politics and the english language 政治和英语语言 乔治奥威尔

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1、GeorgeOrwellPoliticsandtheEnglishLanguageMostpeoplewhobotherwiththematteratallwouldadmitthattheEnglishlanguageisinabadway,butitisgenerallyassumedthatwecannotbyconsciousactiondoanythingaboutit.Ourcivilizationisdecadentandourlanguage—sotheargumentruns—mustinevitablyshareinthegeneral

2、collapse.Itfollowsthatanystruggleagainsttheabuseoflanguageisasentimentalarchaism,likepreferringcandlestoelectriclightorhansomcabstoaeroplanes.Underneaththisliesthehalf-consciousbeliefthatlanguageisanaturalgrowthandnotaninstrumentwhichweshapeforourownpurposes.Now,itisclearthatthede

3、clineofalanguagemustultimatelyhavepoliticalandeconomiccauses:itisnotduesimplytothebadinfluenceofthisorthatindividualwriter.Butaneffectcanbecomeacause,reinforcingtheoriginalcauseandproducingthesameeffectinanintensifiedform,andsoonindefinitely.Amanmaytaketodrinkbecausehefeelshimself

4、tobeafailure,andthenfailallthemorecompletelybecausehedrinks.ItisratherthesamethingthatishappeningtotheEnglishlanguage.Itbecomesuglyandinaccuratebecauseourthoughtsarefoolish,buttheslovenlinessofourlanguagemakesiteasierforustohavefoolishthoughts.Thepointisthattheprocessisreversible.

5、ModernEnglish,especiallywrittenEnglish,isfullofbadhabitswhichspreadbyimitationandwhichcanbeavoidedifoneiswillingtotakethenecessarytrouble.Ifonegetsridofthesehabitsonecanthinkmoreclearly,andtothinkclearlyisanecessaryfirststeptowardpoliticalregeneration:sothatthefightagainstbadEngli

6、shisnotfrivolousandisnottheexclusiveconcernofprofessionalwriters.Iwillcomebacktothispresently,andIhopethatbythattimethemeaningofwhatIhavesaidherewillhavebecomeclearer.Meanwhile,herearefivespecimensoftheEnglishlanguageasitisnowhabituallywritten.Thesefivepassageshavenotbeenpickedout

7、becausetheyareespeciallybad—IcouldhavequotedfarworseifIhadchosen—butbecausetheyillustratevariousofthementalvicesfromwhichwenowsuffer.Theyarealittlebelowtheaverage,butarefairlyrepresentativeexamples.InumberthemsothatIcanreferbacktothemwhennecessary:1.Iamnot,indeed,surewhetheritisno

8、ttruetosaythattheMiltonwhooncesee