)
Typical "triggers" for Austria in this article are as follows:
( ... )are not at all to the liking of some easy-going Austrians( ... ) (line 15).
But, no. People's submission and the arrogance of the authorities have
won (line 57).
242 FLORIAN MENZ
Two Austrian cliches are referred to: the easy-going character of the
Austrians in general and their full confidence in and subservience to higher-
ranking authorities. The latter is a relic of the time of the Habsbury dynasty
in which the Austrians were generally considered to be good, obedient and
rather quiet and submissive subjects.
With these associations the author creates possibilities of identifica-
tion, but possibilities which are not necessarily in the interests of the Au-
protectors. Hence, in this case the column contradicts the general line of
the paper which strongly supported the Au-protectors; this contradiction,
however, does not occur on the surface level (here "Staberl" argues for the
environmentalists); rather it can be noticed through a deeper hermeneutic
interpretation. Something similar occurs with phrases such as "demonstra-
tions all over the world" (line 9) which are nothing good; the young people
have seen it on television (line 9); after all, they cannot really be blamed for
the fact that the world is so attentive and restless. Austria as the "island of
the blessed" in a world of wars and unrest which are also imported into this
country by television, is referred to here as a cultural myth. Also the fact
that "it so often occurs in the world's history" (line 38) and that it seems
that "the situation is like the Sieben Schwaben" (line 34) creates negative
associations regarding the Au-protectors. This manner of writing, on the
one hand, stirs up emotions and triggers chains of associations in precise
directions (Austria as the island of the blessed is in danger); on the other
hand, however, it renders superfluous any argument as to whether this self-
portrait was ever true, whether any foreign control actually exists etc.
Instead of facts and substantiations, stereotypes and cliches are given.
The use of mediating adjectives which are connected with positive qual-
ities of the Au-occupiers, also indicates a strong ambivalence on the part of
the author:
- The creation of consciousness to which the Au-protectors contribute, is
"beneficent"; hence, it belongs rather to coffee parties or thelike, but it
is not critical in a political sense (line 17).
- The fact that dozens of demonstrators have been beaten by the police, is
"unpleasant" (line 46). Such formulations already belong to the sphere
of euphemisms, which are characteristic of ideologically distorted lan-
guage (Chilton 1985; Fowler and Marshall 1985; Moss 1985). The pecul-
iarity of this case lies exclusively in the fact that the ideologizing does
not coincide with the line of the paper and that it was probably not even
the intention of the author.
MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 243
- The demonstrators "have seen it done on television" how one lies down
"rigidly in front of excavators and construction machines". The fact that
this might have been a conscious political act, not only the imitation of
some action abroad, would have been too dangerous for the author to
see. Thus he also uses formulations here which are rather suited to chil-
dren at their obstinate ("rigidly", "to see on television") than to adult
citizens in a democracy.
The same happens by using "treacherous" nouns: positive actions are
expressed by negatively connoted (or ambivalent) nouns.
"An endless number of measures for the benefit of nature". The protec-
tion of nature is desired; but what is. done for this purpose, is expressed
by a negative word. The endless number suggests "more than is good for
otle" (line 24).
"Brutality - and this word is actually appropriate here - ( ... )". It does
not refer to measures taken by the police against demonstrators (which
are rather harmless or "unpleasant"), but rather to "measures" taken
against nature in the course of another construction of a power-plant.
By using ambivalent nouns ("brutality", the author again presents an
apparently causal relation of facts which are in fact independent from
one attothet (line 21).
"The rebelliousness (Aufmupftgkeit) of the Au-protectors of Hainburg
( ... )". Stnall, naughty children are generally rebellious against their
parents (according to the common cliche) but not adult citizens.
R~sponsibility is again diminished; a conscious rational action is denied
to the demonstrators.
"Those prominent leaders" (Anfuhrer). The word Anfuhrer in German
is used almost exclusively in connection with gangs (bands of robbers,
criminal youth gangs). We also have here, aside from the conscious
defamation of the organizers, who are compared with the cowardly
Seven Swabians, an unconscious defamation of the demonstrators (line
30).
- The "non-violent resistance" (line 40) is in quotation marks; hence, from
the author's point of view it is not necessarily non-violent. In the media
a detailed discussion took place on what non-violent resistance actually
was; the KR, however, held the point of view throughout that the
demonstrators did not use violence.
Also the use of specific particles has a relativizing character (cf. Wodak
1983; 1984; Weydt 1979; 1983). In this article they are used frequently (5x
244 FLORIAN MENZ
so, 2x some, after all, indeed, perhaps, of course, certain, (not) at all).
On the one hand, it can be shown that the author of the article tries to
write in accordance with the line of the paper in favour of the
demonstrators in the Au Forest of Hainburg; on the other hand, it could be
shown that this conscious pro-position is relativized by an (unconscious) use
of a strongly ambivalent manner of writing, or even turned into its oppo-
site. For this purpose "Staberl" uses a language with very ideological ele-
ments (defamation, euphemisms, cliches and stereotypes), but he uses
them in contexts which are diametrically opposed to the intentions of the
newspaper. This brings out, in my opinion, two different facts. First, the
formal structures of ideological language remain identical, irrespective of
the contents. Whether one writes in favour of or against the demonstrators,
the linguistic means for achieving one's own aims do not change. 9
Secondly, it is clear that the ideological "socialisation" cannot be
denied. Even when "Staberl" consciously wants to write in favour of the
demonstrators and Au-protectors, there are repeated non-sequiturs and
contradictions in his text which suggest that his true opinion is just the
opposite. 10
By using these indicators, this ambivalence, which is also intuitively
perceivable, can be presented and discussed in such a way that it becomes
accessible to everybody. This transparency is one of the important tasks of
critical applied linguistics.
NOTES
1. For linguistics, self-reflection is particularly important, because language is at the same
time an object- and a metasphere. Hence. the explicit introduction of self-reflection in its
field of research is essential. A fundamental difference between science and ideology lies
precisely in this self-reflection and in the testing (in the sense of natural sciences and
humanities) of its statements and theories. Scientific argumentations must be accessible to
everybody, whereas ideologies one has to believe.
2. For the characteristics of ideological language and the concept of ideology compare
Wodak et al. (1986).
3. For the integration of conscious as well as unconscious factors which influence the plan-
ning of texts, Lutz and Wodak (1985: 83ff.) elaborated a differentiated, "integrative
model". For this and for a multi-level model also compare Wodak et al. (1985, 1986).
Sociopsychological, cognitive-psychological and also pure textual factors interact with
one another and affect the textual production (cf. Wodak 1983a).
4. These and the following figures are taken from Muzik (1984).
MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 245
5. The demonstrators in the Au Forest were to a large extent students. Precisely at this edu-
cational level (high school graduates) the KR is underrepresented (cf. Section 3). This
fact would support the rumor.
6. In recent years in the field of applied linguistics it has become usual to strategically inter-
pret textual planning (cf. Zammuner 1981; 1985) as well as textual comprehension (cf.
van Dijk and Kintsch 1983). That is to say, those who use language, do not use language
according to strictly given rules, they rather apply flexible strategies which are partially
pre-planned and which partially arise from the situation of the specific speech act. These
strategies can represent conscious planning processes in the macro-context as well as
u11co11scious textual organizers in the micro-context. Thus it is now possible to describe
and explain the different stages of textual planning more explicitly than previously.
7. The figures in parentheses after each quotation indicate the publishing date in December
1984, the page and, where an article is signed, the name of the author: e.g. December
18th 1984, page 2.
8. "Bloody Wednesday" was December 19th, 1984, the day on which the most violent dis-
putes and fights took place.
9. This is clearly brought out by the analysis of another Austrian daily newspaper which
sided completely with the constructors of the power-plant and whose strategies were for-
mally nevertheless identical to the ones described here (cf. Wodak et al. 1985: 29ff.).
10. On the influence of ideological socialisation on the textual production compare Wodak et
al. (1985: 98ff.) and Wodak et al. (1986).
REFERENCES
Adorno, Theodor W. 1969. Der Positivismusstreit in der deutschen
Soziologie. Berlin-Neuwied.
Albert, Hans and Ernst Topitsch. (eds). 1971. Werturteilsstreit. Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Baier, H. 1969. "Soziale Technologie oder soziale Emanzipation? Zurn
Streit zwischen Positivisten und Dialektikern iiber die Aufgaben der
Soziologie". In Thesen zur Kritik der Soziologie, B. Schafers (ed.), 9-25.
Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Barthes, Roland. 1964. Mythen des Alltags. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Biirger, Peter. 1979. Vermittlung - Rezeption - Funktion. Asthetische
Theorie und Methodologie der Literaturwissenschaft. Frankfurt/Main:
Suhrkamp.
Chilton, Paul. (ed.). 1985. Language and the Nuclear Arms Debate: Nuke-
speak Today. London & Dover, N .H.: Frances Pinter.
Van Dijk, Teun and W. Kintsch. 1983. Strategies of Discourse Comprehen-
sion. New York: Academic Press.
246 FLORIAN MENZ
Dittmar, Norbert. 1982. "On the connection between ideology and linguis-
tics". In Ideologia, Filosofia e Linguistica, D. Gambarra and A. D'Atri
(eds), 469-497. Roma: Bulzoni.
Dragon, Friedrich. 1983. "Die 'Krone': Eine Zeitung mit Herz". In 200
Jahre Tageszeitung in Osterreich, Franz Ivan et al. (eds), 175-185. Graz:
Styria.
Edelman, Murray. 1977. Language and Politics. New York: Academic
Press.
Fowler, Roger et al. 1979. Language and Control .. London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul.
Fowler, Roger and Tim Marshall. 1985. "The war against peacemongering:
language and ideology". Chilton 1985: 3-22.
Habermas, Jurgen. 1967. Zur Logik der Sozialwissenschaften. ( = Philos-
phische Rundschau, Beiheft 5). Tubingen.
Habermas, Jurgen. 1968. Technik und Wissenschaft als Ideologie.
Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Habermas, Jurgen. 1971a. "Vorbereitende Bemerkungen zu einer Theorie
der kommunikativen Kompetenz". In Theorie der Gesellschaft odef
Sozialtechnologie - Was leistet die Systemforschung?, Jurgen Habermas
and Niklas Luhmann (eds), 101-141. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Habermas, Jurgen. 1971b. "Der Universalitatsanspruch der Herrnetteutik".
Hermeneutik und Ideologiekritik, Karl-Otto Apel (ed.), 120-159.
Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Habermas, Jurgen. 19732. Erkenntnis und Interesse. Mit einem neuen
Nachwort. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Habermas, Jiirgen. 1976. "Was heiBt Universalpragmatik?" In Sprachprag-
matik und Philosphie, Karl-Otto Apel (ed.), 174-272. Frankfurt/Main:
Suhrkamp.
Habermas, Jurgen. 1981. Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns, 2 vol.
Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Habermas, Jurgen. 1985. Der philosophische Diskurs der Moderne. ZwOlf
Vorlesungen. Frankfurt/Main: Suhtkamp.
Horkheimer, Max. 1937. "Traditionelle und kritische Theorie". In
Kritische Theorie, Max Horkheimer (ed.), 137-191. Frankfurt/Main:
Suhrkamp.
Kress, Gunther and R. Hodge. 1979. Language as Ideology. London: Rout-
ledge & Kegan Paul.
Kuhn, Thomas. 1967. Die Struktur wissenschaftlicher Revolutionen.
Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 247
Lutz, Benedikt and Ruth Wodak. 1987. Information fur lnformierte. Wien:
Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Menz, Florian. 1984. "Schicht- und herkunftsspezifische Unterschiede bei
der Textplannung". In Sprache und Gesellschaft. Akten des 18. Lin-
guistischen Kolloquiums, vol. 2, Herwig Krenn et al. (eds), 215-225.
Tubingen: Niemeyer.
Menz, Florian. 1985. "Leistungen der Linguistik fiir die Sprache in
Institutionen: 'Diagnostische' oder 'therapeutische' Wissenschaft?".
Aufrisse 4: 39-42.
Moss, Peter. 1985. "Rhetoric of defense in the United States: lang~age,
myth and ideology". Chilton 1985: 45-63.
Muzik, Peter. 1984. Die Zeitungsmacher. Osterreichs Presse. Macht,
Meinungen und Milliarden. Wien: Orac.
Popper, Karl. 1957-58. Die offene Gesellschaft und ihre Feinde. 2 vol. Bern.
Popper, Karl. 1965. Das Elend des Historizismus. Tubingen.
Raschauer, Otto and Friedrich Hollinger. 1984. "Naturmythen und Hain-
burg". Natur 2: 16-19.
Steiner, Erich. 1985. "The concept of context and the theory of action".
Chilton 1985: 215-230.
Weydt, Harald. (ed.). 1979. Die Partikeln der deutschen Sprache. Berlin:
De Gruyter.
Wodak, Ruth. 1981. Das Wort in der Gruppe. Wien: Akademie der Wis-
senschaften.
Wodak, Ruth. 1983a. "Arguments in favour of a socio-psycho-linguistic
theory of text planning. Sexspecific language behaviour revisited".
Klagenfurter Beitriige zur Sprachwissenschaft 9: 313-350.
Wodak, Ruth. 1983b. "Eigentlich habe ich meine Mutter sehr gerne ... "
Sozio- und psycholinguistische Uberlegungen zur Partikelverwendung".
Partikeln und Interaktion, Harald Weydt (ed.), 203-212. Tubingen: Narr.
Wodak, Ruth. 1984. Hilfl.ose Nii.he? - Mutter und Tochter erziihlen. Wien:
Deuticke.
Wodak, Ruth. 1986. Language Behavior in Therapy Groups. Berkeley:
Univ. California Press.
Wodak, Ruth, Florian Menz, Benedikt Lutz and Helmut Gruber. 1985. Die
Sprache der Miichtigen und Ohnmiichtigen: Der Fall Hainburg. Eine
sozio- und textlinguistische Analyse. Wien.
Wodak, Ruth, Florian Menz, Benedikt Lutz and Helmut Gruber. 1986.
"Hainburg und die Medien - die Wirklichkeit ist so, wie wir sie sehen
wollen". Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft 2: 139-155.
248 FLORIAN MENZ
MANIPULATION STRATEGIES IN NEWSPAPERS 249

