Thursday, October 27, 2016

Marcuse on the Hypnosis of Language Employed by Politicians and Business

"FUNCTIONAL LANGUAGE here reveals its magic element, which is also its essentially political element. [...] Such language is at one and the same time 'intimidation and glorification'; propositions tend to assume the form of suggestive commands; they are evocative rather than demonstrative; prediction becomes prescription - the whole communication has a hypnotic character. [...] The powerless individuals are constantly called upon to identify themselves with the goods, and the politicians incessantly summon them to meet a challenge and to face an issue which is not theirs."

Herbert Marcuse, "Language and Technological Society" (Beacon Press), p. 70.

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