Newspeak as editorial policy
Recently, the Russian Strategic Culture Foundation published an article, referring to George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. This is certainly not very original; similar referrals appear frequently in pro-Kremlin media, suggesting that they represent the brave resistance against “The Thought Police” and “Big Brother” and other nasty Orwellian features.
The author of the article hints that ominous techniques for mind control are at play, forcing everyone (except for the author and those, who read her article, who are, thank God, immune to these techniques) to blindly accept lies and deception about Russia.
This is a very Orwellian use of Orwell’s novel. A key concept in Nineteen Eighty-Four is “Newspeak”. A language designed by the novel’s IngSoc [English Socialist] Party to eliminate the people’s ability to express dissent. Orwell describes the principles of newspeak in an essay: “No word in the B vocabulary was ideologically neutral. A great many were euphemisms. Such words, for instance, as joy camp (forced-labour camp) or Minipax (Ministry of Peace, i.e. Ministry of War) meant almost the exact opposite of what they appeared to mean.”
Kremlin Newspeak
Strategic Culture Foundation’s Mission Statement can be seen as a good example of Newspeak: “The Strategic Culture Foundation provides a platform for exclusive analysis, research and policy comment on Eurasian and global affairs. We cover political, economic, social and security issues worldwide. Since 2005, our journal has published thousands of analytical briefs and commentaries with the unique perspective of independent contributors. SCF works to broaden and diversify expert discussion by focusing on hidden aspects of international politics and unconventional thinking. Benefitting from the expanding power of the Internet, we work to spread reliable information, critical thought and progressive ideas.“
Let us break this down along Orwell’s description of newspeak: “Words meant almost exactly the opposite of what they appear to mean”. Actually, the reality is that the Strategic Culture Foundation is a Russia based website, described by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a “partner”. The site is submissively loyal to the Kremlin party line, parroting the talking points from Moscow on the Skripal Case, МH17 и Russian president personally, and even supporting Russian imperialism in Syria and Ukraine.
You can read the whole article here.
Source: EUvsDisinfo
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