Zammuner, V. 1981. Speech Production. Strategies in Discourse Planning. 35 like the "Sieben Schwaben" ("Seven Swabians"): "You go to the
A Theoretical and Empirical Enquiry. Hamburg: Buske. front, you go to the front - you are wearing the bigger boots!"
Zammuner, V. 1985. "Strategies Speakers Use to Achieve a Good Com- Blame for the present turbulent scenes in the Au Forest is
munication". Paper presented at the First International Congress of placed - as so often occurs in the world's history - on the
Applied Linguistics. Barcelona, 17-20th June 1985. (Manuscript). wrong people, the innocent ones. The policemen in particular 1
40 who were the cause of the whistling, the rage and the "non-
violent resistance" of the demonstrators, were certainly not
to blame. Just like anywhere else, the "cops" sent off to
APPENDIX 1: Translated text guard building sites of power-plants or construction pro-
jects of runways, were not to blame for anything.
Staber[: The battle of Hainburg 45 There is of course the question whether we could have avoided
the present unpleasant development. After all, there is a total-
While all over Austria the writing is already on the wall in ly legal referendum in progress against the power-plant con-
all respects, while a budget disaster of an immense proportion struction of Hainburg. Could we not have first awaited the ref-
threatens to occur in two years and while in the case erendum before starting the work? Was it really impossible to
of the Styrian engineering works Andritz threatens to become a 50 postpone a project which had already been discussed for such a
5 new Eumig case, at Hainburg the battle for the Au Forest is long time?
continuing with an undiminishing, ever increasing Of course because of the conference centre referendum,in which
ferocity. almost 1.4 million Austrians were offended in a scandalous
The young demonstrators are unquestionably acting "illegally" way ,on\: certainly should be sceptical as far as the
according to the statutes, as they lie down rigidly in front of 55 effectiveness of referendums is concerned. It would have been
10 excayators and construction machines, in a similar fashion as wise to wait with the beginning of the construction. But, no.
they have seen it done on television in enough other demon- People's submission and the arrogance of the authorities have
strations all over the world. It is also clear that the most won. One must now live with the consequences.
recent events in the Au Forest, presented in every detail on (KR, December, 12th 1984, p.6; translation by the author)
television, are not at all to the liking of some easy-going
15 Austrians. On the other hand, however, we must also give credit
to the demonstrators in that they have contributed to the cre-
action of a beneficent consciousness regarding the general
scepticism as far as official decisions are concerned, and that
this is still lhe case even when their methods incur the dis-
20 approval of many people.
Whoever refuses to believe this should notice with what brutal-
ity - and this word is actually appropriate here - the power-
plant constructors still proceeded in Greifenstein, how the
landscape there was recklessly mutilated and destroyed and what
25 an endless number of measures for the benefit of nature have
now, after all, been imposed for Hainburg.
All these measures, all these considerable cumulativ, im-
provements would never have come about without the
rebelliousness of the Au-protectors of Hainburg. At this
30 point, of course, it must be noted that those very prominent
leaders who earlier under various covers alerted the public
attention, demonstrated in the present events a certain dis-
creet (on-the-spot) reserve; this was also probably due to
being faced with large numbers of policemen. The situation is
 The case of W.
A critical journey to the border between psychiatry and justice

Ernst Strouhal
University of Vienna

Mastery of language exists only as mastery of its worst and

most inadequate possibilities.
Martin Walser

One should not say it would not be worth the trouble. And
incidentally, I want no man's judgement, I merely wish to
disseminate knowledge, I merely report, even to you, noble
gentlemen of the academy, I have only reported.
Franz Kafka

1. Preamble and purpose

The object and occasion of the following article is a psychiatric report

in a matter relating to the custody of a child. In this report requested by a
judge, a psychiatrist sets out to evaluate the mental condition of a mother,
"in particular whether she is fit to bring up the child", as it says in the
judge's instructions to the consultant.
The report concludes a case of paranoid schizophrenia, with the
patient's condition not expected to improve in the foreseeable future. It
was not least due to this diagnosis that the child was given into the custody
of an aunt of the mother.
The psychiatric report is an institutional linguistic practice at the point
of intersection of several discourses: those of justice, science and medicine.
This has also marked my interest in the interpretation of this text. In gen-
eral what we encounter here are discursive forms which constitute power in
252 ERNST STROUHAL
a specific manner and in the light of which the formation and working of
institutional speech acts can be studied by way of illustration.
2. Methodic premises
The text of the psychiatric report is by no means clear. It is read,
experienced and used in very different ways by the various parties involved.
For the judge it served as a basis for a decision, for the psychiatrist the
report was a routine job, for the client W. it was, as we shall see, a terrible
experience.
Due to these different interpretations and uses of the text and the
impact of the report on the life of W., a purely formal, objective text
analysis alone would not appear to be sufficient. In order to be understood,
the artefact of the report must first again be transformed into a discourse.
An action-oriented research approach was chosen for this purpose.
The two parties involved (W. as examinee and the psychiatrist as examiner)
were interviewed independently of one another. This gave rise to a new text
- a montage or comparison of those involved and of the expert text (cf. 5).
The montage illustrates the difference between the disc::ourse of the
consultant psychiatrist and that of the examinee W. The montage is fol-
lowed by several fragmentary attempts at interpretation of this newly
created "text cell" (cf. 6).
The psychiatric report is the type of text which employs the
institutionalised language of bureaucracy (justice, administration). It is
therefore part of the culture of writing, 1 a fact which is essential to an
understanding of the discourse of the report. Written communication and
its peculiarities represent the pragmatic and functional framework of com-
munication during the appraisement: Semiotically, "writing" defines the
"i~terpretant" of the signs in the psychiatric report. 2 In the procedural
interpretation of text linguistics, the actual communication objective (main
goal) of the psychiatrist is the transfer of oral communication into writing
under the peculiar conditions of this form of institutionalised speaking. 3
Inasmuch as "writing" in this instance represents the "interpretant" of
the sign triad, methods aimed at dialogue interpretation with an objective
observer position are not sufficient in order to be able to describe the con-
stitution of the power relationships. The aim of exercising this power is
writing. For this reason I have attempted to use a procedure which on the
one hand will incorporate my own position as a researcher in the discourse, 4
THE CASE OF W. 253
and even constitute a separate discourse, whilst on the other providing a
detailed hermeneutic analysis. The writing of the report should be made to
speak. 5
Both procedures may be described with terms from the film industry.
The participative discursive constitution could be the "long shot", directing
the eye towards the overall scene. In this case the detailed hermeneutic
analysis of selected text sequences would be the "close-up" which allows
details to be perceived in the enlargement.
However, what I am mainly concerned with is the "long shot", giving
a living documentation of a communicative process put down in writing
which is institutionally the heart of the "Case of W.". 6
I have therefore gone into the "Case of W.", accepting all the risks
which such an undertaking involves. In particular this risk in the "Case of
W." means realising the frequently evoked hermeneutic standard of
sociolinguistics or discourse analysis; not alienating the subjectiveness of
the interpretation, but, on the contrary, using it productively as a means of
obtaining a holistic method of observation, and of writing "I" where I
would habitually have used the passive or the academic "we".
3. Where does a story begin?
I came across this story when it had long become a case, and the files
on the "Case of W." had been closed. The story of W. and the case of W.
interact with one another and today can scarcely be entirely reconstructed.
W. comes from the country and marries at the age of 18. Two years
later she divorces her husband and travels to India with her friend P. They
stay for a month, want to stay longer, and discover, like so many at this
time, their love of the East. Back in Austria, she marries P. W. gives birth
to a child, Judith. They move to Innsbruck and all three of them return to
India in 1978. This time their stay in India lasts nine months. The couple
split up. W. and Judith live with a small American sect. W. burns her
papers and spends three months in prison as a result. Judith falls ill. Finally
they both leave India again with another concept of nature, education and
normality. After her experiences in India, W. does not have a particularly
easy time. Depressed and alone, having been deserted by P., she moves
back to her mother in the country. W. therefore sends Judith to an aunt
until she feels better. W. leaves her mother and moves to Sternhof in
Styria, a small, self-administered co-operative producing bioproducts.
 ERNST STROUHAL
254
In the meantime, the story of W. becomes the case of W. Both dis-
courses are suddenly accelerated and start to take place parallel to one
another. W.'s mother and aunt apply for a court order for Judith to be tem-
porarily placed in the custody of the aunt. In th~ meantime W. moves fro.m
Sternhof to Vienna, where she meets T. and divorces P. W. makes a mis-
take: pressed by the judge, she gives her consent to the aunt being given
custody of Judith. Judith goes to live with the aunt. Together with T., W.,
in Vienna, tries to get Judith back, and makes an appropriate petition to
the court. The judge explains to W. that he needs a psychiatric report for
his decision, and tells her that he knows a "good psychiatrist". W. agrees,
is summoned and tested.
The evaluation takes place in the judge's chambers. The psychiatrist,
an assistant who administers the tests, the judge's secretary (a schoolfriend
of W.), the judge himself and a second client are in the room together with
W. Questions are posed and tests administered. The report is based on a
diagnosis produced by the psychiatrist from the judge's files, a cross-sec-
tional psychiatric investigation (intellect, disposition, instincts) which con-
sists of a half-hour talk and a number of psychological tests (Kloos intelli-
gence test, Binet-Simon test, man-and-tree drawing test, Busemann's draw-
ing test, Rorschach test and WIP test). . runs down the middle of the page, the interview with W. (intertext I) down
The diagnosis . concludes that this is definitely a case of paranoid
schizophrenia: W. is therefore unsuited to bring up Judith. In fact, accor~
ing to the psychiatrist, the schizophrenic deficiencies would even be suff~
cent to justify a limited legal incapacitation under 1 para. 2 of the Unfit
Persons Act. The judge accepts the report and formulates a corresponding
rejection of W.'s petition. The custody of Judith is definitively granted to
the aunt. However, the judge declines to declare W. unfit. The threat of
this - so it would appear - has more effect than its implementation. At
this time W. is working as a babysitter for a doctor in Vienna. She has to
supervise three children. In 1984 her second child, Sophia, sees the light of
day.
4. Montage as a method of critical discourse analysis
The case of W. would have ended there, had the terrible experience of
the report and the threat of being declared unfit been sufficient to keep W.
silent. However, W. copied the file after it had already been closed. It
reached a public for which it had obviously not been intended. 7
THE CASE OFW. 255
What happened during the report? The artefact of the report alone is
not sufficient to provide an introduction to the situation, the background,
or the pragmatic framework. For this reason I carried out two interviews -
one with W. the examinee, and the second with the investigating psychiat-
rist. W. comments on the situation and the report. In doing so she attempts
to establish a posteriori the interdependence between her story and the
signs in the text. In other words, she replaces the medium of writing by the
metacommunication of memory.
A dialogue was held with the psychiatrist about the recognition of
paranoid schizophrenia and his methods of measurement. In this way, the
psychiatrist also substituted the interpretant function of the signs in his
report, albeit unwittingly. The functionality of the signs becomes involved
in the crisis of scientific discourse. The exciting paradox of the interview
results from the fact that this is a self-interpretation: the scientist judges the
consultant - though both are one and the same person.
Both discourses on the artefact of the report are rounded off by the
judge's order so as to illustrate clearly the functional level of the action (the
connection between report and legal order).
I have now mounted these texts side by side: the artefact of the report
the left-hand side and the dialogue with the psychiatrist (intertext II) down
the right-hand side. A short quotation from the court order (intertext III) is
the logical conclusion of all three texts.
As a result, the montage offers a wide variety of horizontal and vertical
modes of reading as indicated by the lines. The linearity of the reception in
the chronological syntagma of the text structure is destroyed in the interests
of an associative and synchronous interlocking of contexts.
In this manner the artefact of the report functions as a score which is
interpreted by the three language games (intertexts or Sprachspiele).B Due
to the accompanying interviews and the quotation from the court order, it
is revoked, confirmed, extended and in a certain sense endless.
The montage thus produces a new discourse as the result of working on
the text. Right from the start, this work was an interpretative activity
steered by the semantic entities of the artefact of the report. The produc-
tion of the discourse thus has a hermeneutic and interpretative standard in
which a subjective engagement and interest in the text play an important
role.
In my opinion, discourse analysis cannot aim at the scientific repudia-
 THE CASE OF W. 257
256 ERNST STROUHAL

