Analise Capitulo Fechamento Do Universo Da Locucao

8/13/2019 Analise Capitulo Fechamento Do Universo Da Locucao

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Chap te r Four :The Closing of the Universe of Discourse

Marcuse begins h is longest chapter by re i tera t ing h is idea of the Happy

Consciousness being a bel ief tha t the rea l i s ra t ional and that the sys tem

de l ive r s the goo ds . He wr i t e s tha t the ex te rmina t ion cam ps f rom the l a s t wa r a re

gone and the g rea t nuc lea r war has no t happened . . . and we now we see in f ac t

the Communis t " lo ss" in the Cuban Miss i l e Cr i s i s p roved the fo rces o f goodness

we r e b e g i n n i n g to d o mi n a t e , e v e n t h e Am e r i c a n Sp a c e P r o g r a m w a s b e g i n n i n g

to quickly c lose the gap on the Sovie ts a t the t ime Marcuse was wri t ing th is

book .

Torture has been re in t roduced as a normal affa i r, but in a colonia l warwh ich take s p lace a t the ma rgin of the c iv i l ized wo rld . An d there it i sprac t iced with goo d conscie nce for wa r is war. An d th is war, too , i s a t

t h e m a rg i n - i t r a v a g e s o n t h e " u n d e r d e v e l o p e d " c o u n t r i e s . O t h e r wi s e ,peac e r e igns . (Marc use , pg . 84 )

Marcuse may have been desc r ib ing the Vie tnam War, o r many o the r co lon ia l

sk i rm ishes f rom the ea r ly s ix t i e s . He wa s r emarkab ly p resc ien t abou t th i s s t a t e

me n t ma tc h ing the f ina l r e su l ts of wha t happ ene d in Vie tnam . Al thou gh the re

hav e bee n wa rs wi th equa l f e roc ity ( I r an vs . I raq ) , h ighe r dea th to l ls (Rw anda ) ,

and equa l ly dub ious mi l i t a ry s t r a t eg ie s (Afghan i s t an ) ,Vie tnam i s d i s t ingu i shed

by the fac t the Uni ted Sta tes now acknowledges i t " los t" the war, and by the fac t

the re have been cop ious amoun ts o f s tudy and med ia cove rage and pub l i c

consc iousness abou t tha t conf l i c t , d i sp ropor t iona te when compared wi th o the r

w ars s ince 1 964. On e of the more in teres t ing is Phi l ip Ca puto 's A Ru mo r of

W ar, an acco unt of h is t ime as a f ight ing lieutenant in D an an g, 19 65-6 6. It i s

a lmos t ee r i e the way Marcuse p red ic ted wha t wou ld happen in 1964 compared

to the way Capu to desc r ibed wha t happened to h imse l f and those a round h im

only a year later.Chapter 4:This is where the author looks into the function and control of language in totalitarian societies.He claims that in the members of the government speak in an entirely different language than those of the general public, sothere is no way for the public to know what they are actually speaking about.He further states that governmental language often attempts to arouse feelings with the listeners when they use words suchas freedom and communism that have strong connotations. The real problem comes because these words have so many differentmeanings at this point and can be taken so many different ways.He also argues that using phrases such as "your congressmen" create a personalization of the governmental process that isboth untrue and unfair.He also does not like when governments abbreviate words such as NATO because it prevents the citizens from knowing theactual meaning, especially when they create an aura where one thinks they should know the meaning.In this same chapter, he also looks into labor issues and claims that in both systems, there is a sociological andpsychological attempt to control people because of how the system is set up.

He does note that there are usually human relation departments, but the statements form these departments are so vague andgeneral that they really cannot mean much. These places often form committees to take a long time coming up with a decisionwhen problems arise, just to not fix the original problem, such as wages being too low.


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8 4There is a lso the aspect of the Vie tnam War that d is t inguished i t f romothe r Am er ican conf l i c t s - i t s abso lu te savage ry. I me an the sav age ryt h a t p r o mp t e d s o ma n y Ame r i c a n f i g h t i n g me n - t h e g o o d , s o l i d k i d s f r o mIowa fa rms- - to k i l l c iv i l i ans and p r i sone r s .Genera l Wes tmore land ' s s t r a t egy o f a t t r i t ion a l so had an impor tan teffec t on our behavior. Ou r mis s ion was not to win ter ra in or se iz epos i t ions , bu t s im ply to kill: to ki l l Co m m uni s ts and to k il l as m an y ofthe m as poss ib le . S tack ' em l ike co rd wo od . Vic to ry wa s a h igh body -cou nt , defeat a low ki l l -ra t io , wa r a mat ter of ar i thme t ic . Th e pres sur e onthe un i t com ma nder s w as in tense , and they in tu rn com mu nica ted i t t othe i r t roops . (Capu to , pgs . xviii-xix)

Capu to ' s s t a t emen t o f war be ing a ma t t e r o f a r i thme t ic demons t ra te s how

language can be twis ted , i ron ica l ly o r no t , to make euphemisms ou t o f the

hor r ib le . Ma rcuse conc en t ra te s in th i s chap te r on how languag e i s c r im ped ,

euphemized , d ive r t ed and re - inven ted so a s no t to d i s tu rb the Happy C o n

s c i o u s n e s s .

