If you've watched the news or followed politics chances are you've heard the term Orwellian thrown around in one context or another. But have you ever stopped to think about what it really means, or why it's used so often?
Ako ste gledali vesti ili ako pratite politiku, sve su prilike da ste čuli kako se razbacuju terminom "orvelovski" u raznim kontekstima. Ali da li ste ikad stali da razmislite šta on zaista znači ili zašto ga tako često koriste?
The term was named after British author Eric Blair known by his pen name George Orwell. Because his most famous work, the novel "1984," depicts an oppressive society under a totalitarian government, "Orwellian" is often used simply to mean authoritarian. But using the term in this way not only fails to fully convey Orwell's message, it actually risks doing precisely what he tried to warn against.
Termin je nastao po imenu britanskog pisca Erika Blera, poznatom pod pseudonimom Džordž Orvel. Zato što njegovo najpoznatije delo, roman "1984", oslikava ugnjetavano društvo pod totalitarnim režimom, "orvelovski" se često koristi prosto u značenju autoritarnog. Ali ovakva upotreba termina, ne samo da ne prenosi u potpunosti Orvelovu poruku, već zapravo rizikujemo da uradimo ono na šta je pokušao da nas upozori.
Orwell was indeed opposed to all forms of tyranny, spending much of his life fighting against anti-democratic forces of both the left-wing and the right. But he was also deeply concerned with how such ideologies proliferate. And one of his most profound insights was the importance that language plays in shaping our thoughts and opinions.
Orvel je uistinu bio protivnik svih oblika tiranije, proveo je veći deo svog života boreći se protiv nedemokratskih sila, i levog i desnog krila. Takođe je bio i duboko zabrinut zbog načina na koji se te ideologije množe. A njegovo najoštroumnije opažanje bilo je značaj jezika u oblikovanju naših misli i stavova.
The government of "1984"'s Oceania controls its people's actions and speech in some ways that are obvious. Their every move and word is watched and heard, and the threat of what happens to those who step out of line is always looming overhead.
Vlada u Okeaniji iz "1984" kontroliše dela i govor ljudi na očigledne načine. Svaki njihov pokret i reč se posmatraju i slušaju, a pretnja od onoga što će da zadesi one koji pređu crtu, uvek im visi nad glavom.
Other forms of control are not so obvious. The population is inundated with a constant barrage of propaganda made up of historical facts and statistics manufactured in the Ministry of Truth. The Ministry of Peace is the military. Labor camps are called "Joycamps." Political prisoners are detained and tortured in the Ministry of Love. This deliberate irony is an example of doublespeak, when words are used not to convey meaning but to undermine it, corrupting the very ideas they refer to.
Drugi oblici kontrole nisu toliko očigledni. Stanovništvo je preplavljeno stalnim propagandnim bombardovanjem koga čine istorijska fakta i statistike proizvedene u Ministarstvu istine. Ministarstvo mira je vojska. Radne kampove zovu "Kampovima užitka". Političke zatvorenike zatvaraju i muče u Ministarstvu ljubavi. Ova namerna ironija je primer dvosmislenosti, kada koristimo reči, ne da bismo preneli značenje, već da bi ga podrili, izopačavajući tako same ideje na koje se reči odnose.
The regime's control of language goes even further, eliminating words from the English language to create the official dialect of Newspeak, a crudely limited collection of acronyms and simple concrete nouns lacking any words complex enough to encourage nuanced or critical thought.
Kontrola jezika od strane režima ide čak i dalje, kroz eliminaciju reči iz engleskog jezika kako bi stvorili zvanični dijalekat Novogovora, banalno ograničenu kolekciju akronima i prostih stvarnih imenica, bez ijedne reči dovoljno složene da bi podstakla istančano i kritičko mišljenje.
This has an effect on the psyche Orwell calls, "Doublethink," a hypnotic state of cognitive dissonance in which one is compelled to disregard their own perception in place of the officially dictated version of events, leaving the individual completely dependent on the State's definition of reality itself. The result is a world in which even the privacy of one's own thought process is violated, where one may be found guilty of thoughtcrime by talking in their sleep, and keeping a diary or having a love affair equals a subversive act of rebellion.