,.-------~
tion of this subjective engagement of the interpretation to the extent that
"the interpretation reflects the light of a growing understanding of the text
back at the standards from which it was derived." (Habermas 1968: 193).
Dispensing with this interpretative consciousness (here clearly evident
in the constitution of the discourse) would mean dispensing with any eman-
cipation from the methods always preceeding the object and thus
inadequate for the object "language", which lives through fragments and
development.
Like the activity of philological text interpretation, the activity of
'o
mounting texts cannot be regarded as anything other than a creation deter- :
mined by the meaning of the psychiatric report. In the creative act of ..!!
'!c
mounting/interpreting, this creation in a sense becomes poetic practice as a
an attempt at emancipation within a reflected criticism of tradition. 9 Truth .s
c
is not the objective of this practice, but a momentary fixation 10 and critical 0
i::
~
de-automationll of a semiotic event. E
a~
In place of the scientific measuring of an only apparently given text ,Q:=
.:.&:
0 u
volume, I therefore use the metaphor of "measuring out" a text cell. The
text cell "report" generated by the montage - manifest phenotext +
c.
e, g.
;i;.~
..
genotext12 - gives the interpreter freedom of movement. In measuring out .,,_
-5..,
-a
~.:
he combines specific places and various points within this cell, guided by his '- M
a-
... t
current interest. .H
This movement by the interpreter must not be unscientific, for in eu .St
measuring out the text cell he is also "surveyed" in a very specific sense. 13
The form and shape of the communicative event can at least be provision-
-...
;~
._i .!~
-i.l
ally determined. ~ 5
&. ...
Of course, it can no longer be definitively reconstructed in the sense of 1: .5
.,,;;i;'
a historical "establishment of truth". All in all it seems to me that socio-sci-
entific and in particular sociolinguistic practice have very little in common !~ :i, "g
:gji
c ..
ll:~
with "establishment of truth". TEXT as an object of research simply does
not exist as a "given" product (datum brutum). Text is generated at the
moment of observation, language is always language (speech) in statu nas-
cendi. In a phenomenologically revised concept of text in this sense, the
borders between discovery and creation naturally become blurred. 14
In a special way, the following montage is therefore like a work of art.
It can be read in the sense of Kafka's "Report to an Academy" (see intro-
ductory quotation). Of course there is one significant difference: with Kafka
the text is fictitious and the academy factual. In this case it is the exact
opposite; the interviews, the report and the court order are factual, the
academy, to whom this report might be made, is fictitious.
 Those are people who I liked an
~ You can imagine Iha& under
~ awful lot at the time, their -y or
51 lire bad always been my dream.
~ They also had children, about the
same age .. Judith. I thought this
~" would be the best place ror Judith.
What I noticed, how the children
"n
~ behaved with one another, I've
never seen anything like it in my
~ lire, how they helped one another
and were aocial to one another.
~
60 F: But that there wu torture
61 there?
W: That's just not true. Things
~ because he excludes himselr u a
~ did happen though.
M They didn't go to the doctol5
~ either, you know, I couldn't un
~ dcl5tand that.
F: And what do you think about
~
~ this today? 117 been in a mental home, but attempled to get help rrom p1ychiatrists in India and in ViennL Sbe was al-
~ W: I think they are much to
m hard, but somehow they got quite
71 rar. They created something which
n I somehow admire. They also
n learned a lot rrom the animals,
N how the animals behave child-
10
H ren, that they arc no longer afraid,
% so that they ean leave the decision
n to the children and say that child
n rcn arc able to decide for them 120 There
w selves what is dangerou1. But in
~ other rc1pect.s they were not re-
81 sponsible. Once Judith nn away,
n when I wu nol there. And they
u did not stop her.
~ She wu then taken to hoapital
~ by the Indians, ii wu run by the
~
~
English, and where the orphans
were.
The report contains tbinp
"
~
~ which are not true, which are not
correct, where I am certain that I
91 didn't get them mixed up or didn't
~ mean it like that.
~
~ Somehow I noticed the newspa-
~ per vendors, I didn't reel sorry ror
% them. They earn rrom a country
!17 which 1omehow attracted me.
~ Then I slept with one. - - - - - i
~ I told him (the psychiatri11} that
100 so freely because I also wanted to
100 make it clear to him what I actu
102
1ro
104
ws
ally am. what kind or a person I
am, to make myself undentand..
able somehow, or to make him un.. 200 Colotir lest after-..:
dcntand how I got involved. He
106
IW
didn't undentand me at all, he
tally condemned me.
''"
I~ I wanted to give as much of my..
109 self as possible and didn't con..
110 sider how it would be received. I
111 thought hc"s a psychiatrist any-
IU way, he must undentand iL
IU F: Is thal ri1ht? Did you also
IM tell him that you were against
11S medicine?
116 W: I told him lhat 1 wu not in
1n terested in taking tablets.
118
119
IW Those were experiences in the
121 prison, and he somehow put them
Ill 101-ether.
123 An awrul lot orthings happened
I~ which I cannot plain. But I
really don't know what wu the
'"
U6
ID
matter with my imagination, be-
cause I wa1 so afraid. To begin
128 with I was in a cell with three
I~ women, then I couldn't stand it in
uo there any more, I was so .rrald o r k IQ or 107, in other words a sound avcrase penormance.
UI the women. I didn't know any
132 more what they really wanted, and
133 was always afraid.
IM I was terribly afraid. I didn't 81 clined, is filled with bizarre ideas, emotionally unstable and changeable, at times introvert, butthcn
IJS dare to go to sleep.
I~ F: It says " She looked and then
ID saw a child lying there".
138 W: That isn"t true, that"s not
U9 how it was. He completely misun
I~ derstood that. I meant that she
141 walked past the cell and said look,
IG there's a child lying there.
143 F: That's what it sounded like?
144 W: Yc:s. that's what it sounded
ISO
Sh had her lilll period at th age or 12, aad her fi15t sexual intercou... at the aac or 16. She WU mar- (...) 39
~
00
ried twice, got gonorrhoea two yea,. aao because she bad suual intercou,.. with several me11. She relt
certain conditions a poi10n dcvel
sorry ror the newspaper vendors and had the idea ordevoting helldrto them 1..ually. She rel I so sorry
for them, and had intcrcoul'IC with various Arabi and Pakist1ni1, 1hc then said two or three. ---y ops which disrupcs thc enzymatic
brain function in the ganglion
( ) ... cells, with the resull that there is a
Drug abuse:
She had her lint contact with drup at the age or 18, and smoked huhish in Austria, like her fi15t hus-
138
bruikdown in the communication
band, and also took some LSD. This gave her rree reelings and colounul hallucinallonL
once smoked hashish, that wu in the year 1!176. Shewn there ina commune with Americans and took
LSD, then several yeal5ago1ni1Ted heroin. She returned in 19?9, has never taken tablctL
In India she or the pnJlion cells.
Well, lire in communes is not
She did not go to a psychiatrist either, and is against medicine. ------------~!-. so much a aoal or the schiioph
She wu in India a second time in 1979, when she alleacdly did not take anything. Was also in Greece renic .. or the outsider. It's ju11
In summer for the grape harvest and there she drank wine, hut not a lot, two glasses a day with meals. that the outsider who is 1chizoph
renic then becomes an oullider
She also smoked srass. dried hemp plants which one could buy there rrom dealers.
She does not know where it grew, oner.ram cost about 60 schillinp.
Alcohol anamnesis: result or his illness. Finally be
The examincc drank two glasses of wine in Greece, she was also in Turkey. then emb up in a commune.
General: ( ) ...
~
The examinee gives an nervous Impression, hu mental blocb and disturbances, is oRen suddenly I am absolutely a penormance-1
quite absent, spaced out, then apin In a more hypomanic mood. She does not bear voices, has never oriented penon, and I am or the
opinion dial a penon can find in-
~
ways more and more arraid or not being able to cope, that she would be unable to find human contact, ner satisfaction in performance
and would suddcntly not be able to speak, that she wu no longer properly suited ror lire, and was iso- and only promisin1 free time is a 207
~
degenerative symplom. Ir a per
lated.
She had mental blackouts and also had the reeling orhypnoois. She has no direct experience of hypno- son need> rree time for his per-
sil. sonal paformance, this should be
r
However, she oRen had the reelina of being followed, then ran away. Then she went hitch-hiking. She encouraged. But just going to a
bu not had a direct poisoning complex, but otherwise bad conrused experiences in India, where she restaurant, or taking drugs and
----i
~
thought they wanted to poison her in Tobi. drinking, or taki:g drugs ..
were episodes, but then she drank out or spite, so that they could have nothing on her, but al
though the taste wu Innocuous, inexplieable thinp happened. A woman emplied water out and then
suddenlythcrewuaconcretefloorandthenightwubrighlandthesundidnotsel. Then she suddenly Rejection or medicine is a com..
216
beard Tirolean being po.ken in India, her mother ii rrom Tirol. Sbe looked and saw a child lying there,] mon oea1nence,, they then refuse
she thought that the rood wu poisoned, wu then with other women in prison, suddenly had the reel
Ina that they were witches who cul a spell on the birds and suddenly there wu bread on the roor and
to take medicines u part or
their
3. Finding three rhymes: (. .) general departure rrom social
norms.
Hand: "Land, stand, band, sand.
1
Hut: "Hug, bus, rot.
Deel:: "Peck.-
Leaf:Sh..r.-
211
138
157
I have already said that the pri
mary symplom is thal the pel50ft
l
Evaluation or descrtlled situations:
a}
b)
What do you do berore you undertake 1omething important? consider.
Whal do you do when you have been accidentally hit by a rriend. forgive iL"
ality u a whole loses ill harmony,
and thus also loses the ability to 166
c) Which is wo,..: when you hit a companion in anger or because you ean't stand him? "Both are contact and communcate with the
environment. thus going inside
bad. himsclr and having difficulties
d) How do you know a penon belier: When you know what he says or when you see what be does?
with the environment. and one of
When you see what be does. them is persecution, lhal i1 his in
5. Counting back-ro. (aRer Terman):
52
succeurul. ability to communicate with
Writllal: othen. 83
The writing looks smooth.
Mu rawl lell:
An abnormal, naked child is drawn. or cou ... the situation is u rol
r
Treedrawl1test:
Awkward looking branches arc drawn. At all evenll there areseriou1 derangemenll of the mind.
Succesnul in principle, corresponding to 143 years.
Iowa: there are coherent and there
are incoherent stories. which 1re
only fragmentary because in his
world, which commensurate with
Rondladllell:------------------------~
I. Sere;----
1mmgwoman
hi1 autism only partly co~
&ponds to hi1 inner reeling and is
2. Two dancing dwarves unconnected with reality, or to
3. Man with mou1tache the extent that it is connected
4. Man witbbigreet 161 with external stories, then simply
s.
Bat. in a sort or, well, reinterpretation
59 6. Flow r as something threatening. some-
7. Two warvea thing rrightening. so that all al
8. Two yenu once reelinp are projected into
9. Mu the environ ment which cone-
m1 ~ 1pond with his mind. Thus he no
~
These are bizarre ideas. At all events they are the type encountered in sckiz.o phrenia..- - - - , longer bas the ability lo make a
75 ( ) film like a normal person, who
EnluaU011: 181 simply records the objective racts,
~
I. The 26 year-old Wallraud M. has an aesthetic body, she has a partial dental prosthesis, has low but all or a Rudden he must now
blood pressure without ECG alteration, only a transverse presentation is available, she has a scar left project his feelings inlo it. and
by a stomach operation after an accident and bum marks after stubbing out ci~arettes on her arms. these reelings depend on his Vl
Direct needle marks or a fixer cannot be detected. Otherwise there arc neuro vegetative disorders. mood, though probably hi whole
trl
II. The psychiatric croas-scctional examination shows the followin1: mood is connected with the lim 0
a) Intellect: '11
The examincc cannot 1ive any correct answers in the general intelliaencc test after Kloos due to men..
!al absence, blocks and inhibitions, but generally it ean be said that she is certainly adequately edu
bicsystem.
That i1 an education test. no- ~
cated. thing more. It is just quite inter-
In the Binet-Simon lest she can just solve the problems or a 12 year-old, in the WIP testshc achieveun esting because intelligence cannot
entirely be detached rrom edUCI
b) Disposition: tion, but the Kloos test is an edu-
The examinec i1 manneri1tic, quite obviously had optical hallucinations, and sometime acoustic hat.. cation lest which generally only
lucinations too, is unable to establish contact, but at times effervescent,, but more hypomanically in shows whether this is an educated
or uneducated person. A knowJ..
again tries lo be extrovert and performs and fluctuates to and rro. edge of the current &ituation natu-
The blocking mechanisms are quite characteristic. rally also depends on an ability 10
c) Sex lire: communicate.
The examinee has a disturbed drive. egocentric; sexually uncontrolled, and here again there are mo- F: Would you rely on the
mcntary delusions about giving hcrsclrto Arabs and Pak.istanis. Kloos test?
There is no reason to assume particular aggression. P: Never. 162
Ill. The p1ychodynamic development shows that the examinee allended elementary school and had F: Is the Binet-Simon lesll
lo repeat a class at upper elementary schoo, then allended secondary school and then moved away and valid? II is already fairly old, as
has not actually led a regular life since then. She has bn married once, then met another man, was in you say.. .
203
India rwice, was also in Greece and Turkey and abroad and started with drugs at an early age, taking P: It is old, ii was published
N
U't
\0
14S
146
like to me, u !hough lhal' what
she said.
finl huhi1h and 1hen LSD, also miffing heroin and then conlinued to be ahlenl- minded, was not able
lo fit in anywhere, did not punue reautar career, was imprisoned in India. There were calaslrophic
condilion1 and now she has retiml IO the country to Stemhof, where she hu her own life.
oround 1900, and hu been modi-1
ncd counlleu times. Thus there
are hundred variation of the
~
147 The women sometimes cooked ghully crows new around and razor blades noaied oround her around her hair. She does nol know the Binet-Simon tal. It has one short
148 their own rood in the eourtyard, 1ignificancc. coming. it i1 too dependent on
149 they lhrew the cakes up on the Once sheowepl up and there were heaps of bones ofbirdnnd fealhers lhere. language, ii i1 100 verbal.
ISO roof and then lhc big birds came She lhoughl her own part. Thinp were quite diffcrenull of 11udden ond !here wan brighl lighl and F: Do you consider 1he Binel
ISi and sat on the roof, it was a tin now she does not meet the three women any more. She knows Ihat there are no witches hen:. Now there Simon test valid or reliable?
IS2 roof, and thal made an awful gral is no more magic. She is easily excil.lble, bul somewhal forgetful. Dreams seldom, nol aboul people P: No. It is jusl praelical. It is -1
IS3 Ing noise as they landed on the 1he ha dealings wilh, bul not unreal either. She imagines a fulure in which she can develop herself and nol valid. '
IS4 roofwilh !heir claws. And 1hen lhe life logethcr and !he things conlinue IO go well. She wanll to 11.1y !here, call no meal. 2UJ
ISS birds look lhe cak.. and new () The advanlage of lhe Ron-
IS6 away. The examinee sometimes gives a really spaced out impression, docs not 10 to the cinema or the theatre. chach test i1 that it is a projection
IS7 F: But is it correct, what it says
158
IS9
160
there: "She suddenly had lhe feel
ing that these were witches who
cast a spell on lbc birds"?
J
eo
only listens to lhe radio rarely. docs not watch television. She walk1 in the mount1i111 and swims and
goes for walks, playa pmes,she speaks quilcaffeelcdly, then she bu lhoughll lhatJudith is wilh Aunl
Anna M.
(...)
139
test. in other words, it is so var
iable thal ii can project inlo any
inlernal mood.
F: I )lave tried oul this test.
107