Th i s so r t o f we l l -be ing , the p roduc t ive supe r s t ruc tu re ove r the unhappy

base o f soc ie ty, pe rm ea tes the "me d ia" wh ich m ed ia te be twe en the ma ste r s and the i r depe nden t s . I ts pub l ic i ty agen t s shape the un ive r se o fcom mu nica t ion in wh ich the one -d imen s iona l behav io r exp res ses i ts e l f .(Marcuse , pg . 85 )

In the years s ince the t ime of publ ica t ion , there has been another aspect

tha t has s t r eng thened the sp read o f Happy Consc iousness , and the domina t ion

of the capi ta l is t indus tr ia l ma chin e over the surface of the w orl d . Th e in cre dible

inc rease in communica t ions , and in t r ave l and t r ade , wh ich a re ano the r type o f

communica t ions , a re sp read ing those va lues , pa r t i a l ly by means o f the sp read

of the Eng l i sh l anguage . I have men t ion ed the sp read o f Ho l lywo od m ov ie s

an d their ar t less a t t i tudes . Th e Nat ional Baske tbal l Ass ocia t io n has re cent ly

begun to ou t se l l eve ry o the r spo r t in i t s r a t e o f g rowth -Mongo l ian t r ibesmen

kno w who Mich ae l Jo rda n i s - - and CN N has beco me a v i r tua l wo r ld t e l ev i s ion

ne twork tha t has in fo rma t ion and access o f t en more d i rec t than many govern

me n t in te l l igence agenc ie s . In add i t ion , the qu ick sp read and l ink ing of the

In te rne t has communica ted the domina t ion o f power fu l indus t r i a l soc ie t i e s .


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8 5Al though the In te rne t does have a vas t po ten t i a l fo r a l t e rna t ive communica t ion ,

the domina t ion o f con t ro l by l a rge communica t ions co rpora t ions ( a t the t ime I

am wr i t ing th i s on my Mac compute r, Bi l l Ga tes , who i s now es t ima ted to be the

r ichest man in the world , seems vir tua l ly insa t iable in h is acquis i t ions or

des t ruc t ion o f compe t i to r s , inc lud ing the company tha t made th i s mach ine ) wi l l

in f luence and u l t ima te ly l i cense eve ry th ing in the com pute r a re a , and they wi l l

of course be doing i t in Engl ish .

Th i s pe rmea t ion o f Eng l i sh th roughou t the wor ld i s s ign i f i can t , and

a l though no t fo recas ted by Marcuse , can be unde rs tood in t e rms o f how tha t

l anguage has been and wi l l be an e ffec t ive too l fo r the sp read o f modern

indus t ri a l va lu es . I hav e a l r eady me n t ioned how E ng l i sh i s now the se con d

mos t popu la r l anguage in t e rms o f the number o f speake r s , how i t i s v i r tua l ly

eve ryone e l se ' s cho ice fo r a second l anguage , and how Eng l i sh i s spoken in

mo re p laces o f the wor ld than any o the r l anguag e . Eng l i sh i s the l angu age o f

in ternat ional a i r t raff ic , the language of sea capta ins , the language of 80% of the

In te rne t , the l anguage p re fe r red fo r in te rna t iona l bus iness , the l anguage fo r the

mos t popu la r mov ies , and undoub ted ly, wi th the f ad ing o f Russ ia , the p re fe r red

seco nd langu age o f Eas te rn Europe and spac e exp lo ra t ion . Eng l i sh was the

language of the f i rs t te legraph, the f i rs t te lephone, the f i rs t radio and f i rs t

te levis ion bro adc asts . A recent ar t ic le in Th e Glob e an d Mail by tw o in ter

na t iona l co r re sponden t s ( t i t l ed Eng l i sh Ru les ) upda te s the sp read o f Eng l i sh .

Throughou t Eas te rn Europe , mi l l ions o f Po les , Hungar ians and Czechswho used to be fo rced to l ea rn Russ ian have g ra te fu l ly d ropped tha tl angua ge in f avor o f Eng l i sh , wh ic h i s no t on ly the l angu age o f co m me rceand mass cul ture but of the i r fu ture mil i ta ry a l l ies .Geop o l i t i ca l cha nge s e l sewhe re have se rv ed to s t r eng then En g l i sh a sw e l l . In Sou th Af r i ca , the co l lapse o f apa r the id has unde rm ined th eoff ic ia l posi t ion of Afr ikaans in favor of Engl ish . In Asia , Engl ish hasb e c o me t h e lingua franca o f bus iness , d i sp lac ing French in such p lacesa s Vi e t n a m , La o s a n d Ca m b o d i a . ( Dr o h a n , F r e e ma n , G l o b e , p g . D1 )


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8 6Al tho ugh the sp read o f Eng l i sh ha d it s beg inn ings in the dom inanc e o f

the Bri t ish Empire in the previous two centur ies , the inf luence of the industr ia l

mig h t o f the Un i ted Sta te s is now lead ing the wo r ld . The wr i t e rs co n t inue :

Whi le Amer ica ' s v ic to ry in the Co ld War can be c red i t ed to i t s economicand mi l i t a ry migh t , i t i sn ' t j u s t nuc lea r weapons and Stea l th bombersthat are win ning the l inguis t ic war for Eng l ish . It i s a lso the pow er ofHo l l y wo o d a n d Ame r i c a n p o p u l a r c u l t u r e .Engl ish is the language of T-shir ts , rap music , adver t is ing and MTV.

