"Orthodoxy is unconsciousness" - China's 'Newspeak'.

"Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?… Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050 at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?…The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." - Syme - 1984

AND so, we come to it...

Adhering in it's own most reliable way to a self-defined pattern of "one-step-forward, two-steps-back", China has, this week, left the world in very little doubt indeed about two things; The first and most troubling is that the government is, still, attempting to narrow the minds of the Chinese people and actively pursue the indoctrination of them, despite it's desire to publicise the supposed advances in human rights it claims to have made.

The second thing which the evil (and I use that word in all confidence) government has proved, is that Eric Arthur Blair, (otherwise known as George Orwell) was indeed an exceptionally perceptive chap.

Yesterday, China's state press and publishing body said that any words used in it's media which were not Chinese were sullying the purity of the Chinese language. The People's Daily newspaper said that use of foreign words, particularly English had "seriously damaged" the purity of the Chinese language and resulted in "adverse social impacts" on the cultural environment.

Of course, they feel the fact that foreign English language websites are far more accessible than the Chinese translations of them, and the strange tendency for facts in international media to differ greatly to the 'facts' which the Chinese government prints is mere coincidence(!)

Why then has China encouraged so many English teachers into their glorious motherland for the past decade? Why does the government run an English language news channel (the embarrassing CCTV 9)? And if the English language is such a blight on the purity of the Aryan Chinese language, what are we supposed to think of the Chinese propaganda which recently went on sale in our very own WH Smith?!



A screenprint from China's state-run English
language news website, Xinhuanet at
the time the news was announced.
There was no mention of the new
policy on here.



Some may claim that it is right and fair for the Chinese to want to protect their own language and identity in the fear that it will become diluted irreparably. In much the same way, we wish to defend our own traditions from the politically correct madness which seems to be sweeping the UK. But let me explain: Firstly, the Chinese are themselves guilty of destroying language, culture, identity and life in Tibet. On a scale beyond forgiveness.



Secondly, this is but a well recycled excuse by which they will sell such a policy to the masses. The Chinese government does not care about culture. After all, they are personally responsible for destroying it, back in the 60s and 70s, and continuing to this day. 

By limiting the language used to only words they can control - to words which they have even been able to alter the meanings of over the past 60 years, they will reduce the amount of 'reactionary' ideas the people are exposed to. The Chinese will then remain cocooned within the safety of their own language, cut off from any English words which are likely to put ideas into their heads, or which may conflict with the official party line, delivered oh so convincingly, by the state's own China Daily.

Lets pluck an example which is aptly on-topic.

In English, the word 'propaganda' is loaded with negative connotations. One would never refer to a simple fact as propaganda, irrespetive of it's actual definition. The word 'propaganda' has a sinister and manipulative meaning in English.



In Chinese however, propaganda (宣传) is thought of as an innocent and totally acceptable description of information. Of course the actual meaning is the same, but it is used without any negative connotations at all. Such implied meanings of the word have never made it into the Chinese language - for, what should be, obvious reasons. In English, to describe a BBC report as propaganda would be to attack them. In Chinese, to do similarly would be very much the same as to refer to the report simply as news.

If it is still not clear, please click on this Newspeak dictionary, and allow the prophetic writings of George Orwell to explain it far better than I can.



Eric Arthur Blair,
better known as George Orwell.



Words which the government of Ingsoc eradicated from use included: 'bad', 'democracy', 'innuendo', 'freedom', 'lie', and 'thought'. It will be interesting to see which are the first to suffer in China. Although by wiping out all foreign languages, the casualties will be great.



Perhaps we should look upon this horrific move by the Chinese government with hope. After a massive push in schools to teach students English, and the continually improving accessibility of the country to English speakers, maybe those in Beijing have gone too far. It is possible they have, in their eagerness to educate people their way, unleashed a dragon which they cannot contain. Could this be a desperate attempt to rectify the influx of information which they have mistakenly allowed in via the beauty of the English language?



Winston, as played by John Hurt in the
film version of George Orwell's 1984



I hope so. If this is the case, and the Chinese have unknowingly been absorbing English as a weapon with which they can arm themselves in a fight for truth, then perhaps the pen is truly mightier than the sword.

In any case, George Orwell saw it coming. I only hope it all ends better for the Chinese than it did for Winston.

Doubleplusungood indeed...


[Update: a former student of mine in China just sent me this link which may be of interest]
http://news.qq.com/a/20101222/000763.htm