161 W: I !old it lo him lhe same way GtMl'll lllllliae-t after I t - : These are my sponl.lncou reac-
162 11 I lold you. Perhaps I may have

~
slammercd a bil more, I don't a) General knowledae: lions:
I. Screaming woman --~---'
163 Arithmetic: BB
164
16S
know, bul then lhal's lhe way he
wrote ii down. And anyway, tbosc
7x8 - she sl.lrtl counting, gets embarraued. Everything in her resiall, lhc cannot say it.
15., 1hecannotcounlcither,shcdoanotknowwby,atthemomentshcisinbibiled.
f
2. Two dancing dwarves
-
3. Man wilh big feet-
166 were only minor episodes. So Gcography: 5. B a t - - - - - - - - - !
167 much happened lo me during my

~
Capil.11 oflndia7 "Delhi." 6. Aowcr--------
168 time in India, and much, much Capil.11 ofBulgaria7 Unknown. 7. Two dwarves-----
169 worse lhinp, and I only related Capil.11 of Portugal? Unknown. 8. Two hyenu - - - - - - l 107
170 such minor episodes which sud
denly occurred to me. I would
Suddenly she is blocked. There is something in her, she cannot clearly explain what ii is. 9. Muk ---------!
171 Naluralhistory: 10.? - - - - - - - - - - '
172
173
need so much time lo tell all about
the lhree months, to make some-
Do you know where the sun rises? Of coune I know thaL... P: They include movement ffi
~
Do you know where the sun Kll7 Answer: "Oh God. answen, predominantly whole
174
17S
176
m
one undcrsland all thaL
F: And what actually happened
in 1he 1e1117
J
History:
Who was Napolcon7"l'vcseen him on television. Soldier and war hero of the French.
Common weighll and meuures:
answers. comparatively rew ani-
mal answel'5-lnimal answen in
dicale a primi1ivc mood. Thal
W: I gol everything all mixed How many grams in a kilogram? "l,000 grams. 117 does not indicale a primitive per
178 up. Then once I didn't even know Nawre and tcchnolo1Y: Lson, that much can be said with
179 the dale of Judith' birth any Where does salt come from 7"ll is healthier from the sea, from rock it is not healthy. Tbesea is polluled certainly. Dul it i not particularly
180 more. They &imply asked me -nibbish." differenl from normal.------'
181 sums,likehowmuchis7times7, Whalispapermadeof'/"Ofwood." The prognosis is one of thcl
182 and I dC$peralely lried 10 find oul Traffic: mosl difficull luks. which one in
183 how lhat worked. Dul I didn'l Whydocarsninonrubbertyres?"Solidnibbertyrescanjumpfarther. all honesty cannol answer one
184 manage lo do iL Domestic knowledge: bundml per cenL The medical
18S Those were incmlibly slupid-, Wbatmakesacakemixturerise?"Egwhile,bakin1powdcr,yeast." man is overtaed with the prog 232
186 queslions. Then I really let myself L Capacity for l111icallboa&hl: nosis, bul one can tell quile a lot,
187 go. Because I lhoughl 1hal whal Practical queslions Crom everyday life: I mean u a mull of general cxpe-
188 lhey were asking was quile impos- Whallime does a clocklhow if you exchange bolh handullhrce o"clock7 "Three again. ricnce.
189 sible, and that I was going along Findinggenerictc11111: In my opinion alienation rrom
190 wilh ii all. It wujust so stupid thal Wbatare robben, thicves and murdcn all together? "Criminals. lh environmenl as a rcsull of dif
191 I couldn"l undcrsland ii. Finding differences In 1erma: ficulty in establishing conlact is
192

193 That wu incredibly important What i1 an i1land7 "Loncly. the main symptom or schizophre-
194 to me: so ir I can'l do the sum, Sentcoce formallon with 3 worda: nia, coupled with the decay or
19S lhen I am not lit lo be a mother. Farmer-dog-begarAfarmerwithhisdogwalksputabegar." one" own inlegrily. And thal"s
196 Theo I won"t gel Judith any more. Guessing games: where schizophrcni1"' comes
197 Thal wu always somehow in my Whal is this? II banp on lhc wall, nins continuously, bul does not move from lhe spot. "The clock." from, becauK lhe inlegrily di1in
198 mind. m Recognition of conlradictions in tenn1: legrates, resulting in the disinte-
199
200
201
He said I 1h:uld draw a tree
and a man. And then I drew him a
J A dismembered body wu found in the woods. The police 1uppoled it wu suicide. Whal do you lhink
aboulit?AccidcnL 141
gralion of one' relalionship wilh
the environmenL And the symp-
Calch qu..Uona: tom is primarily increased diffi
202 tree incredibly quicldy, just to get WbichisbeaYier: I kgofironor I kaoffeathen7"1kais I kg." cully in esl.lblishing conlact ind
203 ii over with. 61 Blael..si.o.1111: lhe allilude lo normal life and lo
204 Somehow be acted u !hough hej 12 yean: normal behaviour.
20S were on my side. He asked me I. Explanalion of abslract terms: F: And how does one measure
206 whclher I could imagine living a Envy: "When you yourself don'l havc somclhing which the other person bas. 8 this departure from normal be-
207 normal life. Whether I ever Revengc: "Paying back." haviour7
20& wanled to live a normal life. Sympalhy:"Feclingforsomcone." 207 P: That cannot be measured,
209 I said 1hal was nol what I Justice: "Giving meuure for measure. 182 thal baa 10 be defined inluilivcly
210
211
wanled. Then I said I don't want
lhinp to be 1uch that I go lo work
2. Arranging a disordcml Knlence:
Succeuful.
1
on the bui1 of experience, bul
there is no real measure of IL 77
212
213
and put Judilh in a kindergarten. I IV. Thepsychialricdiagnosisisasfollows: j
can't im1gine that it all. If I work, Thisisdefinilclyacaseofparanoidschlzophreniawbichhasdcvclopedintermiltenlly,forali~eshe We set a lot of addiell now,
214
21S
216
I would like ii to be so lhal I can
be logelhcr with Judilh. and then
there was no man involved either.
had hypomanic conditions, but for a time also acoustic and optical ballacinalions and menl.11 blocks
and inhibitions, wilh lhe resulllhatallthesymptomscharacteristicofachizopbrenia areencounlered.
The addiction is then a consequence or the schizophrenia and not vice versa a drug psychosis.
where you cannot diffcrenliale al
all whether Ibis is more a drug
psychosis. or a psychosis which
m
217
218
219
220
I already knew T., bul I dido 't
wanl lo lhink of such a lhing. I
didn't want it to be assumed lhat I
was able 10 make emb meet
V. Th cxamincc is mcnl.llly dislurbed.
She is nol able to manage all mailers herself, and in particular she is incapable of making a life for her-
self without outside help, or of punuing a regular career, and is therefore al present in a commune.
secondarily makes the subject ad 4
dictive.
F: You know most of the
~
tr.I
Basically lhe schizophrenic deficiencies would be sufficient to justify ber being partially incapacilllcd judges from your practical experi
221 thanks IO a man. underf I pani. 2 of the Unfit Persons Act. once? 0
222 "I1
As far u the guardianship is concerned, i11bould be recorded !hat the examince is incapableofbrina P: Yes, then you know whal
223
224
I onen lhink bow awful that WU
at the end of the report, when the
Ing up her child herself.
The children of menlllly dislurbed parenls are not only liable lo bemlilary effecll, but are also..,.
one is like.
You know, you cannol UK a 24
~
22S psychialrisl shook my hand and vercly harmed by their milieu. highly scienlilic medical style In a
226 wished me all the best for my life. This harm cerl.linly existed durin1 the lrip lo India, and even in the present silualion ii cannol be u- report becauK lhey would then
227 I'd like to talk lo him some lime 1111Ded that the behaviour of the mentally disturbed mother would bavea positive effeCl on the psychic be lcl\ completely in lhe dark.
228 and lell him how much he hurt me. development of the child. The judge bu no idea how lo al-
229 It's jusl lhat I'd really like lo be Such mcnl.11 mn ..... then do leave !heir mark on a child and also lead to abnormalily. 182 locale it inlo legal calcgories, so
230 able to 1alk well enough 10 lhat I W. is therefore nol in a position IO bring up her child and the legal order must therefore remain in you have 10 find a language
231 could really lalk lo him. I lhink he force. which establi1hes the connection,
232
233
234
assumed a right lo which he wu
nol at all enliUed.
This situation is not expected IO improve in the foreseeable fulure.
I
so lhal lhe judge finds it compali
ble with his legal norma.
235
236 29 232 249
237
238
239
240
N
Cl\
......
262 ERNST STROUHAL
THE CASE OF W. 263

6. The close-up: four approaches to interpretation

t In the following I shall present four approaches to interpreting the

"text cell". They are meant less as analyses, and more as free commentaries
on the semiotic events in preparation for an in-depth analysis. The follow-
ing comments therefore describe just one possibility of traversing the text
cell.