Amer ican cu l tu re i s an expor t indus t ry tha t ou t ranks Aerospace expor t swh en it co m es to Globa l pene t ra t ion . An d eve ry can of Co ke , roc k -mu s icCD or McDonald 's hamburger spreads tha t cul ture a l i t t le b i t fur ther.(Drohan and Freeman , Globe , pg . D1)

Is Eng l ish spre adin g beca use i t i s eas y to learn? As a teac her I can

say unequivocal ly i t i s no t easy to l ea rn . In Albe r ta e l emen ta ry schoo l s 40% of

the cu r r i cu lum t ime i s a l loca ted fo r Lan gua ge Ar t s : r ead ing and wr i t ing , and to a

l e s se r ex ten t , l is t en ing and spea k ing . Ch i ld re n o f ten can g ive the c lea res t

indica t ions about inconsis tencies in a pat tern of learning, and there is a great

gap be tween the log ic o f hea r ing and speak ing ( immigran t s to Eng l i sh speak ing

countr ies know of th is hardship too) and the rare ru les and i l logic of spel l ing ,

wr i t ing and read ing. Th ere are 26 le t ters in the a lphabet , but 44 pho net ic

sounds f rom d i f fe ren t vowe ls and consonan t s (O 'Grady and Dobrovo l sky, pg .

3 1 ) . So m e of the m ost popular wo rds in Engl ish (an d, the , of) are not ver bs or

nou ns and a re thus ha rde r to l ea rn . Of the 500 0 mos t fr equen t ly used words in

En g l i s h , o n l y 4 0 % a r e a c t ua ll y En g l i s h , 3 9 % a r e d e r i v e d f r o m Fr e n c h , a n d 2 1 %

are from o the r l anguage s . Eng l i sh has r ead i ly adop ted wor ds f rom o the r

cu l tu res to desc r ibe the expand ing expe r iences a s f i r s t the Br i t i sh Empi re and

then the Am er ica n Indus tr i a l dom ina t ion sp read ove r the wo r ld . An d som et im es

the spe l l ing was in teg ra ted wi th p rev ious s imi la r mean ings , and somet imes no t

( for example , i s i t t ip i , o r t eepe e? )T here a re a lmos t no spe l l ing ru le s to t ea ch

chi ldren, and in fac t the bes t s t ra tegy for learning to spel l i s not a mechanical


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8 7skill, bu t an a t t i tude ca l l ed a spe l l ing consc ience , where the wr i t e r s imply makes

any poss ib le d i sc ip l ined e ffo r t to co r rec t e r ro r s . In the Dro han an d Fre em an

ar t ic le they quote the Bri t ish l inguis t David Crysta l f rom his book Engl ish as a

Gl o b a l La n g u a g e .

A language be com es an in te rna tiona l l anguag e fo r one ch ie f r eason : thepo l i t ica l pow er o f i ts peo p le - esp ec ia l ly the ir mi l i t a ry pow er. (Droh an andF r e e m a n , Globe , pg . D1)

Marcuse con t inues by no t ing how wha t he ca l l s the "common man" has

becom e ve ry c rea t ive in the use o f s l ang and co l loqu ia l expre ss ion s , and he

no tes a f ew f rom h i s e ra , som e o f wh ich seem a lm os t qua in t now: "hea d-

sh r inke r, egghead , boob tube , th ink t ank , d ig i t , and gone , man , gone" .

However, the de fense l abora to r i e s and the execu t ive o ff i ces , the gove rnmen ts and the mach ines , the t ime keepe r s and managers , the e ff i c i encyexper ts and the pol i t ica l beauty par lors . . . speak a d i fferent language and,for the t ime bein g, they see m to have the las t wo rd. I t i s the wo rd that

o rde r s an d o rgan izes , tha t induces peo p le to do , to buy, and to accep t .(Marcuse , pg . 86 )

I hav e a lw ay s t r ied as a teac her to be , wh at is ca l le d by m y univers i ty,

a "ref lec t ive pract i t ioner" , tha t i s , a teacher who cont inual ly th inks about a bet ter

wa y to t each a s I wor k in m y c la s s room eve ryday. Tea ch in g Fi r s t Na t ions

ch i ld ren in an a rea tha t has 85% unemploymen t means the ma jo r i ty o f the

s tuden t s a re beh ind the i r g rade l eve l in measu rab le academic sk i l l s , even

though most seem to have a k ind of raw in te l l igence and a respect for the value

of schoo l . The re w as no c lea re r exam ple o f th i s than the yea r m y ow n son w as

in Grade Six in an advanced (French Immers ion ) p rogram in Le thbr idge wh i le I

t augh t Grade Six on the Rese rve . My son had the adva n tage o f two pa ren t s

who spent a lo t of t ime with h im, in teres ted re la t ives , an ear ly suppor t and

st imula t ion sys tem to s tar t reading ski l ls , the benef i t of t ravel and being included

in adu l t conv e rsa t ion s , and many toys and book s . W i th a ll tha t in p lace , he wa s

enro l l ed in French Immers ion , a schoo l p rogram where he has been t augh t a l l


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8 8the ac adem ic sub jec t s in the French l an gua ge , wi th the excep t ion o f En g l i sh

i tse lf . By the end of h is yea r in Gr ade S ix m ost of h is Provincia l E xa m sco res

we re in the excep t iona l r ang e , bu t in the c la s s I t augh t on the Re se rv e , the 24

s tuden t s a s a c l a s s , ( some o f whom seemed to be inna te ly in te l l igen t and a s

cu r iou s a s my son) on ly two had ind iv idua l t e s t s sco res in the exce p t iona l

range , wh i le abou t 60% s imply fa i l ed the exams .

