The Paradox of Political Language

By Geoffrey Nunberg

UC Berkeley and Stanford University 

 This presentation is a part of the 2007 Barbara Gordon Lecture Series

The FIU Linguistics Program presents 2007 Barbara Gordon Lecture "The Paradox of Political Language" by Geoffrey Nunberg, Tuesday, March 6, 2007.

       There is a paradox in modern attitudes about political language. Left and right may disagree as to which expressions count as deceptive packaging and which is merely effective branding, but both sides acknowledge that the American public is particularly susceptible to linguistic manipulation. Yet, it is fair to say that there has never been an age that was so wary of the mischief that language can work or so alert to the dangers of political euphemism and indirection. How did we come to this point? Are political and public figures really more mendacious than they used to be, or does it reflect a changing media role or an increasingly polarized political climate? Why is widespread sophistication no impediment to the misleading use of language, and why do many of the most successful linguistic maneuvers pass our radar undetected? This lecture discusses these issues mentioned above.

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