6.1 Intertext I: W. Authenticity as the goal of communicative action

The rough transcripts of intertext I (W.) and intertext II (the psychiat-

rist) only very inadequately reproduce the dichotomy between the two com-
munication partners. Nevertheless, a comparison of the speech sequences
allows the style to be "divined" in the hermeneutic sense.1s
.s...
0 In the formal situation of the interview, the setting of which is quite
~0 comparable to the procedure of the report, W. speaks very slowly, in a
.s... rather inhibited manner and with considerable hesitation. The communica-
0
tive gap between her and the psychiatrist is evident at all discursive levels

t. and becomes apparent even at a phonetic level.

W. speaks in dialect, but due to her long stay in the city has dropped
the rural intonation of her place of socialization. She uses mainly parataxes;
.2 subordinated sequences are hardly grammatically correct .

'o
I The psychiatrist, on the other hand, nasalizes strongly, lengthening his
vowels considerably with great variations in his intonation and speaking at
a high speed. He speaks the code of the upper middle class typical for the
jovial "doctors' German". He is almost impossible to interrupt, initiates
themes and prefers long hypotactical sentence sequences.
W. is fully aware of the significance of the report (lines 193, 12, 99).
However, she has as yet not developed any major discursive strategy in
order to achieve her basic communicative objective. She encounters the
psychiatrist with great confidence (lines 110, 304) and attempts to incorpo-
rate her world as a whole into the dialogue, thus completely ignoring the
special communicative conditions of formalised, institutional communica-
tion (lines 102, 103).
W. 's criterion for successful communicative action is obviously authen-
ticity.16 She tries to verbalise the inner reality of her experience, putting up
with the resulting oblique contexts in favour of the most authentic descrip-
tion possible. The use of vague particles ("somehow") is characteristic.11
264 ERNST STROUHAL
w. attempts to realise the authenticity of her description at th~ te.xt
level by means of complex narrative sequences which the psychiatnst
evokes, but which lack a macrostructural framework. W. 's text plan~ing
naturally flounders in the completely restri~tive si~uation of t~e ~valuation,;
Under these conditions she is unable, as m the important pnson story
(lines 123-174), to verbalise subject m~tter wh~ch is indeed unc~ear and
complex as linear narrative within a logical spatial and chronological con-
tinuum.18
In this unaccustomed situation, she cannot succeed in producing a
reflected text. On the contrary, a reflected, abstract narrative form seems
almost precluded by the necessity for authentic narration. 19 She is u~abl~ to
achieve a "switch" between narrative and reflective (metacommumcative)
text types such as the situation of the report would neces~itate. Th~ conver-
sational initiative, which of course initiates the production of vanous text
types, is delegated entirely to the conversational partner. . .
In the "prison story", the text becomes fragmentary, a.nd ~s t~us i~ap
propriate for the rigid discursive requirements of the i~stl~ut:on~bs~d
report. w. therefore unconsciously moves towards the psychiatnst s ~n~en.a
for abnormal text planning and schizophrenia: the need for authenticity is
confused with autism (lines 100, 190).
A preoccupation with authenticity and its consequences fo.r t~xt ~l~n
ning cannot be regarded as a deficiency or abnormality - soc10bngmsttcs
has repeatedly pointed out class-specific problems20 - a~y more th~n one
should go to the other extreme of idolatry of the authentic text, which can
almost be said of various forms of "antipsychiatry" and semiotics. 21
The authentic, or decidedly non-strategic discourse form is based on .a
concept of communication which is as static and inflexible as bureaucratic
discourse bound up with ritual. "Expressing subjectivity at any price" is a
speech behaviour which is definitely difficult to classify soci.o~ulturally In
its confinement of perspective there is a danger of verbabsmg over o~e
partner's head, without taking into consideration either the horizons of his
comprehension or his actual possibilities of application. . .
A closer analysis of the interaction between W. and the psychia~nst
should therefore avoid generally establishing a victim-perpetrator relation-
ship in the apportionment of institutional power. . duction of prejudicial structures, needs no further emphasis. The psychiat-
It would be too simplistic, I think, to characterise W .'s code as ~aiv.e,
honest and perhaps as awkward, to contrast it with that of the ~sy~hiatnst
and thus to establish a reason for the asymmetry of the commumcat10n and
THE CASE OF W. 265
its failure. In my opinion, the problem of this discursive conflict lies much
deeper: it lies in W. 's sociocultural decision for authenticity, which cannot
be accepted by the institutions of psychiatry or justice.
With some effort and preparation it may well under certain cir-
cumstances, have been possible for W. to change between various codes in
different situations. The preclusion of this possibility (key word: socialisa-
tion) would be pure determinism. However, W. perceives the situation of
the report, which precludes an authentic dialogue such as in a group
dynamic session, as a permanent process of humiliation. The humiliation
takes the form of the reduction of her entire person to an object of scientific
or bureaucratic curiosity. W. is able to counter this only with absolute
refusal of discourse as a last refuge of intact authenticity (cf. lines 186, 192).
This again is qualified as abnormal by the psychiatrist, who is compelled to
produce an interpretation.
To a certain extent the failure of the authentic text is predetermined.
like any language game directed at certain life forms . The critical question
(which for me remains open) is whether in a very irrational manner the fail-
ure of one's own language game is even desired. In this case the discursive
constitution responds to a master-servant dialectic. The exclusivity of
authenticity may also represent an instrument of power.
6.2 Intertext II: Rational discourse as a cynical ritual
In contrast to W.'s need for authenticity, which basically necessitates
an endless discourse, the institutionally bound discourse of the psychiatrist
is aimed at "truth". However, the situation is characterised by time pres-
sures, routine replaces the search for knowledge. Anybody who prepares
10-20 reports a day (7) is dependent on very practised reporting and very
restrictive conditions.
Under these conditions, the objective participative practice, as the
psychiatrist's activity is often described as,22 is condensed to pure
antagonism, to a hasty search for indicators and the application of
stereotypes ("intuition", cf. 208). The fact that the scientific standard of the
work can't be maintained, being replaced by a merely semiconscious repro-
rist is very well aware of the lack of foundation (182) and the inadequacy of
scientific test methods. The "metatest" (164), in which the psychiatrist
arrives at a completely different result with the interviewer in spite of the
266 ERNST STROUHAL
same associations in the Rorschach test, basically only supports his own
comments on the scientific nature of his work and his doubts as to the abil-
ity of psychiatry to deliver a prognosis (185).
Here science is degraded to an ostensible ritual. The test machine is
not taken seriously even by the tester, a behaviour that can hardly be
described as anything other than cynical.
However, there is a system inherent in cynicism: the role of consultant
is defined as the protagonist of some sort of ideological concept of normal-
ity. This is no more than the reproduction of his own prejudices, which
especially applies to the criteria of text comprehension. In (101), the
psychiatrist attempts to establish the hermeneutics of the normal text which
is executed in W.'s narrative.
An explicit and comprehensive analysis of the interaction of intertext I,
II and the report must attempt to answer two critical questions:
i. Is it possible to extrapolate the concept of normality on which
the report and the interview are based? I would assume that
"normal" is defined as resistance to being reduced to an object.
In other words, a person who accepts the ritualised process of
evaluation as a game and observes the rules during the game can
be considered as normal. Naturally the rules are transcendent.
ii. The decision about W .'s mental illness was obviously not made
in the report but previously. The question is where and how did
W.'s stigmatisation take place?
6.3 The report: spurious, but for what reason?
In the introduction I noted that functionally the psychiatric report was
at the point of intersection of several discourses constituting power.
Nevertheless, purely economical and/or psychoanalytical concepts of the
explanation/criticism fall short of providing an adequate explanation of the
phenomenon of "power". 23
In the case of W. my hypothesis is that the function of power consists
of maintaining a semblance of rationality, transmitted by various rituals of
form.
The analytical extrapolation of the superficiality of this rationality is
equivalent to a criticism of the entire discourse. However, this does not
legitimize the embarrassment of "the comprehender" or his will to improve
parts of the discourse conditions. On the contrary, an analysis of the super-
THE CASE OF W. 267
ficiality of the rational discourse in this report follows Hegel's claim that the
appearance of things is essential to their essence.24 Rational semblance is
therefore essential to the report.
The standardised outward division of the text promises logicality (well
developed macrostructure, linear theme-theme progression), the logic
which should make it possible to retrace the steps from which the diagnosis
was derived. However, due to the fact that the internal structure of the sub-
chapters is totally incoherent (cf. 47), the headings (hyperthemes) have
only an apparent harmonising function. The positivistic acquisition of date
should result in a clear derivation of the diagnosis. The fact that this
mechanism does not work at all is shown by a comparison of lines 52 and
139. A completely unfounded statement is fabricated from W.'s statement
about her sex life ("... delusion of giving herself to the Arabs and Pakis-
tanis"). The ideological character of the entire text disintegrates with the
use of the definite article in a very shabby and, I might almost say, shame-
less form. Such obvious contradictions allow one to presume that the
artefact of the report was not meant to be read, but fulfilled a purely dis-
sembling function.
Of interest for the text analysis is the fact that three types of proposi-
tion overlap in the report: factitive statements (preact), interview questions
and interpretative statements (metacommunicative sequences). A separa-
tion of analysis and interpretation is impossible in the confusing interplay of
these three types of statement. With the exception of the last section, the
text is equivalent to an internal monologue.
In the excerpt from the file (factual statement), the report assumes the
bureaucratic mode of speech: 25 passive and passive-like constructions domi-
nate, with the result that the entire of the statement is rendered anonymous
by the deletion of the agent (e.g. 15). Subjective contexts become factual
by the transformation to passive.
On the other hand, the subjectiveness of a statement is emphasised by
topicalisation (such as "now she denies any addiction") and by the deliber-
ate verbal quality. Thus the arguments for W.'s mental illness with their
counterarguments are linguistically established as two poles, one "objec-
tive" (factitive) and the other "subjective" in contrasting the processes of
misconstrual and clarification.
The statement type "question" characterises the extreme contradiction
which was effected in the transcription of the interview in the report. The
narrative sequences are completely destroyed in this process of transforma-
268 ERNST STROUHAL
tion (cf. the "prison story" in 78-83) or assembled into a new narrative: a
new text comes into being which very closely matches the psychiatrist's
criteria for schizophrenic text planning.
Finally, there is a conspicuous use of relativising and evaluative parti-
cles in the interpretative passages ("itself", "apparently", "obviously", "di-
rectly"). They "relativise" wherever W.'s statement is unambigous, and
affirm where there is a lack of logic in the interpretation. It is worth
emphasising the positioning of the attribution "direct", which appears in a
wide variety of contexts ("direct ideas of poisoning", "direct experience",
"direct needle marks of a fixer cannot be detected"). The question is
whether a fixer can have indirect needle marks? Overall a negative milieu is
produced which opens up assumptions to further interpretation in the con-
notative void which breaks up the sentence.
6.4 Intertext Ill: the report becomes bureaucratic reality
The judge should have questioned the meaning of the sentence "direct
needle marks of a fixer cannot be detected". As can easily be seen from a
comparison of the texts of the report and intertext III, the judge did not ful-
fil his obligation to test the evidence of the report for plausibility. The last
part of the report was simply included. The actual judgement was passed by
the consultant, thus justifying his central position in the "text cell".
The function of the judgement actually only consists of declaring the
content of the report to be bureaucratic reality. As in all legal decisions the
judgement creates bureaucratic reality: the function of establishing reality
overrules the referential function of the signs. To take the point to its con-
clusion, the case of W. becomes a part of the legal system and of enforce-
able reality in the sense of a minimal consent of society. The critical ques-
tion is just how stable this consent is.
7. Postscripts
7 .1 Postscript I
The crucial point for me is not whether or not this case of W. is typical
of justice and psychiatry. It is sufficient that this is possible.
THE CASE OFW. 269
7 .2 Postscript II
The discourse of psychiatry and justice are discourses of mute fear. In
presenting a part of the case of W. it was not my intention to lessen this
fear. In my opinion, the aim of a living and critical discourse analysis should
be to supplement this fear by scientific thinking and to give it that little bit
?f ~ublicity which critical science is able to give. It seems to me that public-
ity is the only therapeutic means of countering the possibility of such a case.
However, apart from publicity, it is above all self-reflection that is
urgently required for discourse analysis and its future. At the very least, we
need to realize that the constructions of discourse research, its analysis, its
reductions and its ideals of communication are intimately linked with the
structures of our society. Even the form of criticism of power may be
reflected in a certain manner.
7 .3 Postscript III
The case of W. is not quite closed. W.'s lawyer is working on the re-
opening of the proceedings. A new report is being prepared.
NOTES
1. See Derrida (1967) and Coulmas (1981) for an analysis of writing as language.
2. Peirce's semantic definition of the term "meaning" is still disputed in semiotics. In con-
trast to the construal of meaning as a logical signification (in this context), a hermeneutic,
pragmatic interpretation of this term is preferred, such as is found in Eco (1977) and in
particular in Huk (1982).
3. Cf. in particular Seibert (1981) for the semiotic analysis of the transformation of language
into writing in the institution of justice.
4. In many respects the trend in the social sciences towards action-oriented research can also
be ~xpl~ined as a return to a philological interpretation in which the incorporation of the
subjectiveness of the comprehender is the condition sine qua non of every attempt at
comprehension (cf. Schleiermacher 1977=1838).
5. The "depth-hermeneutic comprehension" inaugurated by Habermas (1968) for the cru-
cial social sciences is not so new. The process of "grammatical interpretation" and the
thesis of interpretation of "having to understand the author better than he himself'
already appears in romantic hermeneutics (cf. Schleiermacher 1977=1838).
6. The model for this documentary approach is Foucault's study of Riviere (1978).
270 ERNST STROUHAL THE CASE OFW. 271