Marcuse speaks o f the " l a s t word" a s a means o f the e s tab l i shmen t

a lw ays w inn ing the l anguage ba t t l e in it s dom ina t ion , and i t wa s c lea r ly ev iden t

in th i s mass o f Prov inc ia l Exams tha t Albe r ta Educa t ion g ives Grade Six

s tudents every year tha t the i r funct ion is to in tensi fy the tes t ing of sk i l l levels in

Eng l i sh r ead ing . The re were five exam s tha t yea r : Ma th , Sc ience , Soc ia l

Stud ies , a Language Ar t s r ead ing comprehens ion t e s t and a Language Ar t s

wri t in g ass ign me nt . If a s tude nt was a ye ar behind in readin g ski l ls the y w er e

only l ike ly to pass half of the Math exam, the half tha t d id not have quest ions

wr i t t en ou t in th ree compl ica ted sen ten ces . Th e wr i t ing exam a lone w as tw o

hou rs , an unusua l ly lengthy exa m for 12 ye ar o lds . Th e motives of th is r ight of

cen t re conse rva t ive gove rnmen t fo r b r ing ing in such t e s t ing cou ld inc lude a

des i r e to make s tuden t s "accoun tab le" (mean ing , to pu t p re ssu re on the

teache r s ) o r to "meas ure the i r suc cess " (m ean ing , to see how they ra te

compared to o ther countr ies in the industr ia l world) , or to s imply a t tack l ibera l

ideas o f who le l anguage in s t ruc t ion . The exams do no t measu re ha rd work

(wi th the excep t ion o f the wr i t ing exam , a l l the o the r s w ere m ul t ip le cho ic e ) , th e

abi l i ty to work with o ther people , the abi l i ty to make choices in l i fe based on

mo ra l i s sues o r d isc ip l ine , the ab i l i ty o f s tuden t s to use the i r ance s to r s l angu age

or cul ture , a th le t ic or k ines is thet ic abi l i ty, or crea t ive abi l i ty.

O ne exam in pa r t icu la r s t i cks in my m ind . The s tuden t wa s a ha rd w or k

ing , r egu la r a t t end ing , r e spec t fu l and funny g i r l . She wr ote a br i l l iant s tory


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9 0in Aus t ra l i a cou ld no t sen d an In te rne t me ssa ge to a b i l ingua l spea ke r in

Bo m bay , the i r d ia lec t s wou ld be too d is t inc t. The l anguage wou ld b reak up in to

pocke t s o f true se l f expres s ion an d re spon se to r eal ity, p roduc t s l ike mov ies and

the N BA c ou ld no t be so ld a s eas ily and the Happy C onsc iou sness o f the g rea t

sm ok in g c i t i e s o f the indus t r ia l g ian t s cou ld no t be sp read a s qu ick ly. Ma rcus e

wri tes of how the language in tegra tes the language of protes t and refusal , and

ins tead of jus t see ing th is problem as a character is t ic of a dominant industr ia l

force us ing "language" we can now see i t as a way th is force is us ing the

" En g l i s h " a s a me thod o f in te rna t iona l domina t ion .

How can such p ro te s t and re fusa l f ind the r igh t word when the o rgans o fthe es tabl ished order admit and adver t ise tha t peace is rea l ly the br ink ofwar. . .In exhibi t ing i ts contra dic t ions as the toke n of it s t ru th , th is univ erse ofdiscourse c loses i t se l f agains t any other d iscourse which is not on i tsow n te rm s . (Marc use , pg . 90 )

M arcu se then po in t s ou t how lan gua ge in the popu la r med ia com bine s

an iden t i f i ca t ion o f the pe r son and func t ion . He uses examp les f rom T im e

magaz ine o f the ea r ly s ix t i e s :

"Georg ia ' s h igh -handed , low-browed governor. . . had the s t age a l l s e t fo ron e of h is pol i t ica l ra l l ies las t wee k."The governor, h is funct ion, h is physica l fea tures , and his pol i t ica l pract i ces a re fused toge the r in to one ind iv i s ib le and immutab le s t ruc tu rewhic h . . .ove r whe lms the r eade r ' s min d . The s t ruc tu re l eaves no spac efo r d i s t inc t ion , deve lopmen t , d i f f e ren t i a t ion o f mean ing . . . (Marcuse pg . 93 )

Af te r g iv ing a fu r the r exam ple abou t how abr idgem en ts l ike NAT O a nd

UN do the same th ing , Marcuse no te s tha t the s ty le i s one o f an ove rwhe lming

concreteness , the th in g is ident i f ied with i ts funct ion. Th e bas ic voca bula ry

and syn tax s t and in the way o f d i f f e ren t i a t ion and sepa ra t ion .