Ovaj uticaj na psihu Orvel naziva "dvomišljem", hipnotičkim stanjem kognitivne disonance u kome se pojedinac podstiče da zanemari sopstvenu percepciju, zarad zvanično izdiktiranih verzija događaja. Pojedinac tako postaje potpuno zavisan od državne definicije same stvarnosti. Rezultat je svet u kome je narušena čak i privatnost ličnog toka misli, gde pojedinac može biti osuđen za misaoni zločin počinjen govorom u snu, a vođenje dnevnika ili ljubavna afera su jednaki subverzivnom činu pobune.
This might sound like something that can only happen in totalitarian regimes, but Orwell was warning us about the potential for this occurring even in democratic societies. And this is why "authoritarian" alone does not "Orwellian" make.
Ovo možda zvuči kao nešto što je jedino moguće u totalitarnim režimima, ali Orvel nas je upozoravao da se ovo može desiti čak i u demokratskim društvima. Zbog toga "orvelovski" ne znači jedino "autoritaran".
In his essay, "Politics and the English Language," he described techniques like using pretentious words to project authority, or making atrocities sound acceptable by burying them in euphemisms and convoluted sentence structures. But even more mundane abuses of language can affect the way we think about things. The words you see and hear in everyday advertising have been crafted to appeal to you and affect your behavior, as have the soundbites and talking points of political campaigns which rarely present the most nuanced perspective on the issues. And the way that we use ready-made phrases and responses gleaned from media reports or copied from the Internet makes it easy to get away with not thinking too deeply or questioning your assumptions.
U svom eseju "Politika i engleski jezik", opisao je tehnike, poput upotrebe pretencioznih reči da bi se iskazao autoritet ili postizanja da užasi zvuče prihvatljivo kada se zatrpaju eufemizmima ili uvijenim rečeničnim strukturama. Čak i svakidašnja zloupotreba jezika može da utiče na to kako razmišljamo. Reči koje vidite i čujete svakodnevno u reklamama su osmišljene kako bi vas privukle i uticale na vaše ponašanje, poput tonskih isečaka i tema političkih kampanja koje retko prezentuju najistančaniji pogled na problematiku. A način na koji koristimo gotove fraze i odgovore napabirčene iz medija ili prekopirane sa interneta olakšava nam da se izvučemo ako ne razmišljamo naročito duboko ili ako ne dovodimo u pitanje pretpostavke.
So the next time you hear someone use the word Orwellian, pay close attention. If they're talking about the deceptive and manipulative use of language, they're on the right track. If they're talking about mass surveillance and intrusive government, they're describing something authoritarian but not necessarily Orwellian. And if they use it as an all-purpose word for any ideas they dislike, it's possible their statements are more Orwellian than whatever it is they're criticizing.
Pa, sledeći put kad čujete da neko koristi reč "orvelovski", dobro obratite pažnju. Ako govore o varljivoj i manipulativnoj upotrebi jezika, na pravom su putu. Ako govore o masovnom nadzoru i napadnim vladama, opisuju nešto što je autoritarno, ali ne nužno orvelovski. A ako je koriste kao svenamensku reč za sve ideje koje im se ne sviđaju, moguće je da su njihovi iskazi orvelovskiji od bilo čega što kritikuju.
Words have the power to shape thought. Language is the currency of politics, forming the basis of society from the most common, everyday interactions to the highest ideals. Orwell urged us to protect our language because ultimately our ability to think and communicate clearly is what stands between us and a world where war is peace and freedom is slavery.
Reči imaju moć da oblikuju misao. Jezik je politička moneta, on čini temelj našeg društva, od najobičnijih, svakidašnjih interakcija do najviših ideala. Orvel nas je podsticao da štitimo naš jezik jer je naposletku naša sposobnost jasnog razmišljanja i komunikacije ono što stoji između nas i sveta u kome je rat mir, a sloboda je ropstvo.