7. It reached this public in 1986 thanks to the interest shown in the case by various Viennese Derrida, J. 1967. De la Grammatologie. Paris: Minuit.
journals. Eco, U. 1977. Zeichen. Einfuhrung in den Begriff und seine Geschichte.
8. Cf. Adorno (1970: 291) for the application of the musicological interpretative concept to Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
language and literature.
Fouc~ult, M. 1978. Von der Subversion des Wissens. Frankfurt, Berlin,
9. Cf. Biirger (1979) on this point and a summary of the conflict between positivism and her- Wien: Ullstein.
meneutics.
Foucault, M. 1978. Der Fall Riviere. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
10. Cf. Huk (1982) on documentalism as a method of art.
Frank, M. 1980. Das Sagbare und das Unsagbare. Frankfurt/Main:
11. A term coined in Russian formalism, cf. Sklovskij (1971). Suhrkamp.
12. Kristeva (1969). Habermas, J. 1968. Erkenntnis und Interesse. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
13. The "essay" is the model for this mode of thinking between art and science; cf. Adorno Habermas, J. 1981. Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns. Frankfurt/
(1981: 17f.). Main: Suhrkamp.
14. Cf. recently Schumann (1984) . Hegel, G. W. Fr. 1974. Vorlesungen uber die Asthetik. Ed. by H. Bubner.
15. Cf. Frank (1980) on the problem of "divination". Stuttgart: Reclam.
16. See Habermas (1981 , Vol. II) on authenticity as a problem of the communicative act Hoffmann-Richter, U. 1984: Der Knoten im roten Faden. Bern: Peter
theory. Lang.
17. The frequency of the obscuring particle unwittingly makes one think of Holden's lan- Huk, E . 1982. Hermeneutik und Avantgarde. Wien: Phil.Diss.
guage in Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. Kristeva, J. 1969. Semiotike, Recherches pour une semanalyse. Paris:
18. Cf. Hoffmann-Richter (1984) . Minuit.
19. Cf. in particular Wodak (1981) on the various text types in problem presentation. Kristeva, J. 1974. La revolution du langage poetique. Paris: Minuit.
20. Fundamental work on this point by Leodolter (1975); further recent literature from Leodolter, R. (= Wodak). 1975. Das Sprachverhalten von Angeklagten bei
Reitemeier (1985). Gericht. Heidelberg: Scriptor.
21. E.g. Cooper (1978) or Kristeva (1974) on semiotics. Lorenzer, A. 1976. Sprachspiel und Interaktionsform. Frankfurt/Main:
22. Thus, for example, in Lorenzer (1976). Suhrkamp.
23. Cf. Foucault (1978). Reitermeier, U. 1985. Studien zur juristischen Kommunikation. Tiibingen:
Narr.
24. Hegel (1971).
25. Cf. Wagner (1971) for the analysis of bureaucratic language usage in German-speaking
Schleiermacher, F. D. E. 1977 (=1838). Hermeneutik und Kritik.
countries, and Danet (1980) for "legal language". Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Schumann, J.H. 1984. "Art and science in second language acquisition
research". Language Learning 33: 83-98.
REFERENCES Seibert, T.N. 1981. Aktenanalyse. Zur Schriftform juristischer Deutungen.
Tiibingen: Narr.
Adorno, Th. W. 1970. Asthetische Theorie. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp. Sklovskij, V. 1971. "Die Kunst als Verfahren". In Russischer Formalismus
Adorno, Th. W. 1981. Noten zur Literatur. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp. J. Striedter (ed.). Miinchen: UTB. '
Burger, P. 1979. Vermittlung - Rezeption - Funktion. Frankfurt/Main: Wagner, H. 1971. Die deutsche Verwaltungssprache der Gegenwart. Eine
Suhrkamp. Untersuchung der sprachlichen Sonderform und ihrer Leistung. Diissel-
Cooper, D. 1978. Die Sprache der Verrucktheit. Berlin: Rotbuch. dorf: Schwann.
Coulmas, F. 1981. Uber Schrift. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp. Wodak, R. 1981. Das Wort in der Gruppe. Wien: Akademie der Wis-
Danet, B. 1980. "Language in the legal process". Law and Society Review senschaften.
3: 145-564.
 Revising the patriarchal paradigm
Language change and feminist language politics

Marlis Hellinger
University of Hannover

1. MAN in partriarchal languages

For well over a decade feminist linguists have collected evidence from
numerous patriarchal languages that illustrates the fundamental principle
on which patriarchy as such is based: male as norm {MAN). In the area of
terms for human referents, it follows from MAN that
- terms for males include terms for females, i.e. women do not have
the same referential opportunities as men;
- terms for females are secondary, in most cases on the morphologi-
cal as well as the semantic level (i.e. concerning denotative and/or
connotative meaning);
- masculine terms are considered appropriate to name women, while
the reverse, i.e. referring to a man with a feminine term, is not tol-
erated in patriarchy.
These manifestations of MAN can be interpreted as linguistic coloniza-
tion with masculine terms taking over feminine territory; they reflect on the
deep-rooted asymmetries between feminine and masculine terms that have
caused widespread dissatisfaction in the respective speech communities.
Women have claimed that they are either invisible in their language or rep-
resented in such a way as to perpetuate traditional sexist stereotypes. Thus,
many women and some men have begun to change their linguistic
behaviour in an attempt to achieve equal linguistic treatment of the sexes.
In a number of countries, e.g. the U.S.A. and the Federal Republic of Ger-
many, these attempts have reached major proportions and must be inter-
preted as language change in progress. Increasingly, such "changes from
274 MARUS HELLINGER
below" are being supported by affirmative action "from above". In other
countries, the public debate on issues of sex-discrimination through lan-
guage has only just begun.
Two major strategies have evolved in revising the patriarchal
paradigm: the avoidance of morphological feminines, with women remain-
ing visible only in pronominal systems, and feminization, i.e. the extensive
use of existing feminine terms as well as the creation of new ones. The
observation that English and Danish have adopted neutralization while
German practices feminization has led to the hypothesis that the choice of
a strategy for change is primarily determined by absence or presence of
grammatical gender (feminine and masculine), and is therefore predictable.
Conflicts and contradictions characterizing linguistic behaviour as well
as debates on future linguistic developments in other speech communities
suggest, however, that English, Danish, and German may be special rather
than typical cases in their straightforward choice of an appropriate strategy.
In the following, I will describe some aspects of MAN in Norwegian,
Dutch, Italian, and Spanish in order to demonstrate that apart from gender
other linguistic as well as non-linguistic factors have an impact on directions
of change away from MAN.
Although nominal terms of human referents do not constitute the only
area of patriarchal imperialism, the present discussion will be confined to
this area.
1.1 The masculine includes the feminine
This principle, frequently treated under the heading of the generic
masculine, governs the usage of terms for human referents in all patriarchal
languages. It is most clearly evident in gender languages like German or
Spanish where nouns are masculine or feminine (or neuter) by grammatical
category, with agreement rules generating the appropriate gender forms in
articles, adjectives, pronouns, etc. The principle also shows up in languages
like English that lack grammatical gender and identify female referents in
the pronominal system and in word-formation, and, without morphological
marking, in the lexicon.
In patriarchal languages, the referential range of masculines is consid-
erably wider than that of corresponding feminine forms. While in the area
of terms for human referents feminines are always sex-specific, i.e. will exc-
lusively refer to members of the female sex, masculine terms have both sex-
REVISING THE PATRIARCHAL PARADIGM 275
specific (male) as well as sex-neutral (generic) reference; in other words
masculines are identified as terms for human beings (cf. Pusch 1984). '
Taking an example from German, passports read Der /nhaber dieses
Passes ist Deutscher ("The bearer of this passport is German"). The sen-
tence ~ontain~ t"'.o ma.sculines, der Inhaber and Deutscher, the latter being
a nommal adjective displaying inflectional agreement with the antecedent
lnhaber: W?ile there is,. of course, a parallel feminine construction (Die
lnhab~rm dieses Passes ist Deutsche), only the masculine is interpreted as
refernng to males and females alike. German abounds in such formal mas-
culines: der Burger "citizen", der Wiihler "voter", der Steuerzahler "tax-
payer", der Kunde "customer", etc. Masculines are prescribed in contexts
thatinclude both sexes.
While men will never feel included in feminine terms, there are a few
c~ses where. a feminine refers exclusively to male referents, e.g. German
die Tucke, die Tunte, die Memme (cf. also examples from Spanish and many
oth~r l~nguages: Span. una mariposa "lit. a butterfly", una marica _ a
~env~tton from "Maria"). Significantly, these terms, with a few exceptions
hke die Memme "male coward", are derogatory terms for male homosexu-
~ls. Be~ng feminine only in form, not in function, they illustrate a strategy
m patnarchal languages that demeans men by referring to them with a
feminine term.
Furthe~, and in cont~adiction to general agreement rules, it is quite
a~ceptable m ?erman to hnk not only masculine but also feminine subjects
with a m~scuh.n~, complement: Er/Sie ist ein zweiter Einstein ("He/She is a
sec~n? Emstem ). A mascubne antecedent, however, will not accept a
femmme complement: Sie/* Er ist eine zweite Marie Curie ("Sie/*He is a sec-
ond Marie Curie"). These examples point toward fundamental asymmetries
in the system of terms for human referents.
1.2 The concept of genericness
Generic interpretations imply the abstraction from some inherent
semantic property of the referent. Taking German die Hand (f) "the hand"
as an example, it is obvious that this non-animate noun abstracts from a fea-
ture "situated on the right or left of the body". This feature can be made
explicit by adding the adjectives link- ("left") or recht- ("right"):
 REVISING THE PATRIARCHAL PARADIGM 277
MARLIS HELLINGER
276
In this system, the masculine covers both sex-specific male as well as
[Hand]
I generic reference, while the feminine is exclusively sex-specific female. The
asymmetry of the pattern becomes evident in adjectival paraphrases. The