Th i s l anguage , wh ich cons tan t ly imposes images , mi l i t a t e s aga ins t thedev e lopm en t and expre ss ion of con cep t s . In i ts imm ediacy and d i rec tn e s s , i t impedes concep tua l th ink ing . . . (Marcuse , pg . 95 )

I am not enough of an exper t a t language to agree , or d isagree wi th


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9 1Marcuse on th i s i s su of the s t ruc tu re o f l anguag e . I am conv ince d , h owe ver,

tha t in the t ime that has passed s ince 1964, great quant i t ies of informat ion

coming f rom the mass med ia have swi tched f rom the p r in ted word to the

te levis ion ima ge. Al th ou gh there is som e sor t of rebir th of a k ind of l i te racy

among the cu r ren t 80 mi l l ion In te rne t u se r s who mus t r ead some t ex t tha t comes

along with the ir adver t is ing and news repor ts , most people of the world get

in fo rma t ion f rom te lev i s ion . Af te r a l l the s i t coms and d ram as , a f t e r w e d row n in

a f lood of adv er t is in g , w e are left wi t h te levis ion new s. A nd with te levis io n

news, a lmost a l l of i t i s the image of the conf l ic t or the t raff ic accident or the

hur r i cane , the ima ge o f the n ews an chor wi th the i r s ince re , po l i t e tone s , bo th

ve rba l and fac ia l , and the i r th ree sen tence summar ie s o f the mos t compl ica ted

si tuat ion s . A few ch at sh ow s ma y have the beginnings of pol i t ica l de bat e , but

they a re r e l ega ted to odd hours on indepen den t ne tworks . Th e mod ern po l it i cal

l eade r, hav ing won e lec t ions , knows exac t ly how to hand le the s i tua t ions : th ree

sen tence summar ie s o f the mos t compl ica ted s i tua t ions in po l i t e measu red

tones fo r the even ing news .

A case cou ld be m ad e for th is thou ght : a l though i t m ay be a s t re tch of

logic to agree wi th Marcuse on the s t ructure of a language, especia l ly the

Eng l i sh l anguage , imped ing concep tua l th ink ing , a much more cogen t f ee l ing o f

ag reemen t cou ld be made fo r th ink ing o f l anguage today a s the l anguage o ft e l ev i s ion and rad io and com m on p r in ted me d ia . Take an ind iv idua l ' s f avor i t e

new spa per and ma gaz in es , r ad io s t a t ions , t e l ev i s ion p rog ram s and mov ie s : a

g rea t mass o f words , p ic tu res and sounds tha t ba re ly even men t ion the "ho t

spots " , le t a lone the t rue nature of the cr is is tha t the wo rld face s . Th inki ng of tha t

en t i r e mass o f communica t ion a s a world of total language (call i t En glis h

Me d i a I ma g e La n g u a g e ) , Ma r c u s e ' s d e s c r i p t i o n n o w s e e ms c o n t e mp o r a r y.

Th e unif ied , func t ional lang uag e is an i r reconci lably ant i -cr i t ica l a nd


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9 2an t i -d ia lec t i ca l l anguage . (Marcuse , pg . 97 )

Ma rcus e be l i eves tha t th i s un i f i ed l anguage i s the l a rges t d im ens ion o f

though t in human consc iousness , and i t suppresses the o the r d imens ion , the

h i s to r i ca l d im ens ion . He says tha t th i s is no t an acade mic su ppre ss ion , bu t a

pol i t ica l one .

I t i s suppress ion of the socie ty 's own past~and of i t s fu ture , inasmuchas th is fu ture invokes qual i ta t ive change, the negat ion of the present .(Marcuse , pg . 97 )

After spending many pages to d iscuss how the t rue s tudy of h is tory can give r ise

to "dangerous in s igh t s" , Marcuse uses the example o f how th i s func t iona l

l anguage was used e ffec t ive ly in the pe rve r s ion o f communism, f rom the

thou gh t s o f Marx , th rough Len in , S ta l in and pos t -Sta lin i s t leade r s . I t wo u ld b e

far harder to be cr i t ica l of our "western democracies" as having a language that

"no longe r lends i t se l f to d iscours e a t a l l" . After a l l , thos e com mu nis ts wer e jus td ic ta tors , and a lmost a l l of them are gone, how can l i fe under Cl in ton, Chret ien

an d Bla i r an d Helm et Koh l be as bad? Of course i t i sn 't as bad , for don ' t we

hav e the r igh t to m ove a round to f ind jobs , to have cho ices abou t l e i su re t im e , to

ha ve the r ight to wri te le t ters to the edi tor wi tho ut fear of ar res t , to vote , to form a

lobby g roup ? Ye s , t rue , the re a re unden iab le , qua li t a tive d i f f e rences .

Bu t when we cons ide r a l l the med ia tha t pours in on us , we a re bombard

ed wi th an an t i- c r i t ica l l anguage . W e do rem em ber h i s to ry, bu t a ve ry se lec t ive

h i s to ry : the h i s to ry o f com m unis m, the ho locaus t , the Amer ican re vo lu t ion ,

W or ld W ar I I . Bu t a s Marcuse says , the suppress ion o f the pas t me ans tha t the

futur e is l imi te d , an d thu s rea l qual i ta t ive cha nge is l imi ted . The f ina l judg m en t

for me about the power of th is " language" and i ts suppress ion of h is tory,

cr i t ic ism and discourse , i s the fac t tha t the current world s i tua t ion l ives and

brea th es dea th , and we rema in ine ffec tua l . Yes we have f r eed om , yes w e

have comfor t and good "p roduc t s" , n ice "s tu ff ' , yes we can wa tch an obscure


