Tuesday 3 October 2023
Public life is becoming uglier
Harry Clynch has a fine Critic piece on the modern trend towards dull and ugly language.
Political correctness contra aesthetics
Public life is becoming uglier, duller and more soul-destroying
I’ll give you two choices. Which of the following pieces of writing strikes you as more powerfully and thoughtfully crafted as a piece of literature?
You start to die the moment you are born. The whole of life is cutting through the pack with death. So take it easy. Light a cigarette and be grateful you are still alive as you suck the smoke deep into your lungs. Your stars have already let you come quite a long way since you left your mother’s womb and whimpered at the cold air of the world.
Or …
Birkett was an ex-Tory MP, famous for promoting covid/vaccines/mask-wearing/5G conspiracy theories, which had spilled over into the usual anti-immigrant, anti-EU, anti-BBC, anti-MSM, anti-cultural Marxist, Climate Change Denial pronouncements.
The first extract is taken from Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die, as the heroic James Bond contemplates the transiency and fragility of life on this cruel earth. The second is from the novelist Charlie Higson’s pale imitation of the original Bond — a reincarnation in which Fleming’s womanising, boozing, thrill-seeking secret service operative is transformed into something more akin to an overpaid diversity, equity and inclusion professional working in a local council.
The whole piece is well worth reading as a reminder of our drift into totalitarian language and the way it pollutes everything, because language is everything. This quote from Christopher Isherwood for example.
Does this say something important about the woke movement? For one, there’s the argument that bad writing is often the result of bad thinking. As the novelist Christopher Isherwood once remarked: “bad writing is bad not just because the language is humdrum, but the quality of the observation is so poor.” Whilst it would be a logical leap to suggest that one inevitably follows the other, bad thinking is likely to be part of the problem.
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7 comments:
Yes, there's very little observation informing political writing, which is why it is usually so bad. You don't need observation if your mind is made up already, and ideologies are just a way of avoiding thought.
Sam - lack of observation also seems to be a significant advantage for those able to cope with and even relish the dull grind of political meetings. It doesn't seem to attract anyone inclined towards a wider view of things.
For instance, they are bitterly opposed to stereotyping but are completely unaware that they do it themselves, even more than their political opponents.
Tammly - yes the political foundation of what they are is based on stereotyping their opponents. It's used to shut down debate before it even gets going.
I read a lot, but hardly anything written in the past 2 decades. I hadn't analyzed why older books were more relaxing and rewarding but I think you have hit upon one reason apart from the simpler more sensible world they describe.
Dull and ugly? I came across this just now.
"If I were your boss, you'd be in my office this morning having a good look at your TORs and a reassessment of your short to medium term goals with key target points to meet - no excuses. You'd be on a warning. You're not delivering as I would expect and your progress is being closely monitored. Sort it."
Woodsy - that's how I look at it, a simpler and more sensible world just works better even for books.
dearieme - and it's quite possible that "I just don't like you" would be more accurate.
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