l linke Hand rechte Hand

linke Hiinde rechte Hiinde addition of weiblich "female" or miinnlich "male" to the masculine noun is
equally acceptable, although usage of weiblich + N is much more frequent
[Hiinde]
and miinnlich + N is often considered tautological. Adding these adjectives
Figure 1 to the feminine noun results either in unacceptable tautological phrases
(e.g. weibliche Schauspielerin "female actress") or in expressions implying
d " chte Hand" unless
It would be quite absurd to interpret Han as re . some sort of deviance in the referent: miinnliche Schauspielerin, if .inter-
more was known about the situation; equally absurd would be morpholog1- pretable at all, refers to a female actor who does not behave according to
cal markmg. f or "l"mke H.and" . d K" d (n) "the child", a neuter accepted sex-role expectations.
A similar example is provided by as m .. To summarize, in patriarchal languages masculine terms do not
. h" h abstracts from the sex of its referent. Overt spec1f1ca- abstract from the category "sex of referent" in the sense of examples such
ammate noun w 1c . . . 1 ra hrases or choice of
tion of this feature can be achieved ~Y. ad](e~tlv~~;ch~n (n) "the girl") or as Kind, Mitglied, or Opfer. Their status as generic terms is at least ques-
lexical items that are inherently femmme as a tionable.
masculine (der Junge (m) "the boy"):
1.3 Female as secondary
[Kind]
miinnliches Kind A further manifestation of MAN is the rule "female as secondary", for
weibliches Kind
Junge which ample documentation has been provided from many patriarchal lan-
Mii.dchen
miinnliche Kinder
guages. On the morphological level, many feminines are derived from mas-
weibliche Kinder culines by applying word-formation rules of varying productivity. Thus,
Jungen
Miidchen
feminines are "marked" (e.g. in German by the suffix -in), a phenomenon
[Kinder] which has been described as linguistic discrimination par excellence (cf.
Figure2 Pusch 1984: 59).
On the semantic level, derogation in its widest sense is a typical feature
Fi ure 2 displays a symmetric pattern, but there are o~ly very few of most feminines (cf. Schulz 1975). Where pairs of masculine and feminine
nouns rn German that function in this way; among them are die:~rs~n ~~) terms exist, the latter usually have considerably lower social prestige; the
"person" das Mitglied (n) "member"' der Mensch (m) "human emg ' ie masculine is always the "better" term, linked with more positive associa-
F: hk 1; (f) "expert" das Opfer (n) "victim".
ac T~: basic pattern.in German (as well as in gender-languages gen_erally)
tions. Frequently the feminine evokes sexual connotations. Nor is sym-
metry on the denotative level generally present in such pairs (cf. English
is characterized rather by morphological and referential asymmetnes; cf. major/majorette, Spanish un reo (m) "a criminal" I una rea (f) "an
the example of der Lehrer (m) "teacher": impoverished prostitute"; Italian Ambasciatore (m) "ambassador"/ Ambas-
ciatrice (f) "ambassador's wife"; German Gouverneur (m) "governor" I
/Lehrer/
I Gouvernante (f) "derogatory for teacher", etc.).
Evidence from social-psychological studies is accumulating to suggest