11/16

9 3te lev i s ion channe l on Sunday a t 9am tha t makes us th ink a l i t t l e , yes we can d ig

up a journal on world affa i rs a t the l ibrary or univers i ty, but we as a whole

soc ie ty a re no t do ing en oug h . Ove r and ove r it re tu rns to m e , a l l ou r f r e edo m s

are on ly po ten t i a l s , and any t rue l anguage wou ld l ead us on to a me thod o f

f inding t ru th in an ac t io n of re l ieving misery and de ath . A few pie ces of a ne w

language come th rough to us , and a f ew th ings a re done : a r ecen t t e l ev i s ion

campa ign , a lbe i t a f t e r p r ime t ime hours , show the soon to be dead boy, ly ing on

a bed look ing a t the cam era , wh i le fl i e s buzz a round h i s eyes . Th en the im age

b lacks ou t fo r a five sec ond p r in ted m ess age : 35 ,00 0 d ie eve ry day , you c an

help , ca l l W orld Vis ion . Tha t and one o ther ad on te levis ion s ix m on ths ago is

the on ly men t ion o f th i s c r i s i s in a l l the mov ies , t e l ev i s ion , newspape rs ,

m aga zine s and radio I hav e see n in the las t year . I hav e to con scio usly d ig a nd

resea rch to f ind in fo rma t ion abou t i t. So un l ike a ty rann ica l sys tem w here t ru th

i s suppressed , wh i le o f t en f lou r i sh ing unde rg round , t ru th i s suppressed today

not through laws and secre t pol ice , but i t i s s imply drowned out by ra t io of the

v a s t e n c o mp a s s i n g n e w En g li s h Me d i a Ima g e La n g u a g e . So a lt h o u g h we d o

not have, what Marcuse ca l ls an "author i tar ian r i tua l iza t ion of d iscourse", tha t i s

we don ' t run a round a mass r a l l i e s shou t ing "Dea th to the Imper ia l i s t Runn ing

Dogs " w e do have a so f t e r type o f it f lood ing the wo r ld . See ho w M arcuse in

1964 ma tches h i s idea o f l anguage to th i s new Eng l i sh Med ia Image Language .Th i s l anguage con t ro l s by reduc ing the l ingu i s t i c fo rms and symbols o fre f l ec t ion , abs t r ac t ion , deve lopmen t , con t rad ic t ion ; by subs t i tu t ing imagesfo r con cep t s . I t den ie s o r abso rbs the t r ansc ende n t vocab u la ry ; i t doesno t sea rch fo r bu t imposes t ru th and fa l seh ood . Bu t th i s k ind of d i sco urseis not te r ror is t ic . I t see m s unwar rante d to as su m e that the rec ip ients bel ieve , or are made to bel ieve what they are to ld . The new touch o f thema gic-r i tu a l lang uag e ra ther is tha t peop le do n ' t be l ieve i t , or don ' t ca re ,and ye t ac t acco rd ing ly. (Marc use , pg . 103)

Marcuse f in i shes th i s chap te r wi th a sec t ion t i t l ed "The Resea rch o f

To ta l Admin i s t r a t ion" , a complex and d i f f i cu l t exp lo ra t ion in to ph i losoph ica l


12/16

9 4founda t ions o f ind iv idua l though t .

What is taking place is a sweeping redef in i t ion of thought i t se l f , of i t sfunc t ion and conte nt . Th e coo rdinat io n of the individual wi th h is socie ty r eaches in to those l aye r s o f the mind where the ve ry concep t s a ree labora ted wh ich a re des igned to comprehend the e s tab l i shed rea l i ty.(Marcuse , pg . 104)

To disa gree wi th M arc use w ou ld not be d i fficul t. After a l l , w e her e in the

free western democracies can go to univers i ty, s tudy the great th inkers , wi l l our

wa y th roug h the wor ld us ing ou r f r ee dom , th ink any though t s we wan t an d

rem ain unco n tam ina ted by the fo rces a round us . W e can re s is t adve r t i s ing , qu i t

smok ing , vo te fo r whom we p lease , ea t hea l thy foods and avo id hea r t a t t acks ,

f ind a bet ter job and turn off the te levis ion, r ight? Perh aps , as individu als , w e

ca n do mos t o f those th ings , pe rh aps som e , pe rhaps none . Bu t my log ic of

judgmen t r epea t s to me tha t we shou ld th ink o f ou r se lves a s one g rea t human

socie ty, and with 40,000 people dying of s tarvat ion each day, wi th one-f i f th of

the wo r ld ba re ly sc ra tch ing ou t ex i s t en ce abov e the s ta rva t ion l ine , tha t we a re

fa i l ing a s a wor ld , and the re fo re , ou r though t p rocesses a re con t ro l l ed ,

so m eho w, by those tha t pro f it mo s t from kee p ing th ings the wa y they a re . Tha t

is , i f ou r though t p rocesses w ere f r ee r, we wo u ld be ab le to improv e ou r to ta l

socie ty, g iven that i t would be a natura l impulse to do so , which I be l ieve a lso to

be t rue . In o ther wor ds , w e are fa i l ing as a wo rld socie ty, w e are perh ap s on the

edge o f an even more d ras t i c co l l apse , the re fo re , ou r though t p rocesses have

bee n rede f ined a s Marcuse say s , pe rhaps s tun ted , con t ro l l ed , pe rv e r t ed .

Marcuse wr i t e s tha t concep t s can be un ive r sa l , and e s sen t i a l to a

pa r t i cu la r th ing . Bu t conce p t s can a l so have a t r ans i t ive m ean ing .