l
Lehrerin Lehrer
Lehrerinnen Lehrer that even in languages with well-established and presumably non-dis-
/Lehrer/
criminatory derivational patterns (like German), the connotational sym-
metry between unmarked masculines and marked feminines is a myth. A
Figure 3
278 MARUS HELLINGER
relevant pilot study is Hellinger (1984), who used the semantic differential
technique in order to test the hypothesis that (a) stereotypical attitudes are
associated with selected occupational titles, and that (b) terms for male and
female referents do not differ only in the feature[ female]. The study con-
cludes that
Qualities thought to be salient for certain occupations may be associated
with women to a greater extent than with men (who possess many of these
qualities inherently); [ ... ] For other qualities, feminine stereotypes may
prevail[ ... ].
(Hellinger 1984: 149)
To summarize, the system of terms for human referents in patriarchal
languages can be described as basically asymmetric on a multidimensional
level (cf. Pusch 1984: 54).
1.4 Legal aspects
Attempts at changing the patriarchal paradigm can be viewed against
the wider perspective of anti-discrimination legislation as exemplified by
the 1976 guideline of the European Community, whose goal is the equal
treatment of the sexes in the area of professional life. A number of national
regulations have since been issued that usually include reference to employ-
ment advertising.
In Great Britain in 1977, the Equal Opportunities Commission issued
guidelines for advertising practice based on the Sex Discrimination Act of
1975. Similar regulations were passed in Denmark (1978), Italy (1978),
Norway (1978), in the Netherlands (1980) and the FRG (1980). For the
U .S.A. cf. Frank (1985).
In some cases, very practical recommendations have been made, e.g.
in Norway, where in 1983 the Norsk sprakrad recommended neutralization
as the appropriate strategy for change. Neutralization is also the prelimi-
nary choice in Dutch advertising practice where "mlv" (man I vrouw) is
added to masculines to ensure that women will feel included.
Anti-discrimination legislation provides an important background for
the initiation and dissemination of non-sexist language, but it leaves room
for decisions "from above" which are not necessarily derived from a
detailed analysis of structural variability. In spite of their non-discriminat-
ory intention, such decisions contain a potential element of sex-discrimina-
tion.
REVISING THE PATRIARCHAL PARADIGM 279
2. Changing the sexist status quo: conDicts and compromises
Neutralization and feminization have emerged as the major strategies
to avoid MAN in patriarchal languages. Tendencies of language change in
English and German suggest that the choice of one or the other strategy is
primarily determined by one structural property, i.e. presence or absence
of grammatical gender. For a language lacking this category, the choice of
neutralization would be predicted, while a gender-language would be
expected to change in the direction of feminization. Apparently contradic-
tory developments, such as an increase in the formation and use of sex-
specific compounds in -woman (chairwoman, Congresswoman) in English,
or of sex-neutral nouns (Lehrkraft "teacher", Fachkraft "expert",
Senatsmitglied "member of the senate") in German have been interpreted
as exceptions to the rule rather than indications of the assumption that nei-
ther strategy will be followed exclusively by any language.
The following sections will provide evidence against the claim that gen-
der plays the decisive role in language change away from MAN.
2.1 Norwegian
The situation in Norwegian is characterized by the existenace of two
standard varieties, Bokmal and Nynorsk, which officially have equal status.
Differences in origin (urban vs. rural), distribution (written vs. spoken) and
structure (two vs. three genders) resulted in social and political conflicts
that motivated several language reform bills. The goal of such language pol-
icy is the vemacularization of Bokmal, which was strongly influenced by
Danish, and the modernization of the conservative Nynorsk variety. The
two varieties will ultimately develop into one common standard language
(cf. Lunde, 1985).
This common Norwegian language will have three genders. Nynorsk
(like most Norwegian dialects) traditionally has had a three-gender-system,
while Bokmal differentiated only common and neuter gender until 1938,
when it was officially declared to have three genders as well. For many
Norwegians, then, the distinction between feminine and masculine nominal
gender is not common heritage, and this has led to considerable variability
in the use of gender-marked forms.
Feminine, masculine, and neuter gender show in singular forms of arti-
cles (indefinite and definite) and, of course, in the pronominal system: e.g.,
280 MARUS HELLINGER
ei kvinne/kvinna; en mannlmannen; et barn/barnet "a woman/the woman, a
man/the man; a child/the child"; ho/hun/henne/hennes "she, her", han/ham/
han/hans "he, him", det/dets "it/its".
Although Norwegian displays more formal manifestations of gender
opposition than English or Danish, it has considerably fewer marked forms
than the highly inflected German language. Thus patterns of grammatical
agreement rather than the opposition of feminine and masculine as such
may be expected to influence language change away from MAN.
Important conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of feminine
word formation in Norwegian. In derivation, two suffixes (-inne and -ske)
have gained productivity in the past; on a quantitative level, however,
feminine derivation is not comparable to the German -in-pattern. On a
qualitative level, -inne and -ske differ in their social status: -inne refers to
female referents of higher social rank (cf. ltererinne (f) "teacher", fyrstinne
(f) "princess"), whereas -ske typically denotes women with manual occupa-
tions, e.g. arbeiderske (f) "worker", pakkerske (f) "packer"; individual for-
mations such as bedragerske "female swindler" and morderske "murderess"
point towards the pejorative value of the suffix.
Generally, in Norwegian as in other patriarchal languages, the highest
social prestige is attributed to those terms that exist only in the masculine
form; professional titles such as advokat (m) "lawyer" or lege (m) "doctor"
have never had a feminine counter-part. All feminine derivations are
potentially felt to be of lesser status than corresponding masculines, which
- according to MAN - cover sex-specific as well as generic referential
functions.
In the area of compounding, Norwegian has many -mann-compounds
(formann (m) "chairman", tillitsmann (m) "mediator") but only very few
compounds with -mor, -kone, -pike, etc. "mother, woman, girl" as a second
element, all of which appear in compounds denoting stereotypical female
occupations (cf. Lunde 1985: 101).
Norwegian, like German, has a basically asymmetric system of terms
for human referents, with masculines including feminines and the latter
functioning as secondary. In principle, two possibilities exist for changing
the patriarchal status quo: (a) Symmetry could be achieved via feminization,
i.e. where no feminines exist, these could be created by applying deriva-
tional ( -inne, -ske) as well as compositional rules (-kvinne). Mixed refer-
ence would either demand extensive splitting, or the use/creation of generic
terms. In a three-gender system these should preferably not be of masculine
REVISING THE PATRIARCHAL PARADIGM 281
gender, as in a paradigm such as formann (m) I forkvinne (f), leder (m);
leder "leader" co-occurs with other masculine formatives and therefore
suggests male reference. (b) Symmetry could also be achieved via neutral-
ization, i.e. all morphological feminines would disappear, new feminine
derivations would not be created, and -mann-compounds would cover sex-
specific as well as generic functions. Splitting would be unnecessary.
A more radical solution, which has also been suggested for German
(cf. Pusch 1984: 69), would be the exploitation of the neuter category: en
lterer (m) I ei lterer (f) I et lterer (n) "teacher"; this solution has theoretical
value bot no prospect for support in the speech community.
In current Norwegian, tendencies towards neutralization rather than
feminization can be observed. With the exception of a few recent com-
pounds in -kvinne "woman" and the use of adjectival phrases (kvinnelig N
"female N"), women are becoming morphologically invisible.
Official recommendations support this tendency, which is structurally
. not well motivated in a three-gender-system. It is claimed that the second-
ary status of feminines cannot be ameliorated and that feminine deriva-
tional patterns will therefore resist productivity. On the other hand, neuter
gender forms are rejected as potential generic alternatives.
Thus MAN is likely to remain since it is hard to conceive - given
obligatory grammatical gender agreement - that either splitting or sym-
metric adjectival paraphrases will be used consistently.
2.2 Dutch
Concerning nominal gender, Dutch is similar to English and very much
like Danish in that nouns can no longer be classified as feminine or mas-
culine in terms of articles, adjectival agreement, etc. In the 18th century,
Standard Dutch, which is based on varieties spoken in the North of the
Netherlands (Amsterdam), developed a two-gender system differentiating
only common and neuter gender (cf. de man, de vrouw, de tafel (common)
"the man, the woman, the table", het boek (n) "the book"), while the south
of the country and the Flemish-speaking area of Belgium preserved a three-
gender system (cf. Brouwer 1985).
As in Danish, terms for human referents are all common gender and
can be formally specified for sex only in pronominalization (zij, ze/hij; haar/
hem; haarlzijn "she/he"; "her/him"; "her/his"), in word-formation, or in
syntactic paraphrase.
This structural background suggests neutralization as a strategy to
282 MARUS HELLINGER
avoid MAN. Conflicting tendencies of change can be observed in current
Dutch, however, and the issue is controversial even among feminists.
An explanation of this conflict is provided by an analysis of mor-
phological feminines, an area where Dutch is closer to German than to
English, Danish, and Norwegian, in that it has a number of well-established
derivational patterns. Brouwer (1985: 135) lists seven: (i) leraar/lerares
"teacher", (ii) kok/kokkin "cook", (iii) arbeider/arbeidster "worker", (iv)
dirigent/dirigente "conductor", (v) historikuslhistorika "historian", (vi)
chauffeur/chauffeuse "driver", (vii) redakteur/redaktrice "editor". Types (i)-
(iv) are the most productive patterns, while (v) - (vii) occur primarily in
French loanwords. Types (i) - (iv) do not have equal status in productivity
or social value, however; -in is an old suffix that is no longer productive,
while -e as a feminizer developed only in the 18th century when it gained
considerable productivity. Spontaneous formations in -e are common, while
-in-feminines have largely lexicalized (cf. van Alphen 1985: 125). Type (i)
denotes female referents of (stereotypic) higher social status, as in prinses
"princess" or barones "baroness" and has not produced many derivations,
while feminines in -ster that point towards a lower social status of the refe-
rent (cf. also E. spinster) constitute the largest group of morphological
feminines in Dutch; in a study on the productivity of feminine suffixes, for
example, Adriaens (cf. Brouwer 1985: 137) lists 1168 feminines in -ster vs.
333 in -e and 151 in -in).
Based on these observations, either strategy, i.e. neutralization as well
as feminization, can be motivated in Dutch. The existence of a large body
of morphological feminines clearly suggests a masculine interpretation for
most unmarked terms and would therefore point towards feminization,
while the absence of the grammatical opposition of masculine and feminine
provides the structural argument in favour of generic terms.
Supporters of the strategy of feminization claim that referential
ambiguities can only be resolved by making women visible, i.e. by using
existing feminine terms and by creating new ones where only unmarked
terms prevail, and by employing pronominal and adjectival splitting consis-
tently.
Supporters of the strategy of neutralization claim that the low status of
morphological feminines outweighs the gains of visibility. They also look at
neutralization as a natural development linked to large-scale historical pro-
cesses, in particular the general loss of gender differentiations and agree-
ment rules.
Thus, the present debate in the Netherlands is characterized by
REVISING THE PATRIARCHAL PARADIGM 283
acknowledgement of the referential asymmetries of the system as well as
current variability in usage, but at the same time by conflicting evaluation
of the factors involved in choosing one or the other strategy to avoid MAN.
Either choice implies major changes in Dutch: abolishing a well-established
word-formation component on the one hand and creation of a substantial
amount of new generics on the other (cf. brandwacht "fireworker" to sub-
stitute sex-specific pairs such as brandweerman/brandweervrouw).
At present the debate is unresolved, but it seems likely that political
rather than structural arguments may win out in the end, centering on the
assumption that the secondary status of feminines cannot be change~. This
argument is beginning to take on the powerful dimensions of a myth - not
urilike the myth of generic masculines. It is immensely important that
feminist linguists provide empirical evidence for possible semantic changes
from derogatory to neutral and even positive associations in terms for
human referents.
2.3 Italian
As in the debate on Dutch, similar arguments are used in discussing
changes in Italian, although Italian differentiates feminine and masculine
gender. In other words, presence as well as absence of the category of gen-
det can be used equally as an argument against feminization. Gender thus
turns out to be only of secondary importance.
In Italian, lack of feminine terms where masculines exist, as well as
conflicts in agreement (fear of splitting) if both genders are used are also
seen as obstacles to change in the direction of female visibility. Further-
more, Italian has a number of derivational rules for the generation of
feminines (e.g., -ice, -iera, -ora, -a, -essa), but these patterns are not well
established and productivity is limited since feminine suffixes are consid-
ered as lacking prestige. In particular, -essa frequently has overt derogatory
connotations, cf. filosofessa (f) "pedantic or conceited woman" (cf. Sabatini
1985).
Remarkably, common patterns such as invitato (m)linvitata (f) "guest"
or lettore (m)/lettrice (f) "reader" are not employed for terms of higher
social prestige; e.g., instead of avvocata (f) "lawyer" and dottrice (f) "doc-
tor", we find derivations in -essa (avvocatessa, dottoressa), which are dis-
liked by Italian women. Similarly, -essa is also used in cases of participial
nouns, where gender is generally marked only in the article: the pattern is
il paziente (m)I la paziente (f) "patient", but again we find il studente (m)I la
284 MARUS HELLINGER
studentessa (f) instead of la studente (f).
Frequently, for terms of higher social prestige, feminines do not exist
and will not be derived despite morphological ease. Thus, the pattern
cameriere (m)I cameriera (f) "waiter" is not employed in the case of ingeg-
nere (m) "civil engineer", where ingegnera (f) would of course be the
appropriate derivation. And instead of la medica (f) "doctor" or la sindaca
(f) "mayor" we find la donna medico or simply il medico and la donna sin-
daco or il sindaco donna (cf. Sabatini 1985: 69). In such cases agreement
conflicts are not considered a problem.
Pejorative association with feminine suffixes is so strong, however,
that many Italian women in higher social positions reject feminine titles and
prefer to remain invisible rather than to risk derogation through feminiza-
tion; e.g., in the case of a female party secretary il segretario is still the
appropriate term and a female Post Master(!) General will be addressed as
il Direttore Generale del Ministero delle Poste.
The tendency in Italian is clearly towards neutralization, which at pre-
sent simply leads to loss of feminines rather than simultaneously to the cre-
ation of new generics. The potential benefits provided by the existence of a
traditional masculine/ feminine distinction and a large number of feminine
derivational patterns have so far not gained enough power to balance the
cost of "female as secondary". And although awareness of the power of
sexist language is growing in Italy, the major choice may have already been
made. With an increase in variability and the much-needed analysis of old
and new agreement conflicts, however, a reconsideration of the issue
appears likely.
2.4 Spanish
Like Italian, Spanish has a traditional distinction of feminine and mas-
culine gender with a considerable amount of agreement formatives.
According to MAN, masculines are ambiguous in that they cover sex-
specific as well as generic reference; e.g. Al italiano (masc. generic) le gus-
tan las operas "The Italian likes the operas" vs. Al italiano (masc. male) le
gustan las mujeres "The Italian likes the women" (cf. Gonzalez 1985: 50).
There are numerous pairs of masculines and feminines that are not
only asymmetric in terms of referential range, but also in terms of denota-
tive and connotative properties; e.g. el inocente (m) "innocent person", la
inocente (f) "virgin"; un doncel (m) "a young nobleman", una doncella (f)
REVISING THE PATRIARCHAL PARADIGM 285
"a maiden or virgin"; la medica (f)lla zapatera (f) "wife of a doctor/
shoemaker".
The major morphological device for the derivation of feminines is
alternation of -of-a, cf. el maestro (m)/la maestra (f) "teacher", el vendedor
(m)/la vendedora (f) "salesperson". In many other cases, the masculine pre-
vails with the gender opposition signalled only by the article: el linguista
(m)lla linguista (f) "linguist", el gerente (m)lla gerente (f) "manager" , el juez
(m)lla juez (f) "judge".
Asymmetries show in mixed reference, which requi.r es agreement with
the masculine antecedent: mujeres y hombres viejos ... ellos (masc .. plural)
"old men and women ... they" ; the referential ambiguities ("old [men and
women]"; "women and old men") are tolerated, while the use of a feminine
adjective disambiguates an expression like hombres y mujeres viejas ("men
and old women").
The discussion of non-sexist alternatives in Spanish-speaking countries
has not yet become a major issue. Only in Puerto Rico, legislation for equal
treatment of the sexes has produced minor linguistic changes in the area of
job advertising. There seems to be a tendency towards more feminization,
judging from examples like supervisor(a) "supervisor" or conductor(a)
"driver". These examples suggest that at least some degree of female visi-
bility will be part of the change away from MAN. On the other hand, the
superordinate status of masculines in the Spanish lexicon - reflecting the
undisputed dominance of the male in Hispanic culture - remains. One of
many linguistic manifestations of this rule is provided by cases where a
feminine exists, e.g. azafata (f) "flight attendant" or ama de llaves (f) "chief
housekeeper", but the derivation of corresponding masculines is not toler-
ated: rather than azafato (m) and amo de llaves (m), new supposedly
generic terms are generated - comisario de abordo (m) and mayordomo
(m); cf. also examples from other_ languages, e.g. Italian, where instead of
levatore (m), derived from levatrice (f) "midwife", a new unstigmatized
masculine ostetrico (m) has been created. Predictably, the existence of
these masculines will have a devaluative effect on traditional feminines
that, however, will not be likely to die out in the near future.
3. Conclusion
The look at only a few languages. has shown that presence or absence
of grammatical gender is not a sufficient criterion for predicting the choice
286 MARUS HELLINGER
of either feminization or neutralization as a strategy to avoid MAN. Other
structural arguments must be taken into account:
- large-scale historical developments, in particular those concerning
the development and perhaps loss of gender distinctions;
- the extent to which the opposition of feminine and masculine gen-
der has syntactic consequences (inflection, agreement);
- the nature and function of word-formation rules for the generation
of terms for human referents including diachronic aspects and the
question of productivity;
- the kind and scope of referential and semantic asymmetries in pairs
of feminine and masculine terms.
Even if information about these linguistic aspects is available, predic-
tion for either strategy could not be made with confidence. There are non-
linguistic factors to be considered that may be equally relevant:
- the relationship between the sexes in the respective speech com-
munity; thus the low status of women (e.g. in the Romance cul-
tures) rather than structural factors may be responsible for resis-
tance to female linguistic visibility; preoccupation with agreement
conflicts and stylistic problems is often a cover-up for underlying
social and political conflicts;
- the state of the women's movement; naturally a more advanced
level in the criticism of patriarchy will contribute to a deeper under-
standing of linguistic sexism and promote more effective debates of
non-sexist alternatives (cf. Hellinger and Schrapel 1983);
- the fact that so far political support has primarily been provided for
neutralization; since contradictory arguments may be used in
defending female invisibility, it is possible - at least for gender-lan-
guages - that in spite of the proclaimed intention to achieve equal
linguistic treatment of the sexes, official language politics in fact
helps to perpetuate the status quo.
I believe that neither neutralization nor feminization can be achieved
consistently in any language. In each case, a language-specific, multidimen-
sional strategy is likely to develop that will contain elements of both.
Of course, more radical solutions are conceivable. In English, many
alternatives have been proposed as substitutes for generic he (cf. Baron
1981). No one has yet suggested, however, that, in addition to discarding all
morphological feminines, pronominal gender distinctions should also be
erased.
REVISING THE PATRIARCHAL PARADIGM 287
In German, one radical proposal to avoid MAN involves the consistent
exploitation of the three-gender system (cf. Pusch 1984: 61-64). While
retaining all three genders, morphological feminines would be discarded,
leaving simply the articles to mark sex-specific reference. For generic or
mixed reference, neuter gender would be used, e.g. das Professor (n-
generic) vs. der Professor (m) and die Professor (f). This proposal estab-
lishes traditional masculines as terms for human beings, but avoids semantic
derogation as well as syntactic ambiguities.
Another radical suggestion has been total feminization (cf. Pusch
1986). Total - as opposed to partial - feminization substitutes generic
masculines by generic feminines, i.e. a morphological feminine such as
Lehrerin "teacher" is taken to include the masculine Lehrer. Overt mas-
culines would no longer function as sex-neutral terms, with men (instead of
women) having to decide in each case whether they are "included" or not.
Pusch (1986: 6) recommends this strategy for a transitional period until
such a time when social and political equality of women and men has been
achieved; then new solutions would have to be considered.
In the light of reactions to more moderate suggestions for changes away
from MAN (cf. Hellinger and Schrapel 1983), such proposals are unlikely
to gain any wider support. They play an important role, however, in the
debate of equal linguistic treatment of the sexes. Taking a non-biased,
analytical look at structural possibilities, they succeed in uncovering the
absurdities of the linguistic choices made be patriarchy. They motivate
rigorous analysis of the costs and benefits of each step of feminist language
politics and - finally - they provoke creative thinking urgently needed to
arrive at multidimensional compromises that are both linguistically and
socially acceptable.
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Alphen, Ingrid van. 1985. "Eine Frau - ein Wort: Uber die
Gleichbehandlung von Frauen und Mannern und die Konsequenzen fiir
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123-131.
Baron, Dennis E. 1981. "The epicene pronoun: The word that failed".
American Speech 56: 83-97.
288 MARUS HELLINGER In the CRITICAL THEORY series the following titles have been published and will be
published during 1989:
Brouwer, Dede. 1985. "Anders, aber gleich? Uber die Bildung weiblicher
1. D1AZ-DIOCARETZ, Myriam and Iris M. ZAVALA (eds): WOMEN,
Berufsbezeichnungen im Niederlandischen". In Hellinger (ed.). 1985: FEMINIST IDENTITY AND SOCIETY IN THE 1980's. Amsterdam, 1985.
132-147. 2. D1AZ-DIOCARETZ, Myriam: Translating Poetic Discourse: Questions oj
Frank, Francine Wattman. 1985. "Language planning ard sexual equality: Feminist Strategies in Adrienne Rich. Amsterdam, 1985.
guidelines for non-sexist usage". In Hellinger (ed.). 1985: 231-254. 3. DIJK, TeunA. van(ed.):DISCOURSEANDLITERATURE. New Approaches to
Gonzales, Iris G. 1985. "Some aspects of sexism in spanish". In Hellinger the Analysis of Literary Genres. Amsterdam, 1985.
4. ZAVALA, Iris M., Teun A. van DIJK and Myriam DIAZ-DIOCARETZ (eds)
(ed.). 1985: 48-63. coordinated by Bill DOTSON SMITH: APPROACHES TO DISCOURSE, POE-
Hellinger, Marlis. 1984. "Effecting social change through group action: TICS AND PSYCHIATRY: Papers from the 1985 Utrecht Summer School of Criti-
feminine occupational titles in transition". In Language and Power, cal Theory. Amsterdam, 1987.
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patterns. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 1988.
Sprachpolitik: Internationale Perspektiven. Opladen: Westdeutscher 7. WODAK, Ruth (ed.): LANGUAGE, POWER AND IDEOLOGY. Studies in
Verlag. political discourse. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 1989.
Hellinger, Marlis and Beate Schrapel. 1983. "Uber die sprachliche 8. MEESE, Elizabeth and Alice PARKER (eds): THE DIFFERENCE WITHIN:
Gleichbehandlung von Frauen und Mannern". Jahrbuch fur Inter- FEMINISM AND CRITICAL THEORY. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 1989.
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Lunde, Katrin. 1985. "Geschlechtsabstraktion oder -spezifikation:
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Pusch, Luise F. 1984. Das Deutsche als Mii.nnersprache. Frankfurt/Main:
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Pusch, Luise F. 1986. "Totale Feminisierung: Uberlegungen zum umfassen-
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Sabatini, Alma. 1985. "Occupational titles in Italian: changing the sexist
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Schulz, Muriel R. 1975. "The semantic derogation of woman". In Language
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