. . . they go beyon d desc r ip t ive referen ce to par t icular fac ts . An d if the fa c tsa re those o f soc ie ty, the cogn i t ive concep t s a l so go beyond any pa r t i cu la r con tex t o f f ac t s - in to the p rocesses and cond i t ions on wh ich therespec t ive soc ie ty r e s t s . . . (Marcu se , pg . 106)

This going beyond the opera t ional level in to par t icular socie ta l fac ts


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9 5

leads to wha t Marcuse ca l l s an "excess" o f mean ing , an excess tha t i l lumina te s

the dece p t ive fo rm " in wh ich the fac t s a re a l lowe d to be expe r ienc ed . " Th i s in

tu rn l eads to a " fa l se conc re teness" , som eth ing tha t i s i so la ted f rom th e c o n

di t ions which const i tu te i t s rea l i ty.

In th i s con tex t , the ope ra tiona l t r ea tmen t o f the concep t a s su m es a

pol i t ica l fun ct io n. Th e individual an d his beh avio r are an aly sed in athe rape u t i c sen se - ad ju s tm en t to h i s soc ie ty. Tho ugh t and express io n ,theory and pract ice are to be brought in l ine wi th the fac ts of h is existence without leaving room for the conceptual cr i t ique of these fac ts .(Marcuse , pg . 107)

If th is form of socie ty is the only referen ce p oint , th is socio logica l and/o r

psycho log ica l adap t ing i s va l id , wr i tes Marcuse , but i f there is to be a larger

c r i t i ca l ana lys i s o f the soc ie ty, whe the r f rom some mora l o r in te rna t iona l

s t a n d a r d , th is i s not enough.

The the rapeu t i c and ope ra t iona l concep t becomes fa l se to the ex ten t towhich i t i n su la te s and a tomizes the f ac t s , s t ab i l i ze s them wi th in the r ep ress ive who le , and accep t s the t e rms o f th i s who le a s the t e rms o f theana lys i s . Th e me thodo log ica l tr ans la t ion o f the un ive r sa l in to the ope r at iona l concep t then becomes rep ress ive r educ t ion o f though t .(Marcuse , pg .108)

Marcuse then ends the chap te r by g iv ing examples ove r many pages

referr ing to ins tances of how sociologis ts and psychologis ts use th is type of

p roc ess to " t r ea t " the abe r ra t ions back in to func t iona l i za t ion . Th e en t i r e p roce ss

becomes "c i r cu la r and se l f -va l ida t ing" and p roc la iming

the exis t ing socia l rea l i ty as i t s own norm, th is sociology for t i f ies in theindivid uals th e fa i th less fa i th in the rea l i ty w ho se v ic t ims the y are . . .(Marcuse , pg . 119)

There could be a case made by exper ts in logic to say that Marcuse 's

s teps of reas onin g may be mis s ing a point or two in h is las t 15 pa ge s . After

read ing thro ug h it m any t imes i t does beco m e c learer, but not eas ier. But ra ther


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9 6tha n dissec t it fur ther, I wa nt to ju m p that proce ss of thos e 15 pag es on to a

b r idge o f beg inn ing and end ing wher e I can re tu rn to ag ree me n t . Th i s ch ap te r

was ca l l ed The Clos ing o f the Un ive r se o f Discourse , and th rough a me thod o f

con t ro l l ing fo rma l l anguage , and by the sp read ing domina t ion o f Eng l i sh , and

f inal ly by the f lood ing of b i ll ions of m inds by wha t I ca l l the E ngl ish M ed ia Im age

Language , c r i t i ca l th ink ing has been shu t t e red . And fo r more than any o the r

r e a s o n , I bas e my agree m ent on my own logic : i f c r i t ica l th ink ing were m ore

success fu l and more ame l io ra t ion o f t ru th and h i s to r i ca l f ac t were man i fe s ted ,

then th i s cen tu ry and in pa r t i cu la r th i s mom ent in t ime wou ld be more succe ss fu l

( l if e suppor t ing and hum ane) fo r the en ti r e wo r ld . Bu t the wor ld i s no t suc ces s

fu l enough , i s pe rhaps head ing towards an impend ing da rk age , and thus i t i s

en t i r e ly r easonab le fo r me to ag ree wi th Marcuse when he says the re has been

a swe ep ing redef in i t ion of tho ugh t i t se l f .

His tory s t i l l g ives us lessons , and a few images f rom my own s tudies

rem a in sha rp ly focus ed in me mo ry. I am a lways wonder in g abou t how a n

unknowing soc ie ty can come to be l i eve i t s l eade r s who wi l l soon l ead them to

d e a t h . The h i s to r i an Hobsb aw m n o tes tha t in the win te r o f 1932-33 44 % of

Ge r ma n y w a s u n e m p l o y e d ( Ho b s b a w m, p g . 9 3 ) a n d a t h e n a f e w y e a r s l a t er t h e

en t i r e coun t ry seem ed un i f i ed , mo b i l i zed , op t imis t ic . I canno t fo rge t the v i sua l

pow er o f the f i lm Tr iu mp h o f the Wi l l , e spec ia l ly a scene where more than

100,000 soldiers s tood a t a t tent ion in a g iant s tadium, s i lent ly watching Hit ler

and two others s i lent ly march the length of the s tadium to p lace a wreath a t a

mo num ent to f a l len so ld ie r s . W as the re a r ede fin i tion o f though t in tha t t ime?

Anothe r image comes ou t o f Mao is t Ch ina f rom Dr. Li ' s book on Cha i r

m an M ao . The g rea t push to have the peasan t s make backyard s t ee l fu rnace s

was on in 1958, even though the l i t t le lumps of s tee l f rom the mel ted pots and

pans w ere to ta l ly use le s s to indus t ry. The doc to r was t r ave l ling on Mao ' s t ra in ,


15/16

9 7wo n d e r i n g a l o u d t o a f r i e n d h o w t h e f u r n a c e s a p p e a r e d s o s u d d e n l y, a n d h o w

a t the same t ime , the r i ce c rop looked so boun t i fu l .

W h a t we we r e s e e i n g f r o m o u r w i n d o ws , L i n Ke sa id , wa s s t a g e d , a h u g emu l t i - ac t na t ionw ide Ch in ese ope ra pe r fo rme d espec ia l ly fo r Ma o . Th ep a r t y s e c r e t a r i e s h a d o r d e r e d f u r n a c e s c o n s t r u c t e d e v e r y wh e r e a l o n gthe r a i l rou te , s t r e t ch ing ou t fo r t en / /o n e i the r s ide , and the w om en we red ressed so co lo r fu l ly, in r eds and g reens , because they had been o rde re d to d ress tha t way . In Hube i , pa r ty sec re ta ry Wa ng Ren zhon g h adorde red the peasan t s to r emove r i ce p lan t s f rom fa raway f i e lds and t r ans

p lan t them a long Mao ' s rou te , to g ive the impress ion o f a wi ld ly abundan t c rop . Al l o f Ch in a was a s t age , a l l t he peop le pe r fo r me rs in anex t ravaganza fo r Mao . (Zh i su i , pg . 238)

Was there a redef in i t ion of thought in tha t t ime?

I am a fra id ther e is a redef in i t ion of thou ght now , a t th is mo m en t . Hi t ler

a n d Ma o we r e c o mp l e t e l y n e w e x p e r i e n c e s f o r Ge r ma n y a n d Ch i n a , a n d t h a t

wa s the c los ing o f the un ive r se o f d i scourse tha t Ma rcuse desc r ibes . And now ,

b e c a u s e c o mmu n i s m a n d f a s c i s m a r e d e f e a t e d , we s a y s u c h t h i n g s c a n ' t

hap pen he r e . Bu t it i s happ en ing to ou r wor ld in the wa y reco rd nu mb ers o f

people are dying of hunger and disease , s i lent ly fa l l ing in to the dust or in to

s leep , and th i s i s a comple te ly new expe r ience .

I t i s hard to break the bounds of socie ty and th ink about redef in ing our

though t p rocess . Are we no t succe ss fu l , su r rou nded by s igns o f ou r ha rd wo rk ,

co r rec t th ink ing and luck?

Let m e root th is thou ght in one mo re imm edia te ima ge. He re I am at the

com pute r, it i s the mi ddle of Ju ly, 1997 , in Leth br idg e , Alb er ta , Ca na da . I am

th ink ing back to two days ago wh en I wa s p lay ing on a loca l go l f course . It was

la te a f t e rnoon , the t empera tu re was pe r fec t wi th no w i n d , the sky c lear, the

su r round ing cou lee h i l l s wi th the i r b rushy semi -dese r t d ryness in con t ra s t

wi th the s il en t r ive r and the beau t i fu l ly man icu red course f a i rways . Sm al l

molded hi l ls wi th t r immed grass ro l l on the s ides of the p laying areas , d i fferent


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9 8sha des o f g reen becom e appa ren t a s the shad ow s ge t longe r. I wa s p lay i i , g

w e l l , t he sky sho wing d i f f e ren t b lends o f b lue towa rd the eas t , and the con t ro l l ed

arch of the bal l perfec t as i t rose up f rom the shadows, up to become graced

wi th the r ec ed ing sun l igh t dazz l ing wh i te on the ba l l be fo re it t um bled do w n to

the gr ee n. How diff icul t i t w as to th ink of anyth ing e lse but the m om en t and th e

su r round ing scene - - the course i s ap t ly ca l l ed Pa rad i se Canyon , and rega rded

as one of the most beaut i fu l in Canada.

Bu t the course and the mom ent a re symb ol ic . Go l f cour ses a re shap ed in

an obsess ive -com puls ive w ay, wi th na tu re com ple te ly t am ed , g ro om ed to a

wea l thy spor t , wi th pes t ic ides unde rn ea th and a l l a rou nd . Con t inua l

ma i n t e n a n c e e n s u r e s n a t u r e ~a we e d p e r h a p s , a b l i g h t o n a t r e e - n e v e r

inter fere w ith this reality. It is a thin pr odu ct i tself , laid on top of th e thin fi lm of

l i fe suppor t on our world . And as my bal l rose up in to the sunshine and back

dow n aga in , I was s t ruck by the beau ty o f the c rea ted mo me nt : so com ple te ly

pla cid I co uld n ot but help to rate it as an utterly pe ace ful t ime in m y life in m i d

su m m er. But I kne w i t w as only par t of our wo rld rea l i ty, I kne w the golf cou rse

w as so be aut i fu l as to be a lm ost ar t i f ic ia l , and I kne w i t wa s l ight yea rs rem ov ed

f rom eve ry th ing I am t ry ing to unde rs ta nd in Marcus e ' s wr i t ings , and e ve ry th ing I

am t ry ing to express .

I hope by beginning to th ink about i t , on a serene ear ly evening inPa rad i se Cany on I can keep open ing up my own Unive r se o f Disco urse .

Analise Capitulo Fechamento Do Universo Da